Byung-Hoon Ahn, 32, of South Korea, shaved four strokes off his score on day two of the U.S. Professional Golf (PGA) Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge ($8.7 million) to move into a tie for fourth place, five strokes behind leader Harry Hall (England).
Ahn carded five birdies and a bogey for a 4-under 66 in the second round of the tournament at Colonial Country Club (par 70, 7209 yards) in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, on Sunday (July 27), giving him a 7-under 133 total.
Ahn, who started the day in a tie for seventh place, birdied the first hole to get off to a good start. He bogeyed the fourth hole, the course’s most difficult “Dreaded Horseshoe” corner. However, he birdied the 7th and 8th holes, and then birdied the 12th and 13th holes in the second half to move up the leaderboard.
A tie for sixth at the Valero Texas Open in April is his best finish since moving back up to the first division after playing in the second tier last year.
A birdie on the seventh hole. [Photo: PGA Tour].
Rookie Hall, who shot 8-under on the first day, combined six birdies with two bogeys for a 4-under 66 to move to 12-under. On the par-3 eighth, his tee shot fell into a bunker, his second shot failed to clear the bunker and he was further away from the hole, but his third shot holed in dramatic fashion.
The 25-year-old Hall, who wore a hunting cap like legendary player Ben Hogan, who has five wins in this event, has made the cut in 12 of 20 events this season. His best finish was a tie for seventh at the Puerto Rico Open in March. This time around, he has been in peak shot making form, with no change in expression, and is leading the field.
Harris English (USA) is three strokes off the lead at 9-under-par after hitting a 9-iron from 170 yards on the eighth hole for a hole-in-one. Emiliano Grillo (ARG) shot a daily best of 5-under par to move up four places to third (8-under par).
Adam Shank and Robbie Selton (USA) shot 3-under par to finish in a tie for fourth with Byung-Hoon Ahn. Scottie Schaeffler (USA), who moved to No. 1 in the world golf rankings, dropped three strokes to share seventh place (6-under par) with Andrew Novak (USA). Schauffler finished second in a playoff at this event last year.
Michael Block is a big favorite [Photo: Getty Images Korea].
Kim Si-woo (28), who started the day in seventh place, finished at even par and is tied for 19th (3 under par) with Lee Kyung-hoon (32) and defending champion Sam Burns (USA). Kim, who has four career wins at the Sony Open, including a tie for second at the AT&T Byron Nelson two weeks ago, had been feeling the ball well of late, but today he alternated four bogeys with four birdies.
Lee Min-woo (AUS), who earned provisional status on the Tour with this event, shot 1-over par to finish tied for 28th (2-under par) with Ryan Fox (NZL), who also earned provisional status, and Korean-Americans Justin Seo and Michael Kim.메이저놀이터
Seventy-two players with two-day totals of 1-over par or better qualified for the weekend. Sung Jae Lim, 25, who returned to the United States after winning the Korean Tour in South Korea two weeks ago, shot an even-par to tie for 73rd (2-over par) with Tony Finau, while Sung Hyun Kim, 25, missed the cut after shooting a 1-over par to tie for 109th (6-over par).
Teaching professional Michael Block (USA), who entered last week’s PGA Championship tied for 15th, dropped four strokes on the day and finished in a tie for last place (15-over par) to end a long two weeks. As an unscheduled invitee, his schedule was limited from the start. However, Block enjoyed the two weeks in front of the fans and made a strong impression.
The third round will be broadcast on JTBC Golf & Sports from 2 a.m. on Aug. 28.