Lee shoots superb 64 to take desert course by storm
Hudson Swafford beat the rain yesterday (NZ time) in the CareerBuilder Challenge, and Phil Mickelson played his best in the worst of the conditions. Then, there’s Danny Lee. ‘‘I actually wanted to play in the rain, so I could experiment with myself,’’ Lee said. ‘‘Hopefully, it rains tomorrow.’’
The New Zealander probably won’t get his wish today, but another storm could pass through the desert oasis tomorrow.
Swafford finished just before the rain moved in, shooting his second straight 7-under 65 to take a onestroke lead. Winless in his fouryear PGA Tour career, the former Georgia star had a bogey-free round on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West after opening the pro-am tournament Friday at La Quinta Country Club.
‘‘Managed to keep the ball in the fairway,’’ Swafford said. ‘‘That gives you a lot of nice approach shots into greens. I’m driving the ball beautifully.’’
The rain-seeking Lee and firstround leader Dominic Bozzelli were tied for second.
Lee closed with a birdie for a 64 at La Quinta, far exceeding his expectations after a month off.
‘‘Just trying to break 80, seriously,’’ Lee said. ‘‘Trying to not shoot something overly ridiculous, since I’m playing with the amateurs.
Bozzelli followed an opening 64 on PGA West’s Stadium Course with a 67 at La Quinta.
‘‘It wasn’t my best today, but I was able to save par, made some pretty big par saves throughout the round and kept it going,’’ Bozzelli said. ‘‘Actually, pretty lucky that weather held off a little bit longer than I thought it would.’’
The tee times were moved up an hour to 7.30am, and Swafford and many players finished before the storm rolled in over the San Jacinto Mountains at about 1pm.
‘‘I had a full rain suit, five towels in the bag,’’ said Swafford, coming off a tie for 13th last week in Hawaii in the Sony Open. ‘‘My caddie was griping all day about how heavy it was. But I made a few birdies early and he said the bag was getting a little lighter.’’
Mickelson got to use all of his rain gear, playing the final six holes in intermittent showers in the second-to-last group off the 10th tee on the Nicklaus course. The tournament ambassador followed an opening 68 at La Quinta with a 66 to reach 10 under in his return from two sports hernia surgeries.
‘‘I hit a lot more good shots today than I did yesterday, but I’m still hitting some really bad ones,’’ said Mickelson, the 2002 and 2004 winner. ‘‘And that’s fine. It’s to be expected. I knew that was going to happen, but I’ve been able to kind of manage those and get away with some pars.’’
The 46-year-old Mickelson had surgery October 19 – three days after tying for eighth in the seasonopening Safeway Open – and again December 12.
Lefty made a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th – his second hole – and holed a bunker shot for birdie on the par-4 first. In the rain, he birdied Nos. 4-6 and closed with three pars with the wind picking up. ‘‘It was really hard in these conditions,’’ Mickelson said. ‘‘I actually made some birdies in these conditions, so I felt very fortunate with the score that I had in this weather. The back nine I played some really good golf.’’
Harman had a 65 on the Stadium Course, the toughest of the three layouts and the site of the final round
Fellow Kiwis Steven Alker and Tim Wilkinson sit further back on the leaderboard tied for 39th place at 5-under. Wilkinson had the better second round of the two countrymen, hitting seven birdies and three bogeys to finish 4-under. He moved up 40 places.
Meanwhile, Ryan Fox has backed up his early confidence with a solid start at the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi, surviving the cut to sit tied for 38th on the leaderboard at four-under par.
The Kiwi said earlier in the week that he was ready for golf’s bigtime as he ventures on to the European Tour and he has already shown some promising signs, carding one-under in the second round. Fox shot five birdies in the second round but it wasn’t all going his way, a double bogey on the 13th hole his biggest blight while also picking up bogeys on holes five and 16.
He remains eight shots off the pace, German’s Martin Kaymer in scorching form at 12-under.
Turning 30 today Fox said he is in the right space with body and mind to tackle the sport’s second biggest Tour successfully.
‘‘I have played enough golf worldwide and in big events that I feel comfortable enough at this level,’’ he said.
‘‘I will just go out and do what is best for me and see what happens.’’