Sunny Day turns cloudy in a hurry
JASON Day was cruising along on the front nine of Bethpage Black during Friday’s secondround of The Barclays, rolling in birdies as if he were playing, well … a local muni.
Starting the day at 3-under after an opening round 68, Day made a 3-footer for birdie at the par-4 second hole and then strung together four consecutive birdies, beginning at the par-5 fourth hole, to reach 8-under. At that point the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer and defending Barclays champion thought he was in the zone. “I had it going great,” Day said. “I was thinking, ‘What’s the course record?’ ”
But then Day began to feel the wrath of the Black, which started to feast on Day’s score like Pac-Man. Instead of setting a course record, the Australian struggled to finish his round under par after a string of bogeys left him with a 1-under 70 for round. At 4-under for the tournament, Day is four shots behind leader Patrick Reed, who finished 36 holes at 8-under.
“It obviously can turn pretty quick, especially if you’re out of position,” Day said, adding, “It was diff icult out there. But I felt I grinded it out pretty good.”
The birdies were a thing of beauty. He reached the par-5 fourth in two and two-putted. At the par-5 f ifth, he drained an 11-footer for birdie. At the par-4 sixth, his approach from 142 yards stopped 4 inches from the cup. A fourth consecutive birdie came at the par-5 seventh, where he reached the green in three and drained a 3-footer. He was 8-under at the time and in full pursuit of Reed who was at 9-under.
But just when it looked like Day was in the zone, it got messy. He was left of the green at the par-3 eighth and missed his 12-footer for par. He took double-bogey at the par-4 ninth, where he hit his tee shot way left, chipped back onto the fairway, hit his third shot into a greenside bunker and needed three more shots to get up and down.
At the par-4 10th, he went from the left rough into a greenside bunker and needed a blast and two putts for another bogey. Suddenly minus-8 was minus-4, where it stayed after a birdie at the 13th and a bogey on the 14th. Day just missed an 11-footer for birdie at the 18th that would have made the round much better to sleep on.
Despite the struggles, Day wasn’t overly discouraged by his round, understanding the difficultly of the course and that there are 36 more holes to play.
“I’m looking forward to the weeke nd,” he sa i d. “I feel like I’m really close. The driving hasn’ t been s pot on, but I’m hoping the work I’ve done prior to this will catch up to my game. The touch feels pretty good. I feel like I’m rolling the ball pretty well. I just have to give myself the opportunities.
“I feel like I’ve just got to get out there and get a little bit sharper with the mental side of things and hopefully from there, give myself a chance on Sunday.”
The Barclays is shaping up for a terrif ic f inish. Reed followed a 66 on Thursday with a 68 on Friday. Fan favorite Rickie Fowler is two shots back at 6-under and defending FedEx Cup champion Jordan Spieth is tied with Day at 4-under.
“It’s only going to get tougher on the weekend,” Day said. “Everything is going to get a lot more condensed. I don’t really see it going too much lower than what it is. I still think single digits is a pretty good score.”
The front nine offers most of the scoring opportunities, while the back nine is playing extremely difficult, especially the 10th hole and holes 15 through 18. As the storied municipal course continues to dry out, conditions should o n ly get firmer, making play even more treacherous. Breaking the course record of 64 might be a bit much to ask.