Snedeker cools off, still leads
Day after opening with 59, he struggles early before regaining first place with 67
Brandt Snedeker couldn’t block out the buzz that surrounded his firstround 11-under 59 at the Wyndham Championship. He refocused just in time to reclaim the lead.
Snedeker followed his historic opening score with a 67 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the Wyndham Championship.
A day after becoming the 10th player in PGA Tour history to break 60, Snedeker moved to 14-under 126 halfway through the final PGA Tour event before the playoffs.
“You hear people telling you every two seconds, ‘Mr. 59,’ or saying how cool it was to watch it,” Snedeker said. “So, yes, totally on your mind.”
D.A. Points shot a 64 to reach 12 under — one stroke ahead of C.T. Pan, who also had a 64. David Hearn, Peter Malnati, Keith Mitchell, Harris English, Brett Stegmaier and Sergio Garcia were 9 under.
Snedeker, the 2012 Fedex Cup champion, won this tournament in 2007 before it moved across town to the par-70 Sedgefield Country Club. He had the tour’s first 59 of the year during the first round.
But it wasn’t easy to follow a score like that. Of the nine previous players who have broken 60 on the tour, six had to play the next day and only one has shot better than 65 in that round: Justin Thomas, who had a 64 in the second round of last year’s Sony Open.
“You can’t ignore it, you can’t try to forget about it,” Snedeker said. “Hardest thing is trying to get back into a rhythm . ... Now I’m better equipped for the next time I shoot 59 and play the next day.”
By the time Snedeker teed off Friday afternoon, that low score had held up for a one-stroke lead. It temporarily slipped away when he had three bogeys on the front nine.
He reclaimed the lead late in his round with some nifty putting. He sank two putts longer than 30 feet, one for eagle on the par-5 15th and another for birdie on the par-4 16th, and wrapped up with the best two-round score at this tournament since Carl Pettersson’s 125 a decade ago.
Sung Hyun Park shot a 9-under 63 for a share of the lead with Lizette Salas during the suspended second round of the Indy Women in Tech Championship. Salas, the first-round leader after a 62, had a 69 to match Park at 13 under par. Danielle Kang and Nasa Hataoka were two shots back. Kang shot 68, and Haraoka 69. The saturated greens became even softer following overnight and afternoon rain. The storms forced a suspension of nearly four hours, with nearly half the field unable to finish before dark, including Angel Yin and Amy Yang, who were tied at 10 under. Champions: Doug Garwood birdied the final three holes for an 8-under 64 and the firstround lead in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. The 55-year-old Garwood had nine birdies and a bogey, playing his final nine holes — the front nine at En-joie Golf Club — in 6-under 31. He won the 2016 SAS Championship for his lone PGA Tour Champions title. Michael Bradley and Marco Dawson shot 65, Woody Austin and Clark Dennis followed at 66, and Bob Estes and Tom Gillis were at 67. european PGA: England’s Paul Waring birdied four of the last seven holes for a 7-under 63 and a share of the Nordea Masters lead with Scotland’s Scott Jamison. Jamison birdied the last three for a 65 to match Waring at 11-under 129 at Hills Golf Club. South Africa’s Thomas Aiken was two strokes back after a 65.
U.S. Amateur: Devon Bling, Isaiah Salinda, Cole Hammer and Viktor Hovland advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur At Pebble Beach Golf Links.