Kang and Phil Mickelson each brought the possibility of 59 into the conversation.
Advertisement
Mickelson was 7 under through 10 holes at Monterey Peninsula, with a pair of par 5s among the eight holes he had remaining.
He made bogey on one of them, hooking his fairway metal into shrubs and having to reach into the thick plants with a hybrid to punch out the ball and make sure it only went about 6 feet so that it wouldn’t go up the slope and roll back into the bushes. He had a one-shot lead playing the final hole of the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, made double bogey and said later, “I am such an idiot”.
While players such as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed scuffled around Spyglass Hill, traditionally the tournament’s toughest layout, a cast of relative unknowns surged to the front playing the two slightly easier courses, Pebble Beach Golf Links and Monterey Peninsula Country Club. “I played the hardest holes on this golf course four under par”, he said. “But I’m not going to complain because I made a lot of good putts on the front (nine)”. It’s good enough for a share of the lead at 11 under with Hiroshi Iwata after two rounds.
Mickelson, Freddie Jacobson (69 at Spyglass Hill) and Chez Reavie (70 at Pebble Beach) were one shot to par behind at 10 under, while Justin Rose had a 68 at Monterey Peninsula and was at 9 under.
Iwata’s round also included an eagle, at the par-five sixth, along with six birdies and two bogeys. “One of my buddies came up and said, ‘You’re paired with Ray – he’s very famous, ‘ and I said, ‘Oh, really?’ I had to do some research on him, so I just Googled him”.
Pádraig Harrington was a shot behind Dunne on three under after five birdies and three birdies in a 68, also at Monterey.
Kevin Chappell (76 at Pebble Beach), who owns a home in Kirkland, was tied for 104th at 2 over.
EUROPEAN TOUR: South African star Charl Schwartzel shot a 6-under 64 to pull within two strokes of leader Anthony Michael in the suspended second round of the European Tour’s Tshwane Open in Pretoria, South Africa.
And the 28-year-old South Korean had an actor at his side cheering him along.
While some of the biggest names in the game battled hard to post sub-par scores, Reavie covered his final nine holes in a sizzling seven-under 30, considered the easiest of the three venues being used for this week’s event. He had four more bogeys and a double bogey for a 5-over 75 to slip to a tie for seventh.
Bernhard Langer shot a 10-under 62 to take a four-stroke lead in the Champions Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla. Six straight pars followed before his round took off with four birdies in five holes as he made it to five under.
Advertisement
Lefty averaged 1.5 putts per green in regulation on Friday (he hit 12 of 18 greens) and his 1.56 putts per GIR through two rounds puts him third in the field in that category.
