Clarke and Crane lead Am Fam Championship after Round 2

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -Darren Clarke and Ben Crane are the new leaders at the American Family Insurance Championship after two rounds at TPC Wisconsin.

The defending champ Clarke and his new partner caught fire Saturday in the scramble format, posting a tournament-record 17-under 54 to surge to 26-under overall heading into Sunday’s final round. Crane fueled the charge with 11 birdies, including seven straight to close, as the team piled up 17 birdies on the day.

“When you shoot 54, that’s pretty impressive. I’ve never done that before. It was wonderful,” Clarke said. “We got on a roll and we played it really well… and he just poured everything in, which was, as his partner, wonderful.”

Crane said he didn’t even realize what they shot until they reached scoring.

“I got to the scoring trailer and I didn’t know what we shot… I was just like the next one, the next one, the next one,” Crane said. “When they said we shot 54 I’m like what?”

Clarke joked he barely had to putt down the stretch.

“From the eleventh I was just leaning on it watching him hole putts… I was delighted to watch him every time and watch the ball go in the middle,” Clarke said.

Cameron Percy and Greg Chalmers sit three shots back in second at 23-under after a 13-under 58. Three teams are tied for third at 22-under: Alex Cejka/Tim O’Neal (14-under 57), Jason Caron/Brett Quigley (13-under 58) and Rory Sabbatini/Brian Gay (11-under 60).

Day one leaders Freddie Jacobsen/Søren Kjeldsen slipped to a tie for sixth at 21-under after a 9-under 62.

Tournament host Steve Stricker and Mario Tiziani are tied for 25th at 16-under, while Madison native Jerry Kelly and Justin Leonard are tied for 29th at 15-under.

The tournament concludes Sunday with best ball, with the final round beginning at 8:55 a.m. CST.

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