Southpaw Brian Harman chipped in for an unlikely birdie on the par-5 15th hole after chunking his previous shot.
Harman (pictured) added a four-foot birdie putt on the last hole to post a 5-under-par 68 and is tied for the lead with first-round leader Marc Leishman of Australia midway through the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the windy Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
“It was like a foul ball and I was able to bounce back from it; that was fun,” Harman, who won the Wells Fargo Championship last year, said of his chunked hip shot. “I had to stay a little more patient today. I birdied the first hole but I was not playing well to start the day.
“I made a really nice putt on 9 and that sort of kick-started the back nine, which was good. Tomorrow, we’re going to go a little bit early, so it will be a new challenge to see what the course is like in the morning. I played a couple practice rounds early, so it should be all right. It should be a fun weekend, the weather looks nice.”
Leishman birdied two of the last four holes to card a bogey-free 69 and shares the 36-hole lead with Harman at 10-under 136.
“It was tougher today on the greens with the wind gusting,” said Leishman, who won the won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the BMW Championship last season. “After the season I had last year, I’m confident.
“Having been in this position before, I need to finish it off on the weekend and I’m planning on doing that to get another win.”
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson, who won at Kapalua in 2013, bounced back from two early bogeys with seven birdies the rest of the way to shoot 68 and is one stroke back in third, while 41-year-old Pat Perez of San Diego totaled 66 and is another shot behind in a tie for fourth with Chris Stroud, who also had a 66, and Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela, who finished at 70.
Jason Dufner, the 2013 PGA champion, shot 68 and is three strokes behind in seventh, while Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA had a 70 and is one more shot down in a tie for eighth with Rickie Fowler (71) of Murrieta, Hideki Matsuyama (70) of Japan, Kevin Kisner (70) and Si Woo Kim (71) of South Korea.
Second-ranked Jordan Spieth, who won the TOC in 2016, bounced back from an opening 75 with 66 and is five behind in a tie for 13th that includes fourth-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain, who shot 70, while defending champion and third-ranked Justin Thomas struggled to a 75 and is 10 strokes back in a tie for 27th in the 33-man field.
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