Brenden Pappas in Bogota Open
Brenden Pappas birdied three of his final four holes Saturday to take the clubhouse lead in the rain-delayed Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open. Pappas closed the day with back-to-back birdies to put the finishing touches on a 5-under 66 that left him at 9-under 133 through two rain-soaked rounds in the Nationwide Tour's second event on the 2011 schedule.
Florida's Matt Every shot a second-straight, 4-under 67 and is in second place at 8-under 134.
Julian Etulain (68) of Argentina and Tour rookie Clayton Rask (69) are tied for third place, two strokes back.
Another Floridian, Bubba Dickerson (66) is in at 6-under 136.
Despite darkening skies throughout the day, the rain that has plagued the event never materialized, allowing for a full day for players to catch-up with a schedule that continues to be way behind.
Half the field has yet to finish 36 holes. Those players, some with as many as 17 holes to go, will return to the course at 7 a.m. Sunday to complete their rounds.
The low-60 players and ties will make the 36-hole cut and advance to the third, and final round.
"I was definitely more aggressive the last four holes," said Pappas, a South African native who now lives in Texas. "Maybe I should play like that all the time."
Pappas hit "a magnificent 7-iron" on his closing hole to within five feet and canned the putt to break a temporary tie with Every, who had played in the group directly in front of him.
"We don't even know if we're going to get 36 holes in," said Pappas. "You knew from the start that you needed to make birdies and make them early. You have to try and get as far under-par as quickly as possible because the permutations are endless. At this point, I doubt we'll get 54 in."
Sunday's weather forecast calls for a 70 percent chance of additional rain.
"When I was coming in I was definitely playing like this was the last round," chuckled Every, who was being interviewed when he saw Pappas make a final birdie to break the tie at 8-under. "Brenden just birdied there so he's at 9-under. I hope it goes 54 holes now but I can't control the weather."
What Every can control is his swing, which is under the guidance now of PGA TOUR member Spencer Levin's father.
"Things are starting to make a lot more sense to me. It's simple and it works," he said. "I've always kind of played an open face off the toe and my miss was a glance. I've squared it up more. The club is a lot squarer through impact for a longer period of time. I'm hitting it great this week, maybe the best I've ever hit it."
