It’s a two-for-one
Three aces already at TPC Boston
NORTON — Grayson Murray created a bit of a buzz at TPC Boston yesterday when he aced the eighth hole to highlight a second straight 68 that has him at 6-under-par 136, 3 shots behind Jon Rahm. It only took 65 seconds for that buzz to double, when Lucas Glover made a hole-in-one of his own at No. 16.
That makes three aces in two days of the Dell Technologies Championship, topping the previous record of two from 2006 and 2011. (Kevin Tway, playing with Murray the past two days, aced No. 11 on Friday.)
“I think Rod Pampling, who our third was, was feeling a little left out,” he joked.
Murray used a 6-iron at the 195-yard eighth, giving him two aces this season and one in each of New England’s tour stops. He also scored on No. 8 at TPC River Highlands in the first round of the Travelers in Connecticut.
“It was a really good swing. Sometimes you hit these thin shots and they work out and they go in, but this shot never left the pin,” said Murray, who entered the event as the bubble boy for the next stage of the playoffs, sitting 70th in FedEx Cup points. “It’s lucky when it goes in.”
He said he thought it was his eighth ace all-time, including one last year on the Web.com Tour and another in the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club.
Glover, playing his shot at No. 16 after Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter, said he went with an 8-iron after watching Mickelson’s 7-iron roll to the back of the green.
“Usually when I’m swinging OK and hit aggressive shots, they draw, which (is a) nice setup for that hole location,” said Glover, who has seven lifetime aces. “I was trying to hit it between the tent and the TV tower and draw it in and that’s where it started. Thought it was pretty good when it was in the air.”
The ace washed out a double bogey two holes before in Glover’s 69. He heads into the final 36 holes at 2-under.
The only par 3 yet to yield an ace this year is No. 3, which was the second-hardest hole in relation to par the first two days, yielding just 15 birdies.
Light breeze brings birds
With a calmer wind than during Friday’s opening round, scores dropped. The day’s average was 70.149, nearly a full stroke under the par 71 and nearly 2 below Friday’s number.
“You’re still guessing on the wind, but because it’s only a couple miles an hour here or there it’s not moving as much,” said Adam Hadwin, who shot a 65 in the morning and is part of a three-way tie for second at 7-under. “(Friday) was a complete guess almost the entire way around.”
The par- 4 12th was once again the most difficult hole at 4.287, while the par-5 closing hole was the easiest at 4.532.
Morgan Hoffmann and Branden Grace shared the low round of the day with 7-under 64s. Hoffmann had a pair of eagles in the morning, holing out from the greenside bunker at the par-4 fourth and rolling in a 17-footer at No. 18, and Grace matched it in the afternoon with an eagle from 3 feet at No. 18.
Both players entered the tournament needing a big week to advance to next week’s BMW Championship, open to the top 70. Hoffman (tied for 22nd at 3-under) was 83rd and Grace (tied for 15th at 4-under) 99th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Close shave for Keegan
Hopkinton High alum Keegan Bradley made the cut on the number at 2-over, following a 3-under par 68 that has him in a share of 57th place. He made four birdies on the front side, including both par 5s, one of the 10 birdies at No. 3 and another the par-4 fifth.
On the back nine, he 3-putted No. 13 for a bogey and had a birdie at No. 17 erased by a bogey at the last.