Sung Kang put on a show as he set a tournament course record at Monterey Peninsula Country Club by shooting a superb 11-under-par 60 to rocket into the joint lead at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
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Daniel Im of the United States (68) and Theunis Spangenberg (71) of South Africa were tied for third on 4 under alongside Haydn Porteous, who won the tour’s Joburg Open last month.
Sung Kang had not heard of comedian-actor Ray Romano. As he said, “I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole”.
This wasn’t a vintage Spieth round, just an efficient, quick day for the world’s best player.
“I definitely had some days there when I was in a cast and couldn’t do anything where I was wondering if it was actually going to be fixed”, he said. “I played the hardest holes on this golf course four under par”, he said.
Mickelson, the four-time AT&T victor playing in the event for the 21st time and in his 530th career PGA Tour tournament, appeared well on his way to a superior score.
Phil Mickelson, Freddie Jacobson and Chez Reavie are all a shot adrift after the second round.
Reavie fired an eagle and seven birdies with one bogey on the par-71 Monterey Peninsula course, one of three in use for the tournament along with Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill – both par-72 layouts.
If Mickelson can somehow survive the weekend, he could join Mark O’Meara as the only 5-time champion of Pebble Beach. “The last piece is performing (in) the clutch”.
As for Kang, it’s anybody’s guess what he might do with two rounds to go. Gwladys Nocera of France and Scotland’s Pamela Pretswell were tied for third, two behind Larsen, after 68s.
He needed to go 5-under-par his last 8 holes to achieve that magical number. He was let go by Tiger, however, and has caddied for veteran Jim Furyk since 1999. I just couldn’t get it in the hole. “I had a putt to win from about 12 feet and I missed it and Jake celebrated and that was about it”.
Rose is among six players from the top 10 in the world, and the only one of them to break 70.
Schwartzel in contention after 64: At Pretoria, South Africa, South African star Charl Schwartzel shot a 6-under 64 to pull within two strokes of leader Anthony Michael (69) in the suspended second round of the European Tour’s Tshwane Open. He, too, likes his chances.
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Bill Murray is typically the fan favorite at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, hamming it up with the crowds and entertaining the masses, but a report has surfaced stating Murray threw fans’ cellphones over a restaurant’s second-floor rooftop this week. “It kind of gets the momentum going basically. It will be my first competitive round ever at Pebble, so it will be a good day”. He made a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 10. The biggest cheers are unlikely to come after a booming 350 yard drive or a sumptuous flop-shot from a green-side bunker but rather a witty piece of banter or a hysterical act of self-depreciating humour from a Hollywood personality.
