McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Jordan Spieth thought the course for his hometown Byron Nelson would play tougher after yielding extra birdies in its debut than some other match on the PGA Tour final season.
The three-time main winner says he couldn’t have been extra incorrect, and is frankly stunned over how little he thinks was achieved the primary two days to make TPC Craig Ranch a stiffer take a look at.
Ryan Palmer, one of many Dallas-area gamers within the shadow of Spieth and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, shot a 10-under 62 on Friday and was tied at 15 underneath with Sebastián Muñoz and 40-year-old tour rookie David Skinns.
Muñoz, a Colombian who lives within the Dallas space and went to school at North Texas, was even via 13 holes coming off his second 60 of the season — a primary on the PGA Tour — earlier than birdies on three of 4 holes for a 69. Skinns shot 63.
Justin Lower, one other older tour rookie at 33, was alone in fourth, a shot behind the leaders after a 66.
“I mean, a 60 yesterday and a lot of 8s (under) and 7s all over the board,” mentioned Spieth, who shot 65 and was three pictures off the lead in a bunch that features defending champion Ok.H. Lee.
“It’s just, a lot of tees are up, it was very surprising,” Spieth mentioned. “I think they were looking at the weekend as a lot less wind and so they used more of the easier pins the first two days because I can only name one or two pins on this golf course that were not the easiest two locations that are on the greens. I’m a little surprised at how, on a not-so-difficult golf course they have also set it up a little easier for us, too.”
The Nelson was the one 2020-21 match with greater than 2,000 birdies (2,007). There have been 38 eagles within the first spherical Thursday, essentially the most for a single spherical this season.
Charl Schwartzel had one of many Friday eagles in a spherical of 65 that put him at 13 underneath. The 2011 Masters winner drove right into a greenside bunker on the 316-yard, par-4 14th and holed out from there.
The top-ranked Scheffler, who got here in with 4 wins in six particular person occasions capped by the Masters victory, shot a 68 and was 9 underneath after two rounds alongside his fellow former Texas Longhorns in Spieth and Lee.
Palmer, who completed his opening spherical with an eagle on the par-5 18th, began on the again 9 and birdied six of the final seven holes on that facet, then added 4 extra on the entrance in a bogey-free spherical.
The 45-year-old hasn’t gained a person occasion since 2010 in Hawaii. Palmer lives in close by Colleyville and is a member at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, the place the tour returns in two weeks after the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
Palmer had a two-shot lead midway via his final Texas cease in San Antonio in early April earlier than capturing 7 over on the weekend. He is a four-time winner, together with the 2019 Zurich staff occasion in New Orleans with Jon Rahm.
“I spent 19 years doing this, unbelievable that I’ve been here that long, and these young guys … you got to play such great golf to beat ’em,” Palmer mentioned. “We’re in position again and we’ll learn from what we learned in San Antonio and try and do it here.”
Lee gained the rain-plagued Craig Ranch debut at 25 underneath whereas Spieth tied for ninth, his private finest in a match he badly needs to win due to his exceptional professional debut at the Nelson as a 16-year-old Sunday contender in 2010.
There’s no trace of rain this time in McKinney, about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, and the wind was brisk the primary two days. Combine that with the expectation of the tough being extra of an element a yr after a February deep freeze wiped it out, and Spieth figured scores could be increased.
Instead, he discovered himself calling out the moved-up tee field on the par-5 ninth, which performed simply 474 yards and a median almost three-quarters of a stroke under par Friday. It was the simplest gap on the course.
The Tom Weiskopf-designed course additionally has huge fairways and huge greens.
“Some familiarity to me with some of the courses I played back in South Africa,” mentioned Schwartzel, who tied for third at 21 underneath final yr. “I don’t feel claustrophobic off the tee. It gives me a bit of space, and once I can get it in play, iron play is not much of a problem. So just really comfortable.”
Skinns, an Englishman with no top-25 finishes in 20 PGA Tour appearances unfold out over almost a decade, had 5 consecutive birdies beginning on the par-3 seventh in his career-best spherical.
Lower hasn’t completed increased than tied for fifteenth in a person occasion. He paired with Dylan Wu to tie for Tenth within the staff occasion in New Orleans.
The ninth-ranked Spieth and No. 17 Joaquin Niemann, additionally at 12 underneath, lead the record of 10 among the many world’s high 30 within the subject.
No. 13 Hideki Matsuyama was 11 underneath, a shot higher than eighth-ranked Justin Thomas, who spent the primary two days within the group forward of Spieth, his good buddy and home visitor for this week.
No. 11 Dustin Johnson was 7 underneath, and Twelfth-ranked Xander Schauffele rallied from 3 over for the match early within the second spherical with eight birdies over 10 holes to make the minimize on the quantity at 5 underneath.
The remainder of the highest 30 gamers missed the minimize: Tenth-ranked Sam Burns, the runner-up to Lee at the Nelson final yr; Will Zalatoris (twenty eighth), one other participant in his hometown occasion; and Kevin Kisner (thirtieth).
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