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The Zozo Championship winner two weeks ago in
Japan for his second tour title, Echavarria matched Max
Greyserman at 12-under 132 at El Cardonal at Diamante, a day
after strong wind hit the Tiger Woods-designed layout.
“It was a very, very good round,” Echavarria said after his
lowest score on the PGA Tour. “Obviously everyone knew that the
scores were going to be lower. Different wind.”
The 30-year-old Colombian played a five-hole stretch on the
front nine in 6 under with an eagle and four birdies and added
three birdies on the back nine.
“It’s such a momentum game that if I don’t make par on 3, I had
like a 10-footer for par on 3 that I made,” Echavarria said. “I
kind of got things rolling, made birdie on 4, made birdie on 5,
eagled 6. I think the par on 3 was even more important. Then I
hit some close, I made some long putts. I made one out of the
bunker. Luck’s in your favor, but you’ve got to use that
momentum.”
Greyserman eagled the par-5 18th for a 64.
“Way less wind. At times, it’s pretty minimal,” Greyserman said.
“It was gettable out there. A lot of birdies to be had and, if
you played well and executed, you could go pretty low.”
The American tied for second behind Echavarria in Japan.
“I thought that, `Here we go again. Let’s go!'” Greyserman said.
Carson Young was third at 11 under after a career-best 61. He
had 12 birdies and a bogey.
“The weather definitely helps,” Young said. “Less wind out of a
slightly different direction made the course a little bit
easier.”
Dylan Wu had a 65 to get to 10 under. Maverick McNealy (66),
Austin Eckroat (67) and Kelly Kraft (67) were 9 under.
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