Killmer leaps to top of leaderboard at Players Cup

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2012 (5119 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — The bar has been raised again at the Players Cup.

Chris Killmer of Bellngham. Wash., just 25, is four-under-par through nine holes this afternoon and has surged to the top of the leaderboard at nine-under-par at Pine Ridge Golf Club.

Killmer is one ahead two players who are already finished today, former Canadian Amateur champ Darren Wallace of B.C. and Philadelphia native Vince Covello who are at eight-under-par 134 after 36 holes.

Covello posted first today with a three-under 68.

Wallace, a couple of groups later, fashioned a 65 that included seven birdies.

He was the Canadian Amateur champion at the age of 15, the youngest winner ever.

Now 23 and in his second CanTour season, Wallace has not yet had a top-10 finish.

“My success was like 10 years ago,” he said after today’s 65. “I always think about it , jokingly of course, like ‘Man I wish I could be the player I was when I was 13,’

“I hit the ball so much straighter. But the improvements I’ve made compared to how I was then, the potential is a lot better. It’s whether you can play to the potential or not.

“Today, I played to the potential. It was nice.”

Covello led after 36 and 54 holes here in 2010 but was caught and passed on Sunday.

“It’s something you just have to learn to deal with,” he said. “It’s nice being back in a good position again. All you can do is handle what you do. You can’t control what anybody else does. So you just play as hard as you can for the next two days. That’s my plan.”

Americans Jon McLean and Mark Hubbard were among the players just two shots back at seven-under.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

First-day leader Alex Quiroz, the 2002 champion here, followed up his 65 with a 78 today and may well miss the cut.

That cut follows the completion of today’s play, to the lowest 60 players and ties.

The champion will be crowned on Sunday afternoon.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca