Friday’s golf: Justin Lower shoots another 65, leads Bermuda Championship

Posted by Admin November 16, 2024 Golf

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Associated Press
| Associated Press

Southampton, Bermuda – Justin Lower had another 6-under 65 without taking advantage of the par 5s on Friday, giving him a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

The island paradise was more like a grind in the wind and squalls of rain at Port Royal. The round did not finish before dark for the second straight day.

PGA TOUR SCOREBOARD

Lower, coming off a runner-up finish last week in Mexico, opened with three birdies in five holes and seized control with three straight birdies starting at No. 12 with a 6-foot putt. He rolled in a 20-footer from off the green at the 13th and made a sharp-breaking 15-footer on the next hole. The streak ended when his bunker shot on the 15th grazed the cup.

He just finishes he could have picked up shots on the par 5s. He was in range at the 17th, only to miss the green right. His pitch rolled out to 12 feet and he missed the birdie putt.

“To not get the par 5s when they’re all kind of reachable other than No. 2 just being into the wind, that part kind of sucks,” Lower said. “It would have been nice to get one of those last two putts to go in on 17, 18, but still a great round and I’m happy where I’m at.”

He was at 12-under 130, two shots ahead of Robby Shelton (64) and Ryan Moore (65).

Lower already has his card locked up for next year after last week. A victory would get him into the Masters and the first two $20 million signature events in 2025.

Shelton and Moore are outside the top 150 in the FedEx Cup. The PGA Tour season ends next week, and the top 125 keep full status for next year.

“It’s been not very good,” Shelton said of his year, which he attributed to changing swing coaches. “But now I feel like I’m super calm this week and these last two events just going to give it all I’ve got.”

Moore was on the cusp of losing his card last year until he tied for fifth in the Bermuda Championship and tied for eighth in the season-ending RSM Classic. He’s in the same predicament this year.

“I’ve got to get out of this habit of remembering how to play golf this second-to-last week of the year, that’s not a good habit to be in out here,” Moore said. “But I hope it continues over the weekend and my game keeps kind of trending the way it’s been.”

The cut won’t be made until the second round is completed Saturday morning, but Egor Eroshenko was assured of playing the weekend, making him the first Russian to make the cut on the PGA Tour.

LPGA Tour

Charley Hull made five birdies Friday for a 4-under 66 that gave her a two-shot lead and an extra day of her offseason holiday, along with a weekend date with Nelly Korda at The Annika.

Hull, who won in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago to end a two-year winless drought, pulled away with three birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.

Korda, playing for the first time in nearly two months because of a minor neck injury, started with a bogey and finished with back-to-back birdies in her round of 68. She was two shots behind and will be in the final group with Hull.

As for that holiday?

Turns out Hull made a bet with her boyfriend that she could add one extra day to her vacation to Europe for every round she makes five birdies. She made seven birdies Thursday.

“I played pretty solid,” Hull said. “It was quite windy, so quite tricky. Yeah, made five birdies today so extra day on holiday.”

Alexa Pano made nine birdies before her round ended with a double bogey. It still was good enough for a 64 that left her three shots behind, along with Jin Hee Im (65), Wichanee Meechai (66) and Mi Hyang Lee (68).

DP World Tour

The path is clear for Rory McIlroy to clinch the year-long Race to Dubai title and be crowned the European tour’s best player for a sixth time.

He’s well in contention to win the season-ending World Tour Championship, too.

McIlroy hit a fairway wood from 265 yards to 15 feet at No. 18 and two-putted for a closing birdie in his second round on Friday, a 3-under 69 leaving the No. 3-ranked Northern Irishman one stroke off the lead held by France’s Antoine Rozner (65) on 9-under par.

McIlroy was tied with Tyrrell Hatton (69) for second place in the tournament but his lead in the year-long Race to Dubai standings was looking impregnable.

Thriston Lawrence is the only player who can stop McIlroy winning that title – and to do that the South African needs a victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. That appeared unlikely, with a 71 leaving Lawrence at level par and nine shots off the lead at the halfway stage.

“At this point, I’m just trying to win the golf tournament,” McIlroy said, “and if I win the golf tournament, then everything else that happens alongside that is nice.”

McIlroy, a former Dubai resident and a three-time winner at the Earth Course, shared the lead with Hatton overnight and raced two strokes clear after making four birdies in his opening seven holes, including a 25-foot putt at No. 3. He faded after that, missing the fairway on each of his next three holes and making two bogeys.

The only birdie in McIlroy’s final 11 holes came at the last and it was set up by a majestic approach over water that might have been the shot of the day.

“A little disappointed that I didn’t kick on after such a great start,” McIlroy said, before adding: “Nice way to finish and a good position going into the weekend right there.”