Justin Thomas yesterday made the most of benign conditions to shoot a nine-under 63 and take a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges on the South Korean resort island of Jeju.
The American’s blemish-free second round also put him in contention to win the PGA Tour event for the second time in three years, having also won the inaugural edition in 2017.
Thomas birdied his first four holes and picked up another shot on the eighth before sinking four more birdies on the back nine to reach a 13-under 131 total.
Overnight leader and local favorite An Byeong-hun shot a 69 to tie for second with South Korean-born New Zealander Danny Lee (66) on 11-under.
“I didn’t do anything unbelievably, it just was a very stress-free day,” Thomas said after his round. “I think I hit every green and made a couple putts early. And then the back nine, I got a few close to the holes where those birdies came easier.”
“So it just was a very easy 63 if you can somehow say that, but hopefully we’ll be able to keep some of that going for the weekend,” he added.
The 26-year-old rated the 63 he registered two years ago at the tournament as better than yesterday’s round.
“I’ll take 63 on any conditions on any course any day, but it was very, very benign out there,” Thomas said. “There just wasn’t very much wind, which made it a lot easier to score.”
“I felt like when I had control of the ball like I did today, it made it quite a bit easier,” he added.
American Jordan Spieth (65) and Emiliano Grillo (66) of Argentina were tied for fourth, four strokes behind Thomas in the first tournament of the PGA Tour’s three-event Asian swing.
The tour next heads to Japan for the inaugural Zozo Championship before moving to China for the WGC-HSBC Champions.
Taiwan’s C.T. Pan carded a three-under 69 for a two-round total of 143, 12 strokes behind Thomas in a share of 46th.
Brooks Koepka’s title defense appeared to be wilting, with the American world No. 1 recording a three-over 75 in the second round and falling 13 strokes behind the leader.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two