Walker leads RBC Heritage by 3 shots
Jimmy Walker was feeling like his old self after his second straight 6-under 65 on Friday — and so was Masters champion Jon Rahm halfway through the RBC Heritage.
Walker had his third straight round in the 60s overall to post a two-day total of 12-under 130 at Harbour Town, three shots better than Scottie Scheffler, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele.
Rahm, who won at Augusta National last week — his second career major championship and his fourth PGA Tour win this season — recovered from his opening 1-over 72 Thursday with a 64 to move to 6-under. He's still got work ahead, although another victory seems much more doable for the world No. 1 than it did after the opening round.
Walker will try to maintain his strong play, something he's struggled with since stepping away from the game amid a lengthy battle with Lyme disease.
“I haven't put two really good rounds together back-to-back out here,” said Walker, who has missed eight cuts in his past 12 events.
He'll need to do it against a major-quality field with seven of the world's top 10 players competing for their share of a $20 million purse at the tour's sixth designated event of the season.
Scheffler, No. 2 in the world, shot 65, Olympic Schauffele 66 and Rose 67 to reach 9-under. The trio all reached milestones in this event with Rose making his 400th tour start, Schauffele his 150th and Scheffler his 100th.
Patrick Cantlay was in a group of four another shot back. Cantlay's round of 65 included a hole-in-one (his third career ace on tour) on the par-3 seventh.
Also at 8-under were Tommy Fleetwood (65), Mark Hubbard (66), firstround leader Aaron Rai (71) and Viktor Hovland (70).
Walker has won six times on tour, the last in 2016 at the PGA Championship, his only major championship and the culmination of a rise to become one of the top Americans in golf. In the fall of that year, he went on a hunting trip in south Texas and fell ill afterward. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease the following spring and battled its effects for years. When he stepped away from the tour last year, he wasn't sure he would ever return.
But the start of the LIV Golf circuit, and those PGA Tour players who gave up membership, moved Walker into the top 50 all-time money winners. That meant one-time exemption to play on tour this year. MCILROY LOSING OUT ON $3 MILLION » Rory McIlroy withdrawing from the RBC Heritage this week means he will forfeit $3 million from his Player Impact Program bonus.
The PGA Tour confirmed that McIlroy, who received $9 million of his potential $12 million bonus in January, will not be getting the balance.
The PIP, which began two years ago, rewards players based on various metrics of their popularity. McIlroy finished second to Tiger Woods and stood to gain $12 million — 75% paid after the first week of the year, the remainder when they fulfilled obligations such as playing in all the designated events on the schedule.
Players were allowed to opt out of one. McIlroy missed the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. And then he withdrew from the RBC Heritage without giving a reason after missing the cut in the Masters.
LPGA Tour
Yu Jin Sung shot a 1-under 71 at windy Hoakalei Country Club to take a onestroke lead into the final round of the LOTTE Championship.
Playing on a sponsor invite after winning the 2022 LOTTE Open on the Korean LPGA, the South Korean is competing in her third LPGA Tour event.
Georgia Hall, Linnea Strom and tour rookie Grace Kim were tied for second, with 13 players within three strokes of each other at the top of the leaderboard.