Gove and Norris share lead at 10 under after Round 2

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American Jeff Gove (right) shot 9-under 63 to tie Australia's Jason Norris (left) for the lead at 10 under.

ARROWTOWN, New Zealand -- American Jeff Gove and Australian Jason Norris, strangers two weeks ago, are becoming fast friends. The two have been paired together for the initial two rounds the past two weeks and will share another tee time in Saturday's third round of the Michael Hill New Zealand Open. Gove blistered The Hills Golf Club course for a 9-under 63 on Friday to reach 10-under 134, while Norris needed only a 7-under 65 to match Gove at 10 under and grab his share of the 36-hole lead.

Gove tied for 28th at last week's HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship, while Norris moved up in the weekend standings to tie for seventh, his first top-10 finish in seven career Nationwide Tour starts.

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Friday
Third-round tee times
Round 1: Americans lead
Inside the Course: The Hills
Week 4 Power Rankings
On the Road: Sykora blog

New Zealand's Steve Alker, the winner a week ago in Christchurch, added a 67 to his opening 68 and stands alone in third at 9-under 135.

Americans Alex Prugh (71), one of three American first-round co-leaders, and Martin Piller (69) are joined by Aussie Stephen Dartnall (69) at 8 under and two back. Six more players are in at 7 under, including Kentucky's Josh Teater (72), a co-leader Thursday. Todd Demsey, the third American co-leader, shot a 73 to fall four off the pace.

"That was more fun than I've had on a golf course in a long time," said Gove, who hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. "I've been playing decent golf. Yesterday, I played really nice but messed up a good round at the end and turned a 6 under into 1 under. That was really frustrating. Today, I didn't know what to expect."

Nobody could have foreseen the birdie barrage that Gove, Norris and playing partner Ryan Armour would put together in the afternoon winds. The threesome started the day on the back nine, and by the time they made the made the turn, they were a collective 16 under, led by Gove's 7-under 29.

"Our group got on a bit of a roll, got a couple of good breaks but played nicely," said Gove, who ran off a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie to close the nine. "Just to see the ball go in the hole at the right speed, you kind of feed off that. Yesterday, the balls weren't going in, and today they were for all of us. Today, I got it close a lot. I didn't make a lot of putts, but they were really close, and that helps the score a lot, too. We all managed to play pretty good; we just ran out of holes and had to stop."

They'll start Round 3 hoping to keep the momentum going in the Tour's final stop of a three-tournament swing Down Under. Gove is a three-time winner on the Nationwide Tour but hasn't seen the victory circle since the 2005 Oregon Classic. Norris, a 36-year old from Melbourne is thankful just to be alive and playing, let alone worrying about winning.

At the 2007 Australian PGA Championship in December, Norris was heading home on a bicycle at night and ran face-first into a concrete wall. The resulting damage left him with his jaw broken in 13 places, his nose pushed back into his brain and a long, difficult road to recovery. He was out of action for nearly eight months and admits he may still not be 100 percent healthy.

"Not only did I nearly lose my life, but my golfing career. It's still pretty hard to think about," he said. "Things are moving on, but I think it helps me because you go back to the time when I was in that much pain, so things now are pretty good."

Things were pretty good as Norris rolled in five consecutive birdie putts starting at No. 12.

"When I get on a birdie run, I seem to play well and confident," said Norris, who also shot a 5-under 67 in last week's second round. "I've had a few lately, which is good. Hopefully there are more to come."

Meanwhile, Alker would like nothing better than to continue his sudden hot streak and add a second national title to his resumé.

"It's been hiding in the closet," he said about his return to form in his native land. "It's just a change in attitude really and some hard work. Total re-dedication and doing the proper things. It's in there. It's just coming out."

SECOND-ROUND NOTES:

• Terry Price withdrew prior to the start of the second round because of an elbow injury. John Riegger withdrew during the round because of a back injury. Peter Wilson withdrew during the round because of a collarbone/shoulder injury.

• Jeff Gove has held/shared the second-round lead six times previously in his 240 career Nationwide Tour starts. He has one victory in those six events. His lone win came at the 2005 Oregon Classic, a rain-shortened, 54-hole event. Gove shared the 36-hole lead at 10 under with Mexico's Esteban Toledo and New Zealand's Tim Wilkinson. Gove shot a 5-under 67 in the third round and was three clear at 15 under. Sunday's final round was rained out before Gove ever made it to the golf course. The win was the third of his Nationwide Tour career.

• Jason Norris is making only his eighth career start in a Nationwide Tour event and his third this year. Norris, a 36-year-old from Melbourne, tied for 66th at the Moonah Classic and tied for seventh at last week's HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship.

• Gove's career low round is a 62 (8 under) in the second round of the 1998 Miami Valley Open near Dayton, Ohio. Gove matched his career best in relation to par Friday, a 9-under 63 in the second round of the 2001 Wichita Open.

• Canadian Ian Leggatt equaled his career-best round with an 8-under 64 in Round 2. Leggatt's score matched an opening 6-under 64 at the 2000 Greensboro Open.

• Ian Leggatt's 10-stroke improvement today was good but not the best. A pair of Australians topped Leggatt's 10. Andrew Tschudin was 12 better with his 79-66. Michael McGrath was 13 better with his 79-66. Both players had a pair of bogeys in Friday's round. The two had some interesting stats to compare from the first and second rounds.

• Alex Prugh hit 14 greens and had 25 putts in his opening-round 65. He hit 15 greens but needed 34 putts to complete his second-round 71.

• Prugh has never held a 36-hole lead during his Nationwide Tour career. He is currently tied for fourth, which matches the closest he's been at the halfway point, a tie for fourth at the 2008 Cox Classic in Omaha, Neb., where he went on to tie for third.

• Veteran Bob Charles struggled to a 79 in the afternoon wind to finish at 152 (8 over) and miss the cut. Charles, one day shy of his 73rd birthday (Saturday), became the oldest player to play in a Nationwide Tour event when he teed it up Thursday morning.

• Reigning U.S. Amateur Champion Danny Lee shot a 6-over 77 Friday and missed the cut.

• There were three eagles on the downhill, 329-yard, par-4 15th: Gove, Henrik Bjornstad, Martin Piller.

• Australian Michael Sim was expected to be among the favorites this week, but instead missed the cut with rounds of 74-77-151 (7 over). Sim, No. 4 on the Tour money list, had finished tied for 23rd, third and tied for fourth in his three starts this year.

• Friday's scoring average was 72.178.

• Saturday's third-round tee times will run from 9:01 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. Play will be in twosomes with an expected finish time of 6 p.m.