Alex Noren maintains lead at Bermuda Championship

 

[November 11, 2023]  Alex Noren of Sweden maintained a two-shot lead at the halfway mark of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship on Friday in Southampton, Bermuda.

After opening the tournament with a 10-under 61, Noren's bogey-free 66 in the second round gave him a score of 15 under for the tournament and two ahead of Ryan Moore (64 on Friday), Ryan Brehm (65) and Japan's Satoshi Kodaira (65).

Play was suspended late Friday afternoon due to darkness, with nine players required to return Saturday morning to finish their rounds. The cut line was projected at 5 under par, and six of those nine players were within two shots of that number.

Noren appeared ready to continue Thursday's torrid pace with birdies on the first three holes at Port Royal Golf Course. He then ground out 11 straight pars before his final birdies arrived at Nos. 15 and 17.

"It helps when you had a good round the previous day," Noren said. "You're not necessarily struggling, you're just -- necessarily not frustrated, it's just that what am I doing different? You know, like am I trying too hard or start asking the caddie for the reads. ... You've got to just stay with it and really understand yourself, what happens in that moment when you start doubting the greens or when you start doubting the reads and just try to snap out of it somehow."

Noren's 127 is a career-low 36-hole score on the PGA Tour and a tournament record for two rounds.

The 41-year-old owns 10 career victories in Europe but none on the PGA Tour.

"When you are leading after two, you want it kind of to be tough on the weekend, otherwise maybe there are too many low 60s and it's hard to defend a lead, especially with a different mentality to lead (than) being 20th," Noren said. "... It's easier to shoot 61 when you're 20th somehow. It shouldn't be, but that's the mind playing tricks on you."

Moore and Kodaira each posted bogey-free rounds. Brehm withstood two bogeys on his second nine holes by totaling eight birdies to card his 65.

Camilo Villegas of Colombia moved into fifth place with an 8-under 63 Friday that pushed him to 12 under for the week. The 41-year-old had an early lead at last week's World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico before tying for second; his last tour title came in 2014.

Villegas is among the players trying to work their way into the top 125 of the FedEx Cup Fall standings with two events left. Villegas was No. 223 before last week but now stands at No. 147, with a good chance to move even higher in Bermuda.

"Everybody feels fear at some point playing golf, playing competitive golf, playing against the best players in the world," Villegas said. "It's about looking forward to feeling that not fear, kind of reshaping that fear into something a little bit, just lowering the curve and just managing it. To be honest, there was none of that last week, which I was surprised, so let's keep it going."

Sam Bennett, who made waves as an amateur at last April's Masters before he turned pro, is on track to miss the cut by one shot.

Oliver Betschart, a 15-year-old amateur from Bermuda who qualified for the tournament at his home course, went 73-75 to finish his first PGA Tour event at 6 over. He became the youngest player in an official PGA Tour event in the past 10 years.

"I wish I could have made the cut and played on, but wasn't meant to be this year. Try again next year," Betschart said.

The best moment of the week for Betschart was finishing his first round with a birdie at the 18th hole.

"That was kind of the highlight for me there. Everybody watching, the whole crowd around 18 there, that was a special moment," he said.

--Field Level Media

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