Na climbs leader board at Colonial, shoots 62
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Na enjoys Colonial and has the cluster of low rounds to prove it.
Na eagled the par-5 first hole Friday on the way to an 8-under 62, his third score at least that good in the past six rounds on the cozy course made famous by Ben Hogan. Na, tied for second at 8 under with first-round leader Tony Finau, trailed Jonas Blixt by one halfway through Colonial.
After opening with a 62 and closing with a course record-tying 61 to finish fourth last year, Na followed the eagle with six birdies in a bogey-free round after being happy to shoot par 70 on a windy afternoon in the first round.
“One of those golf courses I look forward to coming to,” said Na, a two-time PGA Tour winner who puts Colonial in his top three along with Riviera and Hilton Head. “Fits my game. You’ve got to take advantage of those weeks because there is not too many golf courses like this on tour anymore.”
Blixt, a three-time winner playing with Na, holed out from 132 yards for eagle on No. 17 and shot 64 to reach 9 under. Finau, playing the back nine first, started with nine straight pars before three birdies and a bogey on his final nine for a 68.
Local favorite Jordan Spieth, a shot off the lead to start the day, shot 70 and was four behind Blixt. Defending champion Justin Rose, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3, shot 67 and was 1 over, one stroke above the cut line.
Rory Sabbatini, the 2007 Colonial champion, shot 66 and was alone in fourth at 6 under. Jim Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who hasn’t won in four years, shot 66 and was at 5 under.
Spieth made birdie putts of 50 feet on No. 10 and 46 feet at 12, giving him three putts of more than 40 feet in the same tournament for the first time after making a 46-footer in the first round. But the threetime
major winner missed three par putts under 10 feet among his five bogeys.
Rickie Fowler missed the cut by one shot at 3 over, ending a streak of 21 straight cuts made.
SENIOR PGA: In Pittsford, N.Y., defending champion Paul Broadhurst and Esteban Toledo shared the lead two rounds into the Senior PGA Championship.
Another day of unsettled weather led to a shuffle of the leaderboard with Broadhurst and Toledo vaulting 15 players. Both shot 3-under 67 to reach 3-under 137 at Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course.
Broadhurst, who won last year’s tournament at Harbor Shores in southwest Michigan, carded a bogey-free round. Starting on the back nine, he birdied his first two holes — the par-4 10th and par3 11th — and added a birdie on the par-4 seventh. The 53-year-old Englishman has five PGA Tour Champions victories.
Toledo had five birdies and two bogeys. The 56-year-old from Mexico won the last of his four senior titles in 2016.
First-round leader Scott Parel and Retief Goosen were two strokes back.
LPGA: In Williamsburg, Va., playing partners Jennifer Song and Jacqui Concolino stuck together in the Pure Silk Championship. Bronte Law kept up, too.
Rebounding from a bogey on the par4 14th with three straight birdies, Law shot a 3-under 68 on Friday afternoon at Kingsmill Resort to match early starters Song and Concolino at 9-under 133.
Song, tied for the first-round lead with Law and Anna Nordqvist, also had a 68. Concolino had a 67 alongside Song in the first group of the day off the 10th tee.
Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sagstrom were a stroke back. Ciganda had a 65, and Sagstrom shot 66.