Canadian Jason Kokrak fired a 64 to open a one-stroke lead over Chez Reavie (67), even as Jordan Spieth, the world’s No. 1 player, missed the cut by five shots.
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Tied for third at eight under is Dustin Johnson (66), as well as 2014 champion Bubba Watson (68) and Troy Merritt (66) as overnight leader Camilo Villegas dropped five shots behind Kokrak. Rory McIlroy (69) and Adam Scott (68) were four shots behind.Johnson was hitting the driver so well that after a high cut that went 332 yards on the 12th hole, he chose to try the same shot on the 13th.
Lahiri, who was among the late starters, had two birdies against three bogeys when darkness led to suspension of play with 14 players yet to complete their first round.
“But yeah, I can certainly take positives out of (Friday’s) round”.
Suffering eight bogeys and a double bogey on No. 18, Spieth missed eight putts from inside 10 feet, including one from 31 inches. Kokrak will be going for his first PGA Tour victory, which looks to be a long way off considering the tournament is only at the halfway point. He has finished no worse than fourth in four of the eight previous times he has played, and he has more rounds at 67 or better (10) than anyone since he started playing.
“I was very surprised seeing 6-irons stopping where they were stopping”, he said.
Jamie McLeary is a shot behind after matching that birdie haul in also posting a four-under-par score on the same layout.
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) England’s Holly Clyburn shot a 7-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with 46-year-old Catriona Matthew of Scotland in the Women’s Australian Open.
The Northern Irishman birdied the first, 7th, 10th, 11th and 17th holes, before recovering from a bogey on the 15th with a birdie on the penultimate hole. But only when he went to clean off the sole and noticed a different set of spikes did Harrington realize the right shoe was different from the left.It didnt affect his play, although he surely left Riviera wondering who was wearing his other shoe.
“All of the things that you need to do around this golf course, I did pretty well today”. “We’ll be fine.” Last season, Spieth followed his first two missed cuts on the USA circuit with a tie for seventh and a runner-up spot.
“You don’t really shoot 8 under around this place not playing good”, Villegas said.
“That wasn’t too hard to do”, Johnson said kiddingly, eliciting a laugh from Spieth, who was surprisingly upbeat despite the early exit. He hasnt won since Doral a year ago, and he hasnt seriously challenged in the final round of any tournament since the HSBC Champions last November.
With four birdies in a five-hole stretch in the middle of the second round, while avoiding any big mishaps on the greens, Johnson shot five-under-par 66 to put himself in yet another strong position heading into the weekend at Riviera Country Club. He had three birdies on the front but three bogeys and two birdies on the back nine.
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“It was just one of those days, they (putts) just didn’t go in”, said Watson.
