Cantlay keeps lead at East Lake as Rahm shoots 65 to close gap
ATLANTA >> For the second day in a row, no one had a better score than Jon Rahm at the Tour Championship. That’s just what he needed to make up ground on Patrick Cantlay going into a weekend chase for $15 million.
Rahm birdied his last three holes Friday for a 5-under 65. Cantlay birdied his last two holes for a bogey-free 66 to keep one shot ahead.
It’s not quite a two-man race for the FedEx Cup with 36 holes still to play at East Lake, though it was shaping up as a possibility. Bryson DeChambeau was the next closest player, and his 67 lost ground Friday. He was six shots behind.
Cantlay looked as though he was protecting a lead, often playing to the fat of the green. That was
more a product of showing respect to an East Lake course that punishes even slight misses on the wrong side of the hole. He hit 16 of 18 greens, and only twice did he have par putts from about the 5-foot range. KORN FERRY TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
>> Former Chico High standout Kurt Kitayama followed his opening 3-under 69 in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship with an even-par 72 and sits tied for 25th in Newburgh, Indiana.
Former Chico State standout Brandon Harkins, in the same tournament, is tied for 44th at 1 under after a 72 and a 71.
Tennis
YOUTH SERVED AT U.S. OPEN >> Until now, 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz has exhibited enough promise and precociousness to make people think he eventually could succeed Rafael Nadal as Spain’s top tennis player. With a dramatic five-set victory over No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alcaraz showed why he’s been getting so much attention.
His was not the only significant victory for an 18-year-old against a top player: Later in that same arena, 2018 and 2020 champion Naomi Osaka tossed and spiked her racket as she let her lead slip away in what turned into a 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez.