Houston (AFP) – Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler shrugged off a six-hour storm delay to fire an eight-under par 63 and seize command in Friday’s second round of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson tournament. The two-time Masters champion stood on 18-under 124 after completing his second bogey-free round at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas.
“Feeling good. I had two nice days. We’ll see how the scores shake out as more guys come in,” Scheffler said. “Overall, very pleased with how I played. Yeah, pretty good. Go home, get a little bit of rest, and get ready for tomorrow.”
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In his final tune-up for the PGA Championship in two weeks, the 28-year-old American delivered the best 36-hole start of his PGA Tour career and set a 36-hole course record. “We’re on a golf course where you’ve got to make some birdies and the conditions were changing a good amount,” Scheffler said. “With the huge rain delay, that was a challenge as well. Getting back out and playing in some wind and some pretty wet fairways, but overall, it’s great to be playing at home. This tournament means a lot to me, and it’s nice to be playing good golf as well. I feel like my game is trending in the right direction.”
Scheffler said he passed time during the delay of six hours and 15 minutes by sharing stories with other players and taking advantage of the player dining area, then handled the wet conditions. “The golf course was pretty wet, but overall I think it recovered nicely,” Scheffler said. “I thought the golf course held up nice. The greens were pretty good still.”
American Sam Stevens birdied four of the last six holes to shoot 65 and stood second on 130. American Ricky Castillo was 11-under after 14 holes. Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas was 10-under after a 69, but Scheffler was the man to beat. “I’ve had some good experiences playing with the lead, and I’ll definitely lean on those as the weekend shapes up,” Scheffler said. “There’s a lot of golf left to be played. I had two solid days. Two more of those, and I should be in a good spot.”
Scheffler, seeking his first victory of the year after winning nine times last year, fired a season-low 61 in Thursday’s first round for a two-stroke lead. Scheffler, who started early Friday on the back nine, dropped his second shot at the par-five 18th hole just inside 10 feet from the flagstick and sank the eagle putt to seize a two-stroke lead at 12-under par. Moments later, the storm struck, and lightning stopped play before Scheffler could begin his second nine with half the field yet to start round two. Some won’t tee off until Saturday. Nearly an inch of rain fell before play resumed, bringing a total of about four inches over the past three days.
– ‘Stay focused, execute’ – Scheffler showed no signs of trouble after the delay, sinking a birdie putt from just under 14 feet at the first hole and another from just inside nine feet at the second. At the par-five fifth and par-four sixth, Scheffler dropped his approaches inches from the hole and tapped in each time for birdie to reach 16-under and stretch his lead to six strokes.
Scheffler followed with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three seventh and concluded his marathon day by blasting out of a bunker at the par-five ninth and sinking a birdie putt from just inside seven feet. “Going into the weekend, I’m just going to do my best to stay focused, execute,” Scheffler said. “I put myself in good position the last two days.”
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