It’s a little damp this morning for the start of the third round of the Michigan Open Championship presented by LaFontaine Cadillac at Prestwick Village Golf Club.
But there’s a VIP hospitality tent with all the comforts of home covering invited guests of LaFontaine.
Meanwhile, when the weather breaks great golf is at hand.
Ryan Brehm and Willie Mack III shared the lead at the halfway point of the four-round championship.
It was good news for Mack and Brehm, but maybe bad news for everybody else in the field.
Brehm, the PGA Tour Canada golfer and former Michigan State standout took early leads and kept them in his two previous Michigan Open wins in 2009 and ‘10.
And Mack, a mini-tour golfer with six wins in three years around the country, simply thinks the lead is always the best place to be.
“Leading means you’re doing something right,” he said.
Brehm, 28, a Mount Pleasant native and Grand Rapids resident, and Mack, 25 and a Grand Blanc resident, each shot a 5-under-par 67 to check in at 12-under-par 132 through 36 holes Tuesday.
They had four-shot leads on five golfers including six-time champion Scott Hebert of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, who shot 69, and Petoskey’s Joey Garber, who shared the first round lead with Brehm and Mack, and shot 71 for 132.
Andy Ruthkoski, the 2007 Michigan Open champion and a mini-tour player from Muskegon, and Eric Lilleboe, a mini-tour pro from Okemos, each shot 65, the low rounds of the day, to join the crowd four shots off the lead.
Also there: University of North Carolina golfer Henry Do of Canton, who shot 69.
Mack said the afternoon greens Tuesday were not as easy to manage as they were on Monday in the morning.
“I still managed to make a few putts, and being in the lead for two days is great,” he said. “I just have to keep plugging along and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Mack said he left a few shots out on the course, especially when he made bogey on the par 4 fifth hole by flying his sand wedge shot over the green.
“Maybe lost concentration there from getting a little tired,” he said. “You miss the greens here and the rough can be tricky.”
Brehm, who has a distance advantage on most of the field, was disappointed he was just 1-under-par on the par 5 holes after being 4-under in the first round. He did make the best of an out-of-bounds tee shot on the par 5 No. 15 hole though. After a second tee shot, he hit a 7-iron to four-feet and made the putt to save a par.
“Eagle to make par, which was good I guess, but I told Matt Thompson I wasn’t sure how to feel about that,” he said. “The first tee shot must have hit hard and bounced directly right. I didn’t think there was any way it would be out.”
Defending champion Tom Werkmeister of Kentwood rallied with a 68, and was in the group at 138.
Also six shots back was Kyle Rodes, an Eastern Michigan University golfer from Plymouth who fired a 66 and Dearborn Heights mini-tour golfer Joe Juszczyk, who shot 68.
Gaylord amateur Alexander Dombrowski, who golfs for Princeton University, was at 137 after a 69.
The 36-hole cut fell at 3-over-par 147. The Michigan PGA announced the final purse at $57,500 for the 72-hole state championship that continues through Thursday.
Visit www.michiganpgagolf.com for more information and live scoring.
There’s still two days left to relax and enjoy some golf in the LaFontaine Cadillac VIP Hospitality Tent and General Sales Manager, Robert Simmons, cordially invites you to join in on the fun. How nice is that?
So if want to watch the Michigan Open in VIP style, post in the comments section below and we’ll get you in the tent!
