Matt Kuchar basically repeated himself and remained on top of the heap.
The 40-year-old Kuchar overcame one hiccup and posted a second straight 7-under-par 64 to take a two-stroke lead over rookie Cameron Champ midway through the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Club http://www.mayakobagolf.com in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
“It was very similar to yesterday, except for one hole, No. 12,” said Kuchar, who played bogey-free in the first round. “I hit a bad tee shot, hit it to the right, had to hit a provisional and made a double bogey there. It just had that one challenging hole.
“I was able to come back with a couple of birdies and I felt like I was in control. Like I said, just had one bad hole, one bad shot really—that tee shot. Yesterday was kind of a bogey-free day and just easy, and everything else today (other than No. 12) was about the same.”
Kooch, who has won seven times on the PGA Tour but not since the 2014 RBC Heritage, sank a 35-foot putt to save bogey on that 12th hole and recorded a 36-hole score of 14-under 128.
Champ, 23, from Sacramento, had an eagle on the 13th hole and eight birdies before making is only bogey on his last hole of the round, No. 9, while carding a 62 that was the low score of the day.
“It’s not a bomber’s course,” said the long-hitting Champ, who claimed his first PGA Tour victory two weeks ago in the Sanderson Farms Championship. “You have to place it off the tee, and some holes the rough is very thick and you’ve just got to whack it out.
“This course I feel like is very suitable for everyone. Just to be able to place my ball right in the fairways and on the greens and make the putts when I needed is great.”
Defending champion Patton Kizzire shot a bogey-free 66 and is three shots back in a tie for third with Danny Lee (66) of New Zealand, Whee Kim (63) of South Korea, Dominic Bozzelli (67), Brian Gay (63), Anirban Lahiri (66) of India, and Richy Werenski (66).
Jonas Blixt of Sweden totaled 63 and is another stroke behind in a tie for 10th with Kyoung-Hoon Lee (66) of South Korea, Adam Hadwin (67) of Canada, and Kramer Hickok (68).
Ninth-ranked Rickie Fowler of Murrieta is tied for 20th after a 68, while 14th-ranked Jordan Spieth shot 69 and missed the cut by two strokes, the seventh time he will miss the weekend this year.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/competition/2019/mayakoba-golf-classic/leaderboard.html
