Affleck surrenders lead, still in the hunt

The News
SYDNEY - You can't change a horse in mid-stream, but you can change putters mid-tournament.
Abercrombie's Brian Affleck's putter went cold Thursday on Day 2 of the Nova Scotia men's amateur golf championship, and he tumbled out of the lead at Lingan, just outside Sydney.
So he's going to try a different putter today,
After his sizzling six-under 66 on Wednesday left him two shots clear of the field, Affleck had 37 putts in the second round yesterday, shooting a three-over 75 to put him at three-under for the tournament.
He's alone in third, two shots behind leader Leon Carter and Sean Hurley.
"I'm using a different putter (today) to see what happens," said Affleck, who three-putted three times and couldn't make anything with the short stick, despite hitting 11 of 14 fairways and missing just three greens in regulation.
"It's all in my head," Affleck said. "You should never shoot over par when you hit the ball like that."
With strong winds whipping the 100-year-old course, Affleck started with a birdie on the opening hole and also birdied the ninth, but bogeys at three, five and six left him at 5-under for the tournament as he headed to the back nine.
There, he found more problems: on the par-5 tenth, he belted a drive to about 100 yards on the short hole, but his wedge shot sailed over the green and he was unable to get up and down for birdie.
"That was like a bogey," he said.
He also bogeyed 12 and 15, in a forgettable round that nonetheless has him squarely in the hunt halfway through the championship. "I hit the ball better today then I did (Wednesday)," he said.
"I'm still in it."
Two other Abercrombie golfers didn't fare as well: Scott Morton is 20 over par with scores of 78 and 86 and Bruce Gordon is at plus-26, after rounds of 87 and 83.