Johnson musters five-shot lead

November 1, 2013. It turned out to be Dustin Johnson’s Friday as he shot a course record of 9-under 63, to set a five-shot lead in the WGC-HSBC Champions.

Johnson, at his very best, ran off six birdies in his opening seven holes. He never hit more than 8-iron into a par 4. He twice came within 15 yards of driving the green on par 4s — once with a 3-iron.

“I really drove the ball really well,” Johnson said. “For me, that’s a big key.”

Johnson became the sixth player with a 63 at Sheshan International, last achieved by Martin Kaymer in the final round in 2011. He was at 12-under 132, five shots clear of Rory McIlroy (72), Bubba Watson (69) and Boo Weekley (67).

First round leader, McIlroy, who started the second round of this World Golf Championship with a two-shot lead, made three birdies on the front nine to stretch his lead to four shots. At that point, Johnson was just getting warmed up. And it wasn’t long before McIlroy started to cool off. He drove into the same bunker he was in on Thursday and made another bogey, and he didn’t give himself any birdie chances over the last six holes.

[highlight] Rory McIlroy stands tied 2  along with Bubba Watson and Boo WEEKLEY. [/highlight]

On the par-5 14th, his wedge went just over the green and forced him to hit a delicate chip to save par. On the reachable par-4 16th, he drove into a tiny pot bunker left of the green and took two to get out, again scrambling for par. And on the par-5 18th, McIlroy hit his second shot into the water and made bogey.

“I just hit a couple of bad shots, and then I guess I let it affect me a little bit, and then I started to doubt myself sometimes,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t hit a lot of quality shots on the back nine.”

Rory stands tied 2 with Bubba Watson and Boo WEEKLEY.

McDowell, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Ian Poulter were among those at 6-under 138. Phil Mickelson, trying to recover from his quadruple bogey-bogey finish to the opening round, had a 68 and was seven shots behind.

Meanwhile, Indian hopeful Gaganjeet Bhullar could not cope up with the tussle for the top and slipped to 18th position after round two. He carded three bogeys in a row on front nine to finish one-under 71 on Friday.

Johnson has recorded 10 birdies in a round only once before in his career.