Haas’ finishing kick nets two-shot lead at Phoenix

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Bill Haas’ 9-iron landed to the right of the pin and spun left, settling 3 feet away for a birdie on the par-3 16th in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

“I just tried to play the hole like I would any other hole, even though it’s not like any other hole,” Haas said about the stadium hole that was packed with 20,000 fans on the warm Thursday afternoon.

Haas shot a 7-under-par 64 at TPC Scottsdale to take a two-stroke lead. The birdie on 16 capped a five-hole stretch he played in 5 under, with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and a 20-footer for eagle on the par-5 15th.

The 16th, playing 151 yards to a front pin, tripped up Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas. Fowler bogeyed it in a 66 that left him tied with Billy Horschel, Bryson Dechambeau, Chris Kirk and Chesson Hadley. Thomas made a double bogey in a 68.

Fowler hit short into the right bunker and two-putted from 30 feet.

Coming off three straight birdies to tie for the lead, Thomas hit a wedge in the front left bunker, blasted across the green and three-putted from the fringe.

He bogeyed the par-4 17th after chipping into the water and then was angered when a woman screamed while Jordan Spieth was teeing off on 18. Spieth hit a 325-yard drive into the fairway and finished with a par for a 72.

While Fowler lost a stroke on 16, he had an eagle and two birdies on the other three holes in the chaotic closing stretch.

At Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chris Paisley shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-shot clubhouse lead over David Horsey after a weather-interrupted first round at the Maybank Championship.

Play was suspended for almost two hours due to the threat of storms, with 40 players having not completed their rounds.

At Barwon Heads, Australia, Cheyenne Woods, niece of Tiger Woods, shot 5-under 68 and is one stroke behind leader Beth Allen at the season-opening

Vic Allen despite not practicing because an airline problem delayed the arrival of her clubs.

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