NORTH CAROLINA – Englishman Tyrrell Hatton shot a six-under 65 to soar into a share of the 36-hole lead at the Wells Fargo Championship on Friday.
World No. 18 Hatton, Nate Lashley (66) and Wyndham Clark (67) are at the top of the leaderboard at eight-under 134.
A host of big names are on their tails with a share of a US$20 million (S$26.5 million) “designated event” prize purse on the line. Im Sung-jae of South Korea (66), Justin Thomas (67), Xander Schauffele (69) and Australia’s Adam Scott (68) are all part of a six-way tie for fourth at seven under, along with J.J. Spaun (67) and Canada’s Adam Svensson (67).
First-round leader Tommy Fleetwood of England settled for a 71 on Friday and is tied at six under with Michael Kim (68) and South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-hoon (70).
Hatton’s 65 matched the round of the day at Quail Hollow Club. He began his round on the back nine and birdied four of his first six holes before a setback of consecutive bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17.
He rectified that by saving six straight pars, draining a 33-foot birdie putt at the par-three sixth and carding an eagle on the par-five seventh from 26 feet out. One last birdie at the par-four ninth, this time from 31 feet, brought him to eight under.
“They’re not the type of putts that you hole consistently, so to finish the round that way, I’m obviously very pleased with that,” he said.
While he has a single win on the PGA Tour (the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational), Clark is still after his first. Clark also eagled the seventh hole en route to his second straight 67.
Lashley entered the week No. 209 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has not won since the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic. He put together a bogey-free card with five birdies on Friday.
“Anytime you get a round at Quail Hollow with no bogeys, it’s a great round,” he said.
World No. 5 Schauffele stayed in the mix after an opening-round 66. He was even through his first 12 holes but birdied the par-three fourth and the seventh.
Defending champion Max Homa shot 67 and was part of a tie for 13th at five under. Patrick Cantlay (71) is tied for 20th at four under.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the world No. 3, made a crucial par save at the par-four 18th to finish off a 73 and make the cut at one under.
Notable names to miss the cut include Australia’s Jason Day (even), Ireland’s Shane Lowry (two over), Collin Morikawa (four over) and Jordan Spieth (seven over).
On the women’s tour, Sweden, Thailand and Australia secured their semi-final berths at the LPGA International Crown on Friday as the United States edged close with two wins over England.
Sweden (Pool A) and Thailand (Pool B) remained perfect with another pair of wins each. Australia secured their spot from Pool B with a win and one tie against Japan on Friday.
Meanwhile, Erica Herman, Tiger Woods’ ex-girlfriend who is suing the golf superstar for US$30 million (S$39.8 million), alleged that Woods forced her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) regarding their sexual relationship, or risk losing her job at his restaurant.
According to USA Today, Herman’s attorney, Benjamin Hodas, wrote, “Mr Woods was Ms Herman’s boss. On Mr Woods’ own portrayal of events, he imposed an NDA on her as a condition to keep her job when she began having a sexual relationship with him. A boss imposing different work conditions on his employee because of their sexual relationship is sexual harassment.”
Per USA Today, the court document from Hodas also stated, “The landlord made the availability of her housing conditional on her having sexual relationship with a co-tenant.
“That conduct amounts to sexual harassment under federal and Florida fair housing laws.” REUTERS, AFP
