Sports

Piercy leads, Koepka lurks at PGA tour event in S. Korea

October 19, 2018
Scott Piercy, seen in this file photo playing his shot from the eighth tee during round one of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California, took the second round lead at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Friday. — AFP
Scott Piercy, seen in this file photo playing his shot from the eighth tee during round one of the Safeway Open at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California, took the second round lead at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Friday. — AFP

JEJU, South Korea — Veteran Scott Piercy took the second round lead at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on Friday with world No. 3 Brooks Koepka lurking in second place.

The 39-year-old Piercy defied his world ranking of 252 to fire a bogey-free seven-under-par round of 65, moving to nine under for the $9.5 million US PGA tournament.

But Koepka, US PGA Tour Player of the Year, sits just one back after his own 65. He finished with a flourish, picking up an eagle at the par-5 18th following a booming tee shot.

"I feel like I struck it really well," Koepka said. "I putted really well. My iron play was very consistent and I gave myself good looks.

"If you can put it on the fairway and give yourself a good look at birdies, these greens are so good you're going to make a few putts."

The conditions at the Club at Nine Bridges on the resort island of Jeju were far gentler than Thursday's blustery first round, when just 18 players broke par. A total of 44 did so on Friday, led by Brian Harman's 64.

Koepka — who averaged 313 yards off the tee last season, ranking eighth on the tour — said he capitalized on the benign conditions with length.

"If there's no wind, you can definitely take advantage of it," he said. "It brings the driver into play for me a bit more and I can fire away."

Piercy, who tied for 27th at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last week, said his putter "showed up".

"I made some putts of pretty good lengths," he added. "Hopefully, the putter will stay there."

Overnight leader Chez Reavie carded 70 to move to six-under and slipped to third place, while Ryder Cup teammates Ian Poulter and Alex Noren were both at five-under through 36 holes, the Swede matching Piercy with a bogey-less 65.

But England's former Masters winner Danny Willett — who was joint second after the first round, still seeking a first tournament win since taking the Green Jacket at Augusta National in 2016 — had a nightmare day.

He dropped five shots in six holes from the second to the seventh — including a double bogey on the par-4 fifth — to card a five-over 77 and slump 54 places on the leaderboard.

Garcia makes strong start

to Valderrama title defense

In Sotogrande, Spain, — Sergio Garcia got off to a quick start in his bid for a third consecutive Valderrama Masters title on Thursday, as a three-under-par 68 left him just two strokes off the early clubhouse lead.

Half of the field will finish their opening rounds on Friday after lengthy delays due to thunderstorms in Andalusia.

England's Ashley Chesters claimed the clubhouse advantage with back-to-back birdies closing out a five-under 66, with Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, who may need to win this week to keep his European Tour card, one shot behind.

The tournament host Garcia has won six of his 14 European Tour titles in his home country, including this event in the last two editions in 2011 and 2017.

The 38-year-old was four-under through 11 holes before his lone bogey of the day, but was delighted with his opening effort.

"Any time you shoot under par on this course — it doesn't matter about the conditions — you're happy. So I'm obviously happy about it," he told europeantour.com.

"I saw a lot of great things and a couple of things that we need to improve but overall it was a good day."

The world No. 31 has had a difficult season, although was impressive as a wildcard in Europe's Ryder Cup victory last month, but is favorite to win in Spain and is ranked 56 places higher than anyone else in the field. — AFP


October 19, 2018
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