NORTON, Mass. -- With an orange ribbon on his hat and nine birdies on his card, Matt Kuchar pulled within a shot of the lead Saturday in the Deutsche Bank Championship. Not that he needed a reminder, but a message posted on the scoring table spoke to the emotions involved in this tournament.
Players were offered a chance to donate to a trust fund for the 4-year-old daughter of Lance Bennett, his caddie. Bennett's wife, Angela, died of a seizure Wednesday. Kuchar decided to play to raise awareness and get the tour involved in helping the family.
Ryan Palmer overcame a rocky start for an even-par 71. Jason Day struggled at the end for a 68. They were tied for the lead on the TPC Boston going into the third round of a FedEx Cup playoff event that ends on Labor Day.
Kuchar was a shot behind after a 66 that featured six consecutive birdies around the turn.
"You never know how things will work out in the game of golf," Kuchar said. "But it felt like there's some fate working, as well. The funeral is coming up and some things that will be difficult. But right now, I feel like there's some inspiration and some fate working."
On his bag is Brian Reed, a longtime friend who introduced Kuchar to Bennett several years ago.
"Still felt like Angela was on my mind almost every hole, every shot," Kuchar said.
Palmer, who started with a 63, made birdie on his first hole and thought he was off to the races. He followed with a double bogey, a bogey and then tried to hang. A birdie on the final hole put him at 8-under 134.
"It could have gone the other way real quick," Palmer said. "I was glad to get that last birdie on 18 and salvage even (par)."
Day, who shared the 54-hole lead last week at The Barclays, looked as though he might pull away. Day ran off five birdies on the front nine for a 31 to build a two-shot lead, only to drop four shots coming in. He caught a flyer on No. 12 that went over the green into a hazard, played a low chip through thick rough and made a big bogey putt.
He still had the lead when he went from the green in two on the par-5 18th. The ball went long, and he hit a flop out of thick rough that ran through the green and into the bunker, leading to his third birdie of the back nine.
Champion-Shaw Charity
CALGARY, Alberta -- Bob Tway shot a 7-under 63 for a share of the second-round lead with Joe Durant and Joe Daley in the Champions Tour's Shaw Charity Classic.
Durant and Daley shot 68 to match Tway at 10-under 130 at Canyon Meadows.
The 55-year-old Tway is winless on the Champions Tour after winning eight times on the PGA Tour, including the 1986 PGA Championship. He had an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys.
Gary Hallberg, Mark McNulty and David Frost were 9 under. Hallberg shot 65, McNulty 66, and Frost 68. Bernhard Langer, the tour leader with five victories this season, topped the group at 8 under after a 65.
Tom Pernice Jr. and Bart Bryant, tied for the first-round lead after matching the course record of 62, struggled in the second round. Pernice had a 70 to drop into a tie for seventh at 8 under, and Bryant shot 71 to finish at 7 under.
Defending champion Rocco Mediate was tied for 16th at 6 under after a 66. Fred Couples also was 6 under after a 66.
Web.com Tour Finals
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Colt Knost shot his third straight 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead in the Hotel Fitness Championship, the first event in the Web.com Tour Finals.
Knost, the 29-year-old former SMU player who won the 2007 U.S. Amateur, had three birdies and eagled the par-5 12th at Sycamore Hills to reach 15 under. He was fourth last week in the Portland Open to finish 34th on the Web.com Tour's regular-season money list.
Second-round leader Sam Saunders and England's Greg Owen were a stroke back. Saunders, Arnold Palmer's grandson, had a 70, and Owen shot 68. Saunders finished 45th on the Web.com money list, and Owen was 27th.
Sports on 08/31/2014