SURREY, B.C. -- It wasn't a great day for the first-round leaders at the Air Canada Championship.
Thursday leader David Frost shot a 1-over 72 to fall into a tie for 19th. Starting on the 10th hole, Frost recorded bogeys on holes 14, 17 and 1 before recovering with an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole. The previous day, he'd turned in a bogey-free card with six birdies.
Frost's troubles could be attributed to the 10 additional putts he took in Friday's round -- 33 instead of the 23 he had in the first round.
Japan's Shigeki Maruyama was tied for second at the beginning of the day. By round's end, he was 12th thanks in part to a double bogey on the closing hole. Scott Gump shot a 66 Thursday and followed up with a 73 Friday to drop to a tie for 38th.
But it was Hank Kuehne, first on the Canadian Tour's money list and trying to play his way on to the PGA Tour, who had the most disappointing round. Kuehne got off to a poor start with a bogey on the first, then added three more front-nine bogeys, two birdies and a double. He also bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 to plunge into a tie for 90th and miss the cut.
Only consistent Australian Peter Lonard held steady. He remains tied for second with 66-67--133, one off the lead held by Craig Barlow.
GOING UP: On the other hand, the fall of the first-round leaders opened the door for other players to jump up the leaderboard.
Australian Robert Allenby, who narrowly missed a victory at last week's WGC-NEC Invitational, shot a 62 to move from a tie for 74th to a tie for second.
Allenby's 62, one off the course record held by Scott McCarron, included nine birdies and no bogeys. Four of the birdies were consecutive, coming on holes 11 through 14.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get the course record today, because it actually would be three weeks in a row, because I set the course record at the PGA (and the NEC Invitational)," Allenby said. "I was thinking about that, I was wondering what the course record is? I wish someone would have told me. Two more days."
FORTY-SOMETHINGS: Gene Sauers, a 40-year-old journeyman pro with two PGA Tour wins who splits his time between the PGA and Buy.com Tours, had a good day. He had six birdies on a bogey-free card to move from a tie for 43rd into a tie for fifth.
But Sauers wasn't the only player with plenty of experience to climb into contention. Blaine McCallister, 43, whose last win came at the 1993 B.C. Open, had his lowest round of the year with a 67 to tie for eighth going into the weekend. McCallister has made just five cuts in the 19 tournaments he'd played before this week. His best 2002 finish is a tie for 23rd at the Kemper.
While not yet in his 40s, 37-year-old Jim McGovern has his share of experience on the PGA Tour, though just one win, that coming at the 1993 Shell Houston Open. McGovern, who like Sauers splits his time between two tours, has gotten off to his best PGA Tour start of the year with 67-68--135 and is also tied for eighth.
PUTTING RECORD: Score another one for the veterans. Stan Utley took just six putts on the front nine.
Utley holed a sand shot and sank putts from off the green on two holes. He one-putted holes 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9, beating the old record set by Bill Nary in 1952 of seven putts on a nine.
Unfortunately, Utley came into the tournament with a hurt back and struggled with the other areas of his game. He hit just four fairways and six greens in regulation during his second round, and skidded to a 1-over 72. Paired with a first-round 77, that meant he missed the cut by eight shots.
"I have had a pretty fun year playing golf, and I've enjoyed my ball striking and I came up here and I knew on Tuesday that I had hurt my back," Utley said. "I kind of played for two days with really no legs and so that is probably the answer to how you (miss the cut). You have to hit it really bad."
CLOSING HOLES STRUGGLE: Last year, holes 17 and 18 cost Steve Lowery the Air Canada Championship title. He finished second after going 5- over on those holes for the week.
So far this year, Lowery is 3-over on that same pair of holes. Still, a runner-up finish here would make three second-place finishes or ties in two months. Lowery also finished tied for second at the Greater Milwaukee Open and second alone at The International, and has two more top-10s at the PGA Championship and last week's WGC-NEC Invitational.
