Bryson DeChambeau’s weight-lifting regimen has drawn mixed reviews, but in the second round of the WGC-Mexico Championship he muscled his way to the top of the leaderboard.
The pumped-up DeChambeau posted an 8-under-par 63 at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, missing the tournament/course record by one stroke, and took a one-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen of South Africa and Patrick Reed.
“On days like this, you can’t help but smile,” said DeChambeau, who is from Clovis in California’s San Joaquin Valley. “Hitting all those shots and making those putts, it was surely a joy out there.
“I felt super-confident on the greens and just kept the confidence going. It was unbelievable. Golf is a lot of when you play like that. … I’m going to go do my work now, hit some balls and putts like I always do, but I’m just firing on all cylinders right now.”
The 26-year-old DeChambeau, who has won five times on the PGA Tour but is seeking his first victory in the World Golf Championships, made seven birdies in a span of eight holes while finishing on the front nine and recorded a 36-hole score of 11-under 131.
Van Rooyen, who claimed the biggest of his three professional victories in the 2019 Scandinavian Open, did tie the course record with a bogey-free 62 on his 30th birthday.
“The first thing I told my wife this morning was that I really feel old,” said Van Rooyen, who made four straight birdies through No. 12 and added two more coming home. “What a way to kick off the 30s, 9-under.
“To be honest, when you shoot 9-under, everything is working well. I’ve been working really hard on my game and to see it all come together is nice. I’m happy. The game is easy sometimes, I guess.”
Reed strung together four straight birdies through No. 6, made his only bogey on the eighth hole and added for more birdies on the back nine in his 63.
“For me, it was just a matter of getting the ball on the green because it seemed like everything was going in,” said Reed, who won this tournament in 2014 when it was played at Doral in Miami.
“The putter was really working. On this course, you just want keep the ball in play off the tee because you can really attack the greens.”
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, a two-time WGC winner, was tied for the lead before making two late bogeys in a 64 and is two back in a tie for fourth with fourth-ranked Justin Thomas, who sank a 34-foot eagle putt on No. 1 to highlight a 66.
Top-ranked Rory McIlroy, the first-round leader at 65, made four birdies on the back nine to salvage a 69 and is three strokes behind in a tie for solo sixth, while Sebastian Munoz of Colombia totaled 66 and is six down in a tie for seventh with Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey, who both wound up at 68.
Corey Conners of Canada is one more shot back and alone in 10th after a 70.
Third-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain is tied for 22nd after a 69, seventh-ranked Adam Scott of Australia, who has won his last two starts, bounced back from a 74 with a 68 and is tied for 28th, 10th-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State totaled 72 and is tied for 42nd, while defending champion and fifth-ranked Dustin Johnson had a 71 after opening with an ugly 76 and is tied for 60th.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
