Schauffele takes lead at CJ Cup
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEV. » Xander Schauffele began his second round by missing a 4-foot birdie putt. That was hardly a sign of what was to follow Friday in the CJ Cup at ShadowCreek.
Schauffele made putts as short as 3 feet and as long as 35 feet. He chipped in from 20 feet. He seemingly couldn’t miss during a twohour stretch when he made seven birdies over eight holes, including six in a row, for a career-best 29 on the back nine.
His momentum slowed with the pace of play, and he settled an 8-under 64 for a three-shot lead over Tyrrell Hatton.
“Some of those holes, you’re not really trying to birdie them, you’re just trying to leave yourself an uphill 35-footer. And fortunately, I made a couple of them,” Schauffele said. “It was a nice stretch. Got a little bit stale there on the other side. Pace of play slowed down a lot, kind of hot, easy to let themind wander.
“Upset I didn’tmakemore birdies, but pleased I didn’t make any bogeys.”
Hewas at 14-under 130andnow has the course record at Shadow Creek, which is hosting theCJCup for this year only because the COVID-19 pandemic made travel to South Korea impractical.
Hatton, among six players who were in England last week for the European Tour’s flagship event, washeaded for a rockyfinishwhen he laid up into the rough on the
par-5 16th that led to a second straight bogey. He rallied to close with a pair of birdies for a 68.
Russell Henley (68) was another shot back at 10-under 134.
Defending champion Justin Thomas found somemomentum with six birdies, despite missing two easy chances on par 5s, for a 66 and was eight shots behind at the halfway point.
“I guess I playedmy way somewhat back into it,” he said before turning to look at the scores on a nearby monitor. “But Xander kind of went off today, so that makes it a little harder.”
Thomas kept glancing at video boards trying to figure outwhat Schauffelewas doing, besides making a lot of birdies.
“This is a place you can do it,” Thomas said. “You can go crazy low out here. You’ve got a lot of bowl pins, a lot of pins you can get closeto. If youdon’t have control of your ball, as firm as the greens are, you can make a lot of bogeys, too.”
It wasn’t just Schauffele
making birdies.
He played alongside PGA champion Collin Morikawa, who shot a 65, and Viktor Hovland, who had a 66. They were a combined 21-under par, with a betterball score of 59.
Schauffele was doing most of the damage. After his tee shot to 3 feet on the 211-yard 13th hole, he rolled in a 25-foot putt on the next hole, a birdie putt from just over 35 feet on the 15th, twoputted from a sidehill lie on the fringe at the par-5 16th and looked to be in trouble on the par-3 17th when his
tee shot landed beyond the green near the creek.
The hop was gentle, leaving him in thick grass, and he chipped in. Then on the par-5 18th, he had to lay up from a fairway bunker, hit wedge to 15 feet below the hole and made that.
That’s when he hit the brakes, and so did the tournament. The course has enough reachable par 5s (and one par 4) to lead to congestion. And with so few volunteers, there is a lot of searching for balls, along with provisional tee shots.