Defending champion Scottie Scheffler carded the best round of the week, a 7-under-par 64, to take a two-shot lead at the WM Phoenix Open on Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Play was suspended at 6:07 p.m. local time with about half of the field yet to complete the second round, which will be concluded Saturday morning ahead of the third round.
Scheffler has a 10-under 132 total through two complete rounds at TPC Scottsdale. Spain’s Jon Rahm, who is ranked No. 1 in the world, shot a 66 on Friday and is two strokes behind Scheffler, who is rated No. 2.
Canada’s Adam Hadwin is also at 8 under, though he still has seven holes to play in the second round.
Wyndham Clark logged a 67 on Friday, leaving him at 7 under, tied with South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who 6 under in the second round with six holes remaining.
Australia’s Jason Day is in the clubhouse at 6 under after a 71. He is tied for sixth with Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas (6 under in the second round through 14 holes), Sam Ryder (4 under through 13 holes), Xander Schauffele (2 under through 12 holes) and Canada’s Nick Taylor (1 under through 12 holes).
Scheffler is poised to become the first defending Phoenix champ to lead or co-lead after the second round the following year since Johnny Miller in 1975.
Scheffler’s bogey-free round included three birdies on the back nine, which he played first, and four on the front nine.
“I think around this place when you’re hitting fairways and you’re hitting it well, the golf course can kind of open up for you,” Scheffler said. “But the opposite can happen in a hurry because there’s trouble lurking on basically every hole with there being desert close by. There’s a lot of holes with water as well.
“When you’re hitting it well, you have to take advantage of it like I did today. Hopefully, I’ll keep putting the ball in position as the week goes on.”
Rahm started the day by making his only bogey of the round on his second hole, the par-4 11th. He quickly recovered by going birdie-par-eagle-birdie from No. 13 to No. 16, then added consecutive birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.
“I’m making a lot of good swings out there and I’m going to remember that,” Rahm said. “Where they end up is to most of the extent out of my control.”
–Field Level Media
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