19 October 2018: The pendulum swung heavily on the second day of the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges. 65 was the currency in circulation on Friday. Scott Piercy made the most of it to take a one-stroke lead over Brooks Koepka, who made a 65 himself. Overnight leader Chez Reavie shot 70 to move down into the third spot. Alex Noren took advantage of a brilliant 65 to gain 43 spots to T4 with Ian Poulter, who made 69.
Shubhankar Sharma has been challenged this week. He followed a first round 74 with a 75 in the second round. The Chandigarh golfer began the day with a birdie at the tenth hole. But he conceded three bogeys before making the turn. When he absorbed another bogey at the first hole, he was five over.
The 22-year-old played with grim determination to try and force his way out of the hole. Shubhankar kept his sheet clean for six holes before adding a birdie at the 8th hole. But he closed the day with a six at the par-5 ninth hole to reach the weekend at 5-over 149.
Piercy was bogey-free in his second round 65. The 36 hole score of 9-under 135 is an exact match to the score put up by Luke List in the inaugural edition last year.
Koepka scored an eagle on the par-5 18th hole on his way to a forceful 65 to get into contention. The three time major winner had six other birdies, with a lone bogey at the ninth hole. Noren was bogey free in his 65 as he made the biggest move on the day.
England’s Paul Casey shot a seven iron to perfection to record the first ever hole-in-one at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. The hole-in-one came at the par-3 187-yard seventh hole, his second hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR. Casey has nine of them in his professional career.
Si Woo Kim and Sung Kang are carrying the Korean flag high. They are in T15 after shooting 73 and 67 respectively. They are trailing the leader by seven strokes.
Leading Scores:
Scott Piercy 70-65 135 (-9)
Brooks Koepka 71-65 136 (-8)
Chez Reavie 68-70 138 (-6)
Alex Noren 74-65 139 (-5)
Ian Poulter 70-69 139 (-5)
Korean Players in the Field:
Si Woo Kim 69-73 142 (-2)
Sung Kang 75-67 142 (-2)
Tae Hee Lee 72-71 143 (-1)
Dong Seop Maeng 71-73 144 (E)
Sungjae Im 73-71 144 (E)
Byeong Hun An 70-77 147 (+3)
Hyungjoon Lee 74-72 146 (+4)
Sanghyun Park 75-73 148 (+6)
Whee Kim 76-75 151 (+7)
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 78-73 151 (+7)
Doyeop Mun 72-80 152 (+8)
Hyun-Woo Ryu 77-76 153 (+9)
Minchel Choi 82-72 154 (+10)
Bogey-free rounds:
R1: None
R2: Pat Perez (68), Andrew Putnam (68), Scott Piercy (65), Alex Noren (65), Sung Kang (67)
