Saturday, February 03, 2018

Fowler, De Chambeau share Phoenix Open lead on 10 under

2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open


Scottsdale, Arizona                     Feb. 1-4, 2018              Purse: $6,900,000 ($1,242,000 winner)
TPC Scottsdale     Par/Yards: 35-36—71/7,266 yards     500 FedExCup points to winner

Second-Round Notes – Friday, February 2, 2018

Weather: Sunny, with a high of 80. Wind SW 4-8 mph.

36-hole cut: 72 players at 1-under 141 from a field of 132 professionals.

Scond-Roeund Leaderboard
Pos.
Name
Score
T1
Rickie Fowler
 66-66 —132 (-10)
T1
Bryson DeChambeau
 66-66 —132 (-10)
T3
Daniel Berger
68-65 —133 (-9)
T3
Chez Reavie
68-65 —133 (-9)  

Other Scores (Asian players)
Byeonghun An             68-67 – 135 (-7)
C.T. Pan                       71-68 – 139 (-3)
Siwoo Kim                    74-67 – 141 (-1)

Missed Cut
Anirban Lahiri              72-71 – 143 (+1)
K.J. Choi                        72-72 – 144 (+2)
Whee Kim                    73-71 – 144 (+2)
Sung Kang                     69-75 – 144 (+2)
Sangmon Bae              74-72 – 146 (+4)
Hideki Matsuyama     69-WD

Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler followed his opening round, 5-under 66 with another 66 in round two to post his 11th consecutive round in the 60s at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
 
Fowler made 117 feet, 4 inches of putts on Friday, his ninth round of making over 100 feet of putts at TPC Scottsdale, dating to 2011. Fowler ranks first in Strokes Gained: Putting through two rounds (5.763).

Fowler is making his 10th start in the Waste Management Phoenix Open this week, where he has collected three top-10 finishes (2nd/2010, 2nd/2016 (playoff), T4/2017).

In his first four starts of the 2017-18 Season (official and unofficial), Fowler finished 2nd (OHL Classic at Mayakoba); Won (Hero World Challenge); T4 (Sentry Tournament of Champions); CUT (Farmers Insurance Open).

This marks the eighth time in Fowler’s career where he has held at least a share of the second-round lead, most recently at the 2017 OHL Classic at Mayakoba, where he went on to finish solo-2nd. He has yet to convert a 36-hole lead/co-lead into a victory.

Fowler is in search of his fifth win on TOUR and first since the 2017 The Honda Classic.

Bryson DeChambeau
Bryson DeChambeau played his first 31 holes of the tournament without a bogey before three-putting the par-4 14th. He then played his final four holes in 2-under-par—thanks to birdies at 17 and 18—to post a 66 and tie Rickie Fowler for the second-round lead.

DeChambeau, who collected his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2017 John Deere Classic, missed the cut at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open. Prior to that, he had not finished worse than 26th in his first four starts of the 2017-18 season.

The 24-year-old has now held at least a share of the lead twice in his PGA TOUR career. He was tied for the lead at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open, before finishing T2.
 .

Byeonghun An
After an opening 68 on Thursday, Byeonghun An followed up with a 4-under 67 to move up to T7 position, three shots behind joint halfway leaders Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau.

He started his round from the 10th tee and made birdie on 17 from two feet before giving the shot back at the next hole after missing the fairway to turn in level par. On the inward nine, he converted birdies on the third, sixth, seventh and ninth holes, with his longest putt being on 6 from 21 feet. An’s solid play saw him hit 71% fairways and 83% greens in regulation.

In 2017, the 26-year-old An finished sixth in his debut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, one of three top-10s he recorded last season. He held the joint halfway lead and the sole third round lead following rounds of 66, 66 and 65 and then closed with a final round 73. An finished the season in 102nd position on the final FedExCup standings.

An played in four tournaments during fall, finishing T11 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES on home soil and T32 at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open. He missed the cut in the two other events in his 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season thus far.

Before turning professional, An won the 2009 U.S. Amateur, emerging as the youngest winner in the tournament’s history. He has won once on the European Tour and is chasing a first victory on the PGA TOUR.

An Quotes
I’m playing pretty well overall. I’ve been hitting lots of fairways and have not made many silly mistakes. Somehow, I seem to like desert courses. I don’t know why but my record is pretty good. The main thing will be to continue to keep it in play. My iron game feels solid so as long as I hit many fairways, I’ll get plenty of birdie chances. I’ve also been spending some time at the practice range after the round and that has been helping quite a bit. Recently I started seeing a (sports) psychologist and that has helped too.

Daniel Berger
Daniel Berger posted a bogey-free, 6-under 65, his ninth consecutive under-par round this season.

Berger, a two-time winner on TOUR (2016 and 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic), is making his third start at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. His T7 finish last year is his best finish at this event.

Chez Reavie
Chez Reavie, the only player this week to post back-to-back bogey free rounds, carded a second-round 65 to sit T3 with Daniel Berger.

In 9 previous appearances at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Reavie has missed the cut six times, including his past three starts at TPC Scottsdale. His best finish at this event is T45 in 2011.

Reavie is in search of his second PGA TOUR win and first since the 2008 RBC Canadian Open, a span of 209 starts.

Scott Stallings
Scott Stallings hit all 18 greens in regulation in his second round—despite only hitting eight of 14 fairways—to post a 6-under 65. His lone bogey of the day came at the par-4 15th.

This week marks the first time Stallings has made the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in six starts. He entered this week on the heels of two consecutive missed cuts.

A three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Stallings is in search of his first win since the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open.

Chesson Hadley
2017 Web.com Tour Player of the Year Chesson Hadley offset three bogeys on his front nine with three birdies en-route to a 3-under 68.

Hadley has yet to miss a cut in eight starts this season. He first three starts were all top-5 finishes (Safeway Open/T3, Sanderson Farms Championship/2, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open/T4).

In his only two previous starts at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Hadley finished T60 in 2016 and missed the cut in 2015.

Hadley is in search of his second PGA TOUR victory. He won the 2014 Puerto Rico Open en route to being named the 2014 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.

Phil Mickelson
Three-time Waste Management Phoenix Open winner Phil Mickelson (1996, 2005, 2013) made four consecutive birdies on holes 15-18 for the third time in 102 rounds at TPC Scottsdale. His second-round 65 is his lowest score on TOUR since the 64 he shot during the final round of the 2017 Greenbrier Classic. 

This week marks Mickelson’s 29th start in this event, a record he shares with Gene Littler, Jim Ferrier and Jerry Barber.

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