Four atop Wyndham
Two among leaders eye first PGA Tour victory
Tom Hoge maintained a share of the lead Friday at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., this time alongside Si Woo Kim, Talor Gooch and Billy Horschel.
Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10 under.
Hoge, whose best-ever tour finish was a second at The Greenbrier in September 2019 (the first tournament in the 2019-20 wraparound season), was asked what it would take for his first PGA Tour win.
“There’s a lot to that question,” he said.
The answer could be as simple as regaining his first-round form when he had seven birdies, an eagle and one par. This time, Hoge was more up and down with five birdies and three bogeys.
Kim, whose first tour victory came here in 2016 and made history a year later as the youngest winner of The Players Championship, shot a 65 to move up.
Kim got it going on the front nine (his final nine) after starting with nine consecutive pars. He had six birdies coming in, including the final two holes to move on top.
Kim’s approach shots down the stretch were on target — his final five birdie putts were from 12 feet or closer.
He said the rough at Sedgefield Country Club was “more sticky and deep” this year.
“It helps more to hit fairway, that’s really important,” Kim said. “That’s why I hit it more, try to focus on ,,, the fairway.”
Like Hoge, Gooch, 28, is seeking his first tour victory. Like Kim, Gooch shot 65 to get into the foursome on top.
It was the first time on tour Gooch, who opened with a 65, had multiple rounds that low in the same event. He had six birdies, including two of his final three holes, to move up.
“Anytime you shoot 65, it does’t matter who, what, when, where, why, you’ve done some good,” he said.
Kelly stays tough
Jerry Kelly was the only player at par or better after two days on Firestone’s difficult South Course in the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship in Akron, Ohio, the PGA Tour Champions’ first and only major of this season.
“You get out of position here, you’re in deep trouble, and that’s what it’s like in a major,” Kelly said. “That’s why I haven’t done that well in that many majors. It’s definitely harder to get back in position.”
Kelly shot an even-par 70 in tricky wind conditions to remain 2 under, three strokes ahead of fellow Madison, Wis., player Steve Stricker, Colin Montgomerie, Rod Pampling and Robert Karlsson.
Semifinals set
Oklahoma State’s Aman Gupta outlasted Stanford recruit Michael Thorbjornsen, 1-up, at windy Bandon Dunes to advance to the U.S. Amateur semifinals in Bandon, Oregon.
Gupta, from Concord, N.C., will face Matthew Sharpstene, a 4 and 2 winner over LSU’s Philip Barbaree, 4 and 2. Sharpstene is transferring from West Virginia to Charlotte.
Georgia Tech’s Tyler Strafaci and SMU’s Charles Osborne advanced in the lower half of the bracket.
Englishman still hot
Sam Horsfield kept up his excellent form since the resumption of the European Tour by shooting 7-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Celtic Classic in Newport, Wales.
The Englishman has been one of the leading players on the so-called U.K. Swing over the past month, having won the Hero Open for his first professional title and earning a top-10 finish in the British Masters. With an eagle at the par5 18th hole, Horsfield moved to 11 under for the tournament being held at Celtic Manor, the venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup.
Lewis shares lead
American golfer Stacy Lewis shot a 5under 66 for the lowest round of the week at the Ladies Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland, to take a share of the lead with Azahara Munoz after the second round.
Lewis, a former top-ranked player and a 12-time LPGA Tour champion, birdied the final four holes to bounce back from her only dropped shot— at the 12th— at the Renaissance Club. The two-time major winner is looking for her first win in nearly three years — since when she has given birth to her first child, Chesnee — to take into next week’s Women’s British Open, which she won in 2013.
“I love links golf,” Lewis said. “Everyone asks what my favourite golf course is and I say anything in Scotland. I love how creative you can be.”
Munoz bogeyed the final hole for a 69 that followed up a 68 from the first round, and is also 5 under overall.