|
Starting on the back nine, the 26-year-old
American birdied the 11th and then caught fire from the
par-three 13th when his tee shot nearly found the cup.
He went on to make the birdie putt and card more birdies on his
next five holes thanks to some outstanding putting to sit
14-under 130 halfway through the 78-player event at Shadow
Creek, which has no cut.
"It was nice," Schauffele said of his early birdie blitz.
"I had a chip-in there, two long putts. Some of those holes
you're not really trying to birdie them, you're kind of just
trying to leave yourself an uphill 35-footer and fortunately I
made a couple of them. It was a nice stretch."
After firing a 29 over his first nine holes, he cooled off after
the turn but still managed one more birdie while avoiding any
big mistakes.
"I got a little bit stale there on the other side. Pace of play
slowed down a lot, kind of hot, easy to let the mind wander.
Upset I didn't make more birdies, but pleased I didn't make any
bogeys."
Trailing Schauffele was overnight leader Tyrrell Hatton of
England, who finished birdie-birdie to cap a round of four-under
68 to sit 11-under 133 heading into the weekend with American
Russell Henley one shot further adrift.
"It was an inconsistent day," said Hatton, who won the European
Tour's BMW PGA Championship in Surrey last weekend.
"Obviously I was disappointed with bogeys on 15 and 16. I hit a
couple of poor shots there."
The CJ Cup was switched to Las Vegas from South Korea this year
because of travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris
and Sonya Hepinstall)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
