Scottie Scheffler shot an 8-under-par 63 and extended his lead at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson to six shots before the second round was suspended Friday at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
Lightning in the area interrupted the round for 6 hours, 15 minutes before play finally resumed in the mid-afternoon. As a result, some players did not begin their second rounds at all, and scores more only finished a few holes.
The tournament will resume Saturday morning, and the third round will follow a cut to the top 65 and ties.
Scheffler is at 18-under 124, his personal-best 36-hole score on the PGA Tour and one shy of Justin Thomas’ tour record of 19 under (2017 Sony Open in Hawaii).
After a 10-under 61 on Thursday, the World No. 1 started his second round on the back nine and opened with eight straight pars before eagling the par-5 18th with a 9 1/2-foot putt. That’s when the lightning delay began; when he got back out on the course, Scheffler proceeded to make six birdies on the front nine to run away from the pack.
“I feel like my game’s in a good spot,” Scheffler said. “… I had two really solid days of golf, and looking forward to getting out tomorrow and trying to execute some more shots. …
” I had some good starts recently. I had a good start at the Masters, solid start, and then I had a chance here in Houston. Overall, I had a decent week in Hilton Head. I didn’t have a great Sunday, but overall I played some pretty solid golf. So I definitely feel like my game is trending in the right direction.”
Sam Stevens shot his second straight 65 to get to 12 under. Just behind him in third place is Ricky Castillo (66), followed by Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas (69).
Jordan Spieth, a Dallas native like Scheffler, is in line to make the cut after his Friday round of 67 boosted him to 6 under.
Stevens completed his bogey-free round with back-to-back birdies.
“It was good,” Stevens said of his effort. “This course, there’s a lot of birdie opportunities, and I’ve done a good job of not making any mistakes, no bogeys through 36 holes.
“Just take advantage of the gettable holes and kind of stay clean with the card, and you can have some good rounds out here.
–Field Level Media
