A second straight spherical of 64 vaulted hometown favourite Scottie Scheffler into the lead on the ATT Byron Nelson on Friday in McKinney, Texas.
The world No. 2 is a Dallas native and the highest-ranked participant within the discipline by an extended shot. At 14-under 128, Scheffler enters the weekend with a one-shot lead over Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, who additionally shot a 64 Friday, and Ryan Palmer (65). Si Woo Kim of South Korea is in fourth at 11 underneath after taking pictures a 66 Friday, and Richy Werenski (68) is fifth at 10 underneath.
Harrison Endycott of Australia matched Scheffler and Hughes for the spherical of the day with a 64; he joined a big tie for sixth at 9 underneath that included countryman Jason Day (69) and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (67) amongst others.
After Scheffler posted two eagles Thursday, he picked up the place he left off by beginning his spherical with two birdies on the again 9 of TPC Craig Ranch, every putt inside 10 toes. He quickly added a 34-footer for birdie on the par-4 sixteenth.
Birdies at Nos. 18, 3, 5 and 6 vaulted him to 7 underneath for his spherical. He made his lone misstep of the day with a bogey at No. 8, however he obtained it again at his closing gap, birdieing the par-5 ninth.
“I want to win a lot of tournaments. This one being in the hometown, it would definitely be a lot of fun with the crowd behind me this weekend,” Scheffler mentioned.
“But that’s not stuff that occupies too many of my thoughts. I don’t want to place too many emphasis on one tournament. I just want to go out and do my best and see where that puts me.”
Scheffler is not the one one benefiting from his hometown occasion. Palmer, a 46-year-old Texan who lives within the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, posted seven birdies with only one bogey on Friday.
“It’s nice to shoot a good round after a really good round on Thursday. It’s hard to do,” Palmer mentioned. “I hit the ball well today. I really feel like my ball-striking was a little better today than it was yesterday. Never really got in trouble, which was the key.”
Palmer — who hasn’t gained a non-team occasion on tour since 2010 — would turn out to be eligible for subsequent week’s PGA Championship with a win this week, however making the key was not his precedence.
“I’d win this tournament and stay home next week, to be honest with you,” Palmer mentioned. “That means more to me. If I get in next week, great, but winning on Tour, it’s the hardest thing to do … I wouldn’t have a problem winning and staying home and celebrating.”
Hughes has stayed bogey-free for 2 rounds, with seven birdies on Friday organising his 64. He caught his strategy into the quick par-4 sixth 3 toes of the cup, however he saved most of his fireworks for the tip of the spherical.
At the par-4 sixteenth, Hughes holed out for birdie from 50 yards off the inexperienced. He adopted that on the par-3 seventeenth with a 22-foot birdie putt.
“I kind of blocked my tee shot (at No. 16) and I had kind of a pathway to get it left of the green there, and that was kind of my best option,” Hughes mentioned of his pitch-in. “Put it in a great spot and kind of had the whole length of the green to work with, so I felt like it was a good spot to get up-and-down for par and did one better.”
First-round chief S.Y. Noh of South Korea, who shot a 60 on Thursday, posted a 3-over 74 to fall right into a tie for 14th at 8 underneath.
Stewart Cink, 49, shot a 6-under 65 to make the reduce on the quantity at 4 underneath par. Two-time defending champion Okay.H. Lee of South Korea carded a 68 to make the reduce at 4 underneath as effectively.
–Field Level Media