'I struggled a little bit today'

After shooting an "easy" 67 in Thursday's first round, Alan Schulte had to work a little harder on Friday. Schulte, from Fishers, Ind., fought his driver all day but managed to post a 3-under 69 to grab a one-shot halfway lead.

By T.J. Auclair, Junior Editor

VERONA, N.Y. -- If Alan Schulte had been aggressive at Shenendoah Golf Club during the second round of the 39th PGA Professional National Championship on Friday, the competition might have been in some serious trouble.

Instead, the 43-year-old head professional from the Hawthorns in Fishers, Ind., was "tentative," but still managed to get around Shenendoah in 3-under-par 69. That, along with his 5-under 67 at Atunyote Golf Club on Thursday, gave Schulte the lead at 8-under 136 through two rounds, one shot better than Don Berry, 1995 winner Steve Schneiter and defending champion Mike Small.

Berry finished his second round with a seven-birdie, two-bogey 67. Schneiter shot 70 with a double-bogey, while Small finished his round by grabbing birdies on the last two holes for a 4-under 68.

"Off the tee I struggled a little bit today," Schulte said. "Yesterday's round felt easy. It was one of those rounds where I never really got into trouble. I never really had any long putts. It seemed like my putts were all pretty short.

"Today was more work. I actually made quite a few that were of significant length. I made 5- and 6-footers for pars sometimes, and stuff like that. I'm just pleased to get it in."

Weather-wise, the start to the second round was far better than the first. Muggy through most of the day, thunderstorms were expected late, but never materialized despite a heavy blanket of clouds.

Two courses were used for the first two rounds -- Shenendoah and Atunyote -- to accommodate this year's expanded 312-man field. Statistically, Atunyote played slightly more difficult both days with a scoring average of 74.0442 to Shenendoah's 73.8027.

On Friday, Schulte, Berry and Schneiter all played Shenendoah, while Small was at Atunyote -- the course that will be used exclusively on the weekend for the incredible 92 players who made the cut that included the top 70 and ties, and which fell at even-par 144.

Small, who has finished no worse than second in his two National Championship starts, ended Friday's round the same way he closed Thursday's -- with two timely birdies. If he can manage to win the National Championship Sunday, he will be the tournament's first back-to-back winner since Larry Gilbert accomplished the feat in 1982.

"I'm a little more nervous this year," Small admitted. "There are some expectations that you carry with you that you try to disassociate yourself with, try to get out of your mind. But there are some expectations that carry over, so you have to try and make everything its own little deal."

Berry, the head professional at Edinburgh USA Golf Course in Brooklyn Park, Minn., who tied for second in 2001, tied for third in 2002 and tied for ninth in 2003, shot himself into contention by picking up three consecutive birdies, beginning at No. 13.

"I played really well the past two days and have been struggling recently until I got to this tournament," he said. "I didn't hit the ball well in the practice rounds and to strike the ball the way that I have so far, so it is a pleasant surprise."

Schneiter's lone hiccup was that double-bogey, which came at the seventh hole -- his 16th of the day.

"I played solid all day except for on No. 7, where I unfortunately had a bad break, " said the PGA Professional from Sandy, Utah, who won the National Championship in 1995. "I pulled the ball to the left of the green and buried it in the lip of the bunker. Unfortunately, the bunker was not raked properly before and it landed in a bad position. It took me two strokes to get out of the bunker. I then missed my 10-foot bogey putt."

Sam Arnold, an assistant professional from the Vineyard Golf Course in Cincinnati, Ohio, was two shots off the pace at 6-under after shooting a 68 at Shenendoah. That had him tied for fifth with Hastings-On-Hudson, N.Y., assistant professional Greg Bisconti. Both players are making their National Championship debuts.

This is the seventh National Championship appearance for Schulte. The halfway leader's previous best finish was seventh in 2004.

As Schulte made the turn on to the front nine -- his back nine -- he was 6-under teeing it up on No. 3, a 456-yard par 4. It looked like disaster was about to strike after a wayward drive, but instead he pulled off a miraculous bogey that could have been far worse.

"On No. 3 it was a bad drive," he said. "I hit it in the hay, chopped it out to about 60 yards and hit it on there about 15 feet and made the putt. I was like, 'whoa, where are we going? I'm giving them all back here.' That was just part of not being aggressive off the tee there and not taking good targets."

Schulte closed his round fantastically, with impressive back-to-back birdies on the last two holes. On the par-5 eighth hole, he hit his second shot into a bunker guarding the front of the green. After a mediocre sand blast, he trickled in a slippery 15 footer for the birdie.

"Unfortunately, that bunker shot was so close to where I wanted to land it, but just hit soft," he said. "If I had given it just a little bit more, it would have released and went down near the hole. It was a downhiller that didn't have a lot of break. The speed is the most important thing and that one barely fell in."

At the par-3 closing hole, Schulte's tee shot stopped pin-high about 15 feet from the hole and he rolled it in for another birdie and his 69.

Schulte, who won the 2000 TaylorMade-adidas Golf PGA Assistant Professional Championship, is competing not far from his hometown of Cobleskill, N.Y.

"I was a little bit [excited about playing close to home] because my family is here and it gives me the opportunity to see people that I don't get to see very often," he said. "It's usually just a Christmas trip. So to be up here when the sun is shining is kind of nice."

The shot of the day came from John Traub, a PGA Professional from Mount Clemens, Mich. On the 183-yard par-3 ninth hole at Shenedoah, Traub's last of the day, he recorded the sixth hole-in-one of his career and his fifth in competition. The ace was crucial, as it gave Traub a 71 for the day and allowed him to safely make the cut by two shots at 2-under.

"I decided to hit a hard 7-iron and hit a really good shot straight at the pin," he said. "It hit the front of the green and rolled right into the cup. I had some pressure throughout the whole round since I knew that I was close to making the cut after this round."

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