Van Pelt sizzles again, ready to contend for first TOUR win

text size

GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Bo Van Pelt knew better than to be complacent.

Sure, he'd just slept on a share of the lead at the Buick Open after a sizzling 64 in the first round. Warwick Hills was being extremely generous, though, and there was no reason to expect that to change.

So when Van Pelt stepped to the 10th tee to start his second round Friday morning, more than a little sleepy at 7:18 a.m., he knew he had to stay aggressive. And that's exactly what he did in shooting a 66 that kept him atop the leaderboard at 14 under.

Shamus/Getty Images

Bo Van Pelt posted a 66 in the second round on Friday.

Bo Van Pelt

Through 36 holes

STATS Rnd1 Rnd2 TOT EAGLES 1 -- 1 BIRDIES 6 6 12 PARS 11 12 23 BOGEYS -- -- 0 DOUBLE BOGEYS -- -- 0 OTHER -- -- 0 DRIVING ACCURACY 57 64 60.7 DRIVING DISTANCE 307.0 301.0 304.0 PUTTS PER ROUND 27 25 26.0 PUTTS PER GIR 1.643 1.692 1.667 GREENS IN REG 78 72 75.0 SAND SAVES 100 -- 100.0

"I wanted to try to forget about yesterday," Van Pelt explained. "I knew the scores were going to be low again, and if I wanted to stay near the top, I needed to keep going forward. That's just kind of what I kept telling myself all day, even after I got off to a good start was just trying to keep ... making birdies."

Mission accomplished. The 33-year-old self-described "normal, Midwestern guy" hasn't made a bogey in his first two rounds and owns a two-stroke advantage entering the weekend as he chases what would be his first PGA TOUR win.

Dudley Hart, who is tied for second at 12 under with Daniel Chopra, isn't surprised to see his friend leading the pack.

"He's a real good ball-striker and hits his irons real well," said Hart, who has played countless rounds with Van Pelt. "When he gets rolling the ball like he has this week, he can shoot some numbers."

And judging by the way Warwick Hills is playing right now, Van Pelt -- and anyone who plans to challenge him -- will need plenty more of those.

By midway through the second round, the course was playing nearly two strokes under par. Need further proof? Well, Warwick Hills yielded more birdies and eagles than bogeys and the dreaded "others" in the first round, 660 to 439.

"I just tried to hit good shots," Van Pelt said simply. "This golf course can jump up and get you. I was just trying to stay aggressive and not make any bogeys. I didn't want to go backwards. I just kept trying to tell myself to keep going forward, to keep going forward, and that was pretty much my motto all day."

The tone was set on his first hole Friday as Van Pelt hit a wedge to the back fringe and then proceeded to chip in for birdie -- one of two he holed during the second round. Van Pelt went on to shoot 32 on the back for the second straight day, then added two more birdies on the front.

Van Pelt may be 6-foot-4 now, but he was a late bloomer as a child. So while his father played college football and briefly in the NFL, the son gravitated to golf because he liked the individual nature of the game.

"The golf ball didn't know who you were or where you came from; and if you shot a low score, there was not room for interpretation on who was better," Van Pelt explained.

"If you and I played 10 days in a row and I beat you nine times, I'm better than you are; you can't say, well, Johnny's better than Bo; no, he's not. From the time I was a little kid, I kind of picked up on that, and always liked that about golf."

His 130 total is a career-best for Van Pelt, who flirted with his first TOUR win earlier this year at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. A bogey on the 14th hole on Sunday, though, essentially ended his bid.

Van Pelt couldn't be too disappointed. He basically had no expectations after battling an elbow injury that caused him so much pain he couldn't hit a driver 200 yards barely two weeks before he came to Puerto Rico.

"I think it was good to have the lead for that long," said Van Pelt, who opened with a 64 and set the pace in each of the first three rounds. "I had never done that as a pro. I think I just learned to be comfortable with it.

"I think the biggest thing I took from it was I was playing really well the first three days, and I probably should have had a bigger lead and kind of let a few get away. And I think I got a little complacent, and so probably learned to just stay on the gas when it's going good."

That's exactly what Van Pelt did on Friday. And he knows he'll need to keep the same mindset over the weekend.

"I need to keep giving myself chances," Van Pelt said. "... The more I put myself in that position, you know, one of these Sundays is going to be my day.