Norway’s Viktor Hovland and American Ryan Gerard led a crowded area chasing the PGA Tour Championship’s $10 million high prize Friday at the remaining occasion of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
Gerard, who has one PGA Tour victory to date and is taking part in in his first Tour Championship, made six birdies, including an epic 78-foot putt that rolled the size of the seventh inexperienced.
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He seized the clubhouse lead with a five-under-par 65, before Hovland — taking part in in the day’s remaining pair — birdied the 18th gap for a 66 to share the in a single day lead.
The pair completed on 10-under at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, a stroke clear of American duo Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup.
A further shot back were world quantity one Scottie Scheffler and third-ranked Cameron Young, who catapulted from all-time low to tied-fifth with a day’s best spherical of 62.
“Solid so far. Just got to keep it rolling,” said Gerard, who insisted the stress of coming into the weekend in first place would not be an situation.
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“Love playing with the lead. Way better than playing in last,” he said.
After two early bogeys, Hovland had rolled in a 27-foot putt on the par-three fifteenth, and saved par on 16 despite smashing a putt from off the inexperienced ten toes previous the gap.
Despite his place, the Norwegian expressed frustration that he was struggling to discover the consistency that propelled him to win the 2023 Tour Championship.
“It almost pisses me off more because I know that, ‘oh, I used to be able to do that,’ and now it feels a lot more difficult to do that,” he said.
“It’s not so much that I’m hitting those crazy wayward shots right now, it’s just that I know when I’m swinging it doesn’t feel quite right.”
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Min Woo Lee had entered Friday with a two-shot cushion, but had a nightmare spherical.
The Australian made triple bogey on 5, needing two makes an attempt to hack out of the tough, laying up then three-putting. He shanked his tee shot on eight into the water for bogey.
His spherical of 73 was the second-worst of the match so far.
Lee had scored 62 a day earlier, taking part in solo due to his accomplice JJ Spaun’s withdrawal with a shoulder damage.
On Friday, with 29 gamers remaining, it was Cameron Young’s flip to play alone, and remarkably he scored 62 too.
“It seems to be a strong pattern. It’s a bit strange,” admitted Young, who said it had felt like he was “playing a practice round.”
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“You don’t have to wait for anybody else. Nothing weird happens. Just got in a really nice rhythm and kept going.”
Young made seven birdies in his first 11 holes, and ended with an eagle.
– ‘Bad gusts’ –
Scheffler had a productive if inconsistent day.
The world quantity one recovered from back-to-back bogeys to pull within a shot of the lead, then bogeyed 17 as winds picked up to make circumstances trickier in the closing phases.
“I watched it get in the jet stream up there and fly… it felt like any moment they could blow the horn,” said Scheffler. “Yeah, just bad gusts.”
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Rory McIlroy suffered an embarrassing double bogey, twice chipping the ball 45 toes from the uphill third inexperienced, only for the ball to roll back to his toes each time.
The six-time Major winners managed two late birdies for a spherical of 69, but sits tied for twenty third on three-under par, seven photographs off the tempo.
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