Round 2: Hero World Challenge
Saturday is typically called moving day on the PGA Tour.
But both Patrick Reed and Justin Rose decided to make their move up the leaderboard during Friday’s second round of the Hero World Challenge being played at Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere, Florida.
Reed, who played in the first group of the day alongside tournament host Tiger Woods, set a new course record in a competitive event with a 9-under 63, which left him at 8-under through 36 holes.
Rose nearly matched Reed, firing an 8-under 64 that gave him a two-round total of 8-under as well. The former US Open champion made an astounding 11 birdies during his round but also had a bogey and double bogey.
Their strong play left both players in a tie for third and in prime contention heading into the weekend.
They won’t know how many strokes they are behind leader Jordan Spieth until early Saturday morning. That’s because Spieth was unable to finish his second round after heavy rains caused a nearly two-hour rain delay.
After hitting his first two shots on the final hole in virtual darkness, Spieth opted to stop and come back early Saturday morning rather than finish.
With his ball sitting just off the front edge of the green, Spieth told officials he couldn’t see the flag 30 feet ahead of him so he decided to stop.
“It’s a tough chip to get within a few feet anyway, so it didn’t make much sense to try and hit the chip if I really wasn’t going to want to hit the putt anyway,” Spieth said.
Steve Stricker was the only other player in the field who opted to finish Saturday.
Thanks to a late-round surge in which he made four birdies in a five-hole stretch, Spieth was 11-under when he walked off the course. That left him two shots ahead of Henrik Stenson and three ahead of Reed and Rose.
Woods was 4-under for the day when he teed off on the 18th hole. But he finished with a double bogey on the final hole, leaving him at 3-over after 36 holes.
After an opening-nine 29 that included five birdies and an eagle, Reed admitted his thoughts turned to how low of a score he could shoot.
“I was thinking in the 50s after 10 for sure, and then I stepped up on 11 and hit a kind of little thin block 6‑iron out to the right and didn’t even know if it was going to cover,” Reed said.
“Luckily it got on the green … Once I got done with 11, I just put one foot in front of the other and continued to do what I was trying to do on the front nine, shot by shot.”
Rose was thrilled with his performance.
“Any time you make 11 birdies in a round you’ve done a lot of things well,” Rose said.
Round 2 of the Hero World Challenge will resume at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6. Round 3 will begin at 11:15 a.m. Round 3 pairings and tee times will be available tomorrow morning after the completion of Round 2.
Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation and local charities.
