Landry shoot 65 to pace La Quinta
First-round leader Rahm trails by one after second-day 67.
Andrew Landry topped
the crowded CareerBuilder Challenge leaderboard after another low-scoring day in the sunny Coachella Valley in California.
Landry shot a 7-under 65 Friday on PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course to reach 16 under. He opened with a 63 Thursday at La Quinta Country Club.
“Wind was down again,” Landry said. “It’s like a dome out here.”
Jon Rahm, the first-round leader after a 62 at La Quinta, was a stroke back. He had two early bogeys in a 67 on the Nicklaus layout.
“It’s tough to come back because I feel like I expected myself to go to the range and keep just flushing everything
like I did yesterday,” Rahm said. “Everything was just a
little bit off.”
Jason Kokrak was 14 under after a 67 at Nicklaus. Twotime major champion Zach Johnson was 13 under along with Michael Kim and Martin Piller. Johnson had a 64 at Nicklaus.
Landry, Rahm, Kokrak and Johnson will finish the rota- tion Saturday at PGA West’s Stadium Course, also the site of the final round.
“You need to hit it a lot more accurate off the tee because being in the fair- way is a lot more import
ant,” Rahm said about the Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course, a layout the former Arizona State player likened to the Dye-designed Karsten course at ASU. “With the small greens, you have water in play. You need to be more precise. Clearly the hardest
golf course.”
Landry pointed to the fore- cast. “I think the wind’s supposed to be up like 10 to 20 mph or something, so I know that golf course can get a little mean,” Landry said. “Especially, those last three or four holes.”
Abu Dhabi HSBC Cham
pionship: Thomas Pieters shot a second-round 65 to take a one-stroke lead as top-ranked Dustin Johnson
and Rory McIlroy moved into contention.
Johnson followed up his ragged opening 72 with a bogey-free 8-under 64, tied for the low round of the tour
nament, and was four back. McIlroy, playing his first event since October, finished with an eagle on the par-5 18th and was three shots behind Pieters after a 66.
Jorge Campillo of Spain trailed Pieters by one shot after a 64. Last year’s Race to Dubai winner, Tommy Fleetwood was another shot back, along with Alexander Levy and Ross Fisher.
Singapore Open: Chap- chai Nirat birdied his first
four holes and then his last two in a 7-under 64 to grab the clubhouse lead in the second round of the weather-interrupted tournament.
The Thai golfer jumped to the top at 7-under 135 before the threat of lightning suspended play for the second day in a row with half of the 156-player field still to complete their second rounds.
Masters champion Sergio
Garcia was at 8 under with 10 holes to play. The Spaniard was tied for second with Kurt Kitayama, who had 16 holes to play, and Shaun Nor- ris, who beat the weather and signed for a 67.
Mitsubishi Electric Championship: Colin Montgomerie shot a second straight 7-under 65 to take a two-shot lead in the PGA Tour Champions season opener in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Bernhard Langer, defending the first of his seven 2017 titles, was six shots back after a 67.
Etc.: With questions about the status of Colonial’s title sponsorship, the PGA Tour said the historic tournament will be played as scheduled in May in Fort Worth, Texas.