Rickie leads tricky Honda Classic by 1
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Rickie Fowler has been consistent and mistake-free in taking the lead in the Honda Classic.
The Jupiter resident shot his second consecutive bogey-free 66 in front of a tournamentrecord crowd for a Friday.
That put him at 8-under-par 132, good for a one-shot lead over Jimmy Walker, who followed his opening 67 with a 66 on a sunny, breezy day at the Champion course at PGA National Resort & Spa.
“I’m just happy to go bogey- free,” Fowler said. “That’s a big accomplishment around this golf course. Not just one day, but the two back-to-back. I’m so pleased with how I’ve managed my game around the golf course.”
First-round co-leader Sergio Garcia, who shot 65 Thursday, came back with a 69 and was alone in third place at 134. Adam Scott shot 65 to move up to fourth at 135.
Michael Thompson, Thursday’s other co-leader, shot 73 and was tied for ninth at 138 with William McGirt, who shot
66-72.
No. 3-ranked Rory McIlroy shot 72-72 to miss the cut, which was 3-over 143, for the second consecutive year. Daniel Berger, last year ’s runner-up, shot 73-72.
“I’ve been swinging well,” said Fowler, the world’s No. 5-ranked golfer. “It’s nice to hit fairways, hit greens, especially in places like this where it’s very demanding tee-togreen.
“I’m definitely pleased with the first two days and looking forward to the weekend.”
Thursday, Fowler shot 4 under with three birdies on the front nine and birdied the 18th. Starting on the 10th tee Friday morning, he had a birdie at the 16th and eight pars.
He got up and down for pars at 1 and 2, then got up and down for birdie at the par-5 third.
Fowler got up and down for par from 54 yards on the 4th after driving into a fairway bunker. He finished his round with two-putt pars and successful birdie putts of 8 feet at the sixth and 22 feet at the ninth.
“I kept myself in it with some solid up and downs, made some good putts and then continued to move forward,” Fowler said. “I made a couple of birdies coming in so it was a little bit of a bonus there at the last." Walker jumped into solo second by sinking a 25-footer for birdie on the 17th and a 41-foot eagle putt at the par-5 18th. Up until then he’d had an indifferent round going with four birdies and three bogeys. “I struggled with the putter a little in the middle of the round, my speed was off just a little bit and I finally got the speed dialed in on 17 and made one and that was nice,” said Walker, who added that he’d heard the roar after Fowler’s birdie at the 9th. “I knew I needed to make birdie on the last hole to keep pace with him, and to get one more on him was great.”
Garcia said he didn’t play as well Friday as he did Thursday, when he had four birdies, an eagle and a bogey. He did chip in for birdie after coming up short of the green on the par-3 17th, but started his back nine by three-putting the 1st hole for bogey.
After a birdie at the fourth and a bogey at the sixth, Garcia hit his tee shot at the par-3 seventh two inches from the cup.
“It wasn’t easy at all today, a couple difficult pins,” Garcia said. “But overall, I felt like it was a solid round. It puts me in a good situation.
“Tomorrow is going to be an important day. Rickie is playing really, really well, so I’m going to have to play extremely well to keep up with him.”
Scott got off to a good start Friday by sinking a 10-foot eagle putt on the third and added three birdies.
“I played really great today tee to green,” the Australian said. “It was exactly what you want to do around this kind of golf course, in a little bit of wind.
“You want to take the pressure off yourself, and that’s what I did today.”