Swafford shoots 65, leads in rainy La Quinta

Hudson Swafford shot his second straight 7-under 65 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge, finishing just as a storm hit the desert layouts.

Hudson Swafford shot his second straight 7-under 65 on Friday to take a onestroke lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge, finishing as an afternoon storm hit the desert layouts in La Quinta, California.

Winless in his four-year PGA Tour career, Swafford had a bogey-free round on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West after opening Thursday 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.”

First-round leader Dominic Bozzelli and Danny Lee were tied for second. 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.”

Lee, from New Zealand, had a 64 at La Quinta.

“I thought the weather was going to be a lot worse than this today, but it wasn’t actually bad at all,” Lee said. “I actually wanted to play in the rain, so I could experiment with myself.”

The tee times were moved up an hour to 7:30 a.m., and Swafford and many players finished before the storm rolled in over the San Jacinto Mountains at about 1 p.m.

“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.”

Phil 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.

Abu Dhabi Championship

New year, same old story for Martin Kaymer at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The two-time major winner from Germany set up another chance for a fourth victory at his regular yearopening tournament, shooting a second straight 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round.

“My favorite golf course,” Kaymer said after tapping in a birdie on the par-5 18th to nudge ahead of Rafa Cabrera Bello with a 12-under 132 total.

Kaymer has averaged 68.73 in 38 rounds over the 7,583-yard National Course, a long track that suits his eye and his game. He feels extremely confident on the greens — he already has 14 birdies and an eagle this week — and the course’s many doglegs is perfect for a player who fades the ball off the tee.

“He’s a dangerous player around here,” said Henrik Stenson, who gave up his first-round lead to his Ryder Cup teammate. “I think it sets up beautifully for him. He’s shown that in the past with three wins here.”

Those victories came in 2008, ‘10 and ‘11. The 53rdranked Kaymer should have had another in 2015, only to throw away a 10-shot lead with 13 holes to play and get reeled in by Gary Stal.

Kaymer’s round on Friday took off after rolling in a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 8, allowing him to rebound from a bogey on No. 6. He birdied six holes on the back nine as the wind died down, having been quite strong in the early afternoon.