Charley Hoffman, Rico Hoey share PGA Tour lead in La Quinta
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Charley Hoffman of the United States plays a shot on the 17th hole during the second round of The American Express.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – Charley Hoffman, seeking a fifth PGA Tour title at the age of 48, had 10 birdies in a nine-under 63 on Jan 17 to share the halfway lead in the American Express tournament with Rico Hoey of the Philippines.
Hoffman finds himself in the hunt for his first victory since 2016 in the same tournament in which he bagged his first, back in 2007. But the US veteran said there was little to draw on since the courses used for the event at La Quinta, in the California desert near Palm Springs, have changed.
But he still loves the pro-am format and the mild, dry weather suits him down to the ground.
“I think somewhere inside me, I embrace the pro-am aspect,” said Hoffman, who has experienced the various iterations of the event that once drew celebrity amateurs but now features mostly golf enthusiasts from the corporate world.
“I really do enjoy playing with amateurs, getting to know them, trying to help them play a better round of golf than I do.”
That would have been difficult on Jan 17, when his 10 birdies included four in a row from the fifth through the eighth on the Nicklaus Tournament course, where Hoffman had teed off on the 10th and played his closing nine in six under to reach 16-under 128.
“Solid,” the American said of his round. “I was hitting fairways and then I was able to attack into the greens, hitting some wedge shots close and obviously making a few putts.”
Hoey, chasing his first PGA Tour title, also played the Nicklaus course, charging up the leaderboard with a 63 that featured 10 birdies as well.
He opened with a birdie at the first and bounced back from a bogey at the third with birdies at the fourth and fifth.
Hoey then piled up six birdies in a seven-hole stretch from the seventh through the 13th, gaining a share of the lead with a birdie at the 16th. He got up and down for par from a greenside bunker at the 18th to stay on top.
“I was kind of just keeping it in front of me,” said the Filipino, who played plenty of junior golf in Southern California but said that in his second year on tour he is still “kind of starstruck” playing alongside veterans like Hoffman, Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler.
“Keeping up with them, that’s all I’m trying to do.”
Americans Justin Lower and Mark Hubbard and Austrian Sepp Straka shared third on 15-under 129.
Lower posted a six-under 66 on the Nicklaus course while Hubbard and Straka carded impressive bogey-free eight-under 64s on the tougher Stadium Course, where Straka finished with three straight birdies. AFP
