Kiwi Danny Lee is moving closer to making his first cut as a professional on the US PGA Tour.
Lee shot his second straight 69 - three under par - to be six under par but a long way off the lead, tied for 62nd place after two rounds of the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California. The tournament has a third-round cut, with the top 70 golfers (plus ties) out of 144 going through to the final round.
Lee, who gained a full tour card for the first time this season, made a fine start, birdying the first hole and then eagling the fifth, before bogeying the seventh. His back nine was similar - birdying the 10th hole and the 13th before a double-bogey six at the 17th ruined what seemed likely to be a 67 or thereabouts.
However, Lee showed his character by bouncing back straight away to birdie the 18th hole at the more difficult La Quinta course - one of three used during this tournament. The young Korean-New Zealander is making a good fist of his PGA Tour debut, striking the ball well off the tee, and averaging about 300m with the driver.
The biggest question mark will be over his putting but Lee has been managing well - although not quite footing it yet with some of the leading golfers at this tournament as good weather and perfect conditions have led to a plethora of low scoring.
Mark Wilson fired a 10-under par 62 yesterday to join Ben Crane and David Toms atop the leaderboard. Wilson had eight birdies and an eagle in a flawless round at the Palmer Private course, one of three par-72 layouts in use for the US$5.6 million event.
Crane carded a 63 on the Palmer course and Toms shot a 65 on the Nicklaus Private course as the leaders finished 36 holes on 16-under 128. They were three shots ahead of Colombia's Camilo Villegas, Harris English, Chris Kirk and Bobby Gates, who shared fourth on 131. Australian John Senden is one of several players locked two shots back on 133.
English also posted a 62. Villegas carded a 68 while Kirk and Gates both shot 63.
Low scores are nothing new for this tournament, formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic. The Nicklaus and Palmer courses at the PGA West resort are ranked as two of the three least difficult layouts on the US tour. David Duval fired a 59 on the Palmer course 13 years ago with four 61s being recorded in 2009. Ryan Moore tied the Nicklaus record with a 61 yesterday - but was still five shots adrift.
- Agencies