BELLAIRE — Joe Jusczcyk maintained his game in the rain and managed to remain the leader Tuesday in the weather-disrupted Michigan Open.
The Dearborn Heights resident was among the golfers who had completed their second rounds before play was suspended after rain for most of the day, a rain delay of two hours and 30 minutes and finally fog and more rain at 7:30 p.m.
He shot a 4-under 67 in the morning wave of players on Shanty Creek Resort’s Cedar River Course, checked in at 10-under 132 and led by two shots.
The second round will resume at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, and once it is completed the field will be cut to the low 70 scorers and ties and the third round will be played.
Will Preston of Grand Rapids, a Penn State University golfer, was running second after shooting the low round of the day, a 66 in the morning that put him at 8-under.
Sean Harmeson of Traverse City, who just completed his college career at Kansas State, was 6-under through 10 holes of his second round.
Former University of Michigan golfer Yuqi Liu of Ann Arbor, now a professional, finished his round and was at 5-under for the tournament.
Others at 5-under were Doug Piesko of Davison, who had completed 10 holes, and Cameron Ruge of Traverse City, who had completed nine holes.
Bentley Coon of Horton, now 15 and a Drive, Chip and Putt National Champion when he was 11 in 2022, was among the golfers at 4-under. He had completed 14 holes of his round.
Juszczyk said he would have preferred a sunny day like Monday, but he managed to deal with the rain.
“It was pretty annoying at times, but I think overall it wasn’t too bad,” he said.
He said he played the par 3 holes better than he did in the first round.
“I putted the ball really well today and I kept it between the trees,” he said. “I was able to deal with the elements and make a few putts. I also made a couple of good putts late in the round to keep the round going. I was just hitting fairways, hitting greens and trying to take advantage of opportunities.”
Preston said his good spring play, including a tie for 20th in the Big Ten Conference Championship, has continued.
“I just did a good job of giving myself a lot of opportunities,” he said. “Obviously, if you get it out of play on this course, it can get ugly pretty quick. I lost one ball and that was my only bogey. Other than that, I gave myself a lot of chances for birdie.”
Preston chipped in on No. 15 for a birdie after missing his previous shot short of the green. He said that chip was the most helpful shot of the day.
“And the 25-footer I rolled in for birdie on 18 was pretty important, too,” he said.