Golf: Haas hastens to the front

Golf

Haas hastens to the front

Jay Haas birdied his final two holes to secure a two-stroke lead after the second round of the Western Open in Lemont, Illinois. Haas jumped to the front with a four-under-par 68. Tom Watson (71) and Steve Lowery (70) were tied for second on 139. The two-times defending champion Nick Price (71) was tied for 48th, nine strokes behind, while the US Open champion, Corey Pavin (73), trailed by 10 strokes and only just made the cut. The cut was made at 147, and among the casualties were the former US Open champions Ernie Els, Lee Janzen and Curtis Strange, last week's St Jude Classic winner Jim Gallagher, and the reigning Masters champion Ben Crenshaw.