PALMER HITS 62 AS SCORES STAY LOW AT NELSON

Jordan Spieth thought the course for his hometown Byron Nelson would play more difficult after yielding more birdies in its debut than any other tournament on the PGA Tour last season.

The three-time major winner says he couldn’t have been more wrong, and is frankly surprised over how little he thinks was done the first two days to make TPC Craig Ranch a stiffer test.

“I’m a little surprised at how, on a not-sodifficult golf course they have also set it up a little easier for us, too,” said Spieth, who shot 65 and was three shots off the lead in a group including defending champ K.H. Lee.

Ryan Palmer, one of the Dallas-area players in the shadow of Spieth and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, shot a 10under 62 on Friday and was tied for the lead at 15 under with Sebastian Muñoz (who shot a 60 Thursday) and 40-year-old tour rookie David Skinns. Justin Lower, a rookie at 33, was alone in fourth, a shot behind.

Davis makes another cut

Anna Davis, the 16-year-old from Spring Valley who broke into the scene by winning the Augusta Women’s Amateur, made another cut at an LPGA event, shooting backto-back 70s to stand tied for 32nd at the $3 million Cognizant Founders Cup at Clifton, N.J. Minjee Lee flirted with posting the best round of the year on the LPGA Tour before settling for a 9-under-par 63 and took a three-shot lead halfway through the event.

Also

Steve Stricker shot a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke lead over Scott McCarron and Padraig Harrington in the second round of the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.