Harry Hall stays in front at Colonial despite Harris English's ace

 

[May 27, 2023]  Englishman Harry Hall kept a comfortable distance from the field Friday by shooting a 4-under-par 66 to hold the 36-hole lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hall had a 62 and a three-shot lead Thursday, a margin he maintained by making six birdies and two bogeys in his second time around Colonial Country Club. He now stands at 12-under 128.

Harris English remained in second thanks to a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth, part of a bogey-free 66. He is three back at 9-under 131.

Emiliano Grillo of Argentina shot a 65 to leap into third place at 8 under, and Byeong Hun An of South Korea (66 Friday), Adam Schenk (67) and Robby Shelton (67) are tied for fourth at 7 under.

Hall began his afternoon round on the back nine and stumbled early with a bogey at the par-3 13th. But he rebounded and broke free from the pack with five birdies in a six-hole stretch from No. 15 to No. 2, including four in a row.

"I kind of did it without knowing I did it really," Hall said. "I just was in the moment out there and taking one shot at a time, and I did that really well."

Hall, 25, has just three top-10 finishes in his young PGA Tour career.

"I don't think I've played my best golf this year on the PGA Tour yet, and I think it's arrived this week, and hopefully I can keep it going for the next two days," Hall said.

English, coming off a 65 Thursday, had 170 yards to the flag at the eighth hole. His ball took one high hop before bouncing straight into the cup.

"Just a really good number today," English said. "Just one of those shots where I had to hit a 9-iron really full, and it came off just like I wanted to and luckily went in the hole."

Once a top-10 player in the world, English is beginning to make a comeback after undergoing hip surgery in February 2022.

"I like golf courses like this where par is a good score," he said. "With the greens firming up, it's getting pretty tough to control your ball, and I like it when it gets tough."

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in shouting distance of the lead after firing his second straight round of 67. He's tied for seventh at 6 under with Andrew Novak (66) after making 15 pars and three birdies, including a chip-in from behind the green at No. 15.

"I didn't really know whether or not to chip or putt it," Scheffler said. "It looked like a lot of fringe for me to go through to putt it, so I decided to chip it. ... I hit probably 15 really good putts today that didn't go in and I hit one good chip and that went in. If somebody figures out this game, if they can let me know what they're figuring out."

The Dallas native made his 17th consecutive cut at an official event and hasn't finished lower than a tie for 12th since October.

Notable names to miss the cut line of 1 over par included Tony Finau (2 over), Sungjae Im of South Korea (2 over), Tommy Fleetwood of England (2 over) and Jordan Spieth (4 over). Spieth has been battling through a left wrist injury, and while he managed to play all four rounds at the PGA Championship last week, the Texan missed the cut at Colonial for the first time in 11 starts.

Michael Block, the 46-year-old club professional who tied for 15th at the PGA and became a household name in the golf world, followed up an 81 by shooting 74 Friday. His 15-over 155 was good for last place out of 120 golfers in the field. Block was playing on a sponsor's exemption and will appear next at the RBC Canadian Open June 8-11.

--Field Level Media

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