Texas natives jockey for top in Byron Nelson
Scottie Scheffler said he tries not to put too much emphasis on winning one tournament over another, even when his hometown AT&T Byron Nelson is in play.
Ryan Palmer isn’t keeping any secrets. Win the Nelson in McKinney, not far from his home in another Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, knowing it would qualify the 46-year-old Texan for next week’s PGA Championship?
“I’d win this tournament and stay home next week, to be honest with you,” said Palmer, who lives in Colleyville but was born and raised in Amarillo in West Texas. “That means more to me.”
Scheffler shot his second consecutive seven-under 64 on Friday for a one-shot lead over Palmer and Mackenzie Hughes. Palmer’s 65 and a 64 from Hughes put them at 13under 129.
Two-time defending champion K.H. Lee made the cut on the number at four under, but the South Korean’s bid to become the first player in 12 years to win a tournament three consecutive times is all but gone. Lee birdied three of his final six holes just to make the weekend.
Two tied for lead
Two-time LPGA Tour player of the year Jin Young
Ko shot her second straight four-under 68 in the Founders Cup and shared the halfway lead with 37-year-old non-winner Sarah Kemp.
Kemp, whose best finish on tour is a tie for second in 2019, had a one-stroke lead with three holes to play but pulled her drive on the parfour 16th at Upper Montclair Country Club. The Australian was short of the elevated green on her second shot and missed a long par putt after a chip from a tough stance. She had a 65 to match Ko at eight-under 136.
Grace is clutch
Branden Grace couldn’t miss with his irons or his putter on his way to a nineunder 61 to build a two-shot lead after one round of LIV Golf Tulsa.
Grace finished with three straight birdies at Cedar Ridge, a course in the Tulsa suburbs that last hosted the LPGA Tour in 2008. He needed them to hold off Dustin Johnson, who showed signs of shaking off some rust by finishing with five straight birdies.
Els in lead
Ernie Els birdied the final two holes to cap off a sixunder 66 and take a onestroke lead over Paul Broadhurst in the second round of the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.