KAPALUA, Maui >> Rickie Fowler figures he’s right on the edge of contention after shooting a 6-under 67 during Friday’s second round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
He is tied for sixth with Australia’s Steven Bowditch at 10-under 136, some six shots off the torrid pace of leader Jordan Spieth. The 27-year-old had a breakout campaign last year that included a dramatic three-hole playoff win over Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner at The Players Championship.
It was the third PGA Tour victory for Fowler, who has come oh so close in all four majors, with a tie for fifth at the Masters, a tie for second at the U.S and British opens, and a tie for third at the PGA Championship.
“It’s very easy to go out and shoot 2, 3, 4 under here,” Fowler said. “But it’s also a course where in the right conditions, you can shoot 12, 13 under. So Jordan had it going and you can make birdies out here and make a lot of them. So the course record is like 12? So, yeah, there’s a number where it’s too much, but being, four, five back, you can take care of that.”
Fowler and Spieth will leave Hawaii behind and fly halfway around the world to play in Abu Dhabi in a couple of weeks. Fowler has hit the sticks there before, but it’s Spieth’s first venture to that part of the world.
This is Fowler’s second trip to this winners-only tournament. The first one was in 2013, when the winds whipped across West Maui in hurricane fashion. The last two days here have been the polar opposite.
“The first year I played here we had three restarts,” Fowler said. “So you look at that and how much it blew the first couple days where it’s unplayable. Then when you get conditions where it’s borderline, where you’re able to play, then scores won’t be that low.
“But when it’s like this, where it’s been light and variable yesterday and today. Five to 10 (mph), tops, yesterday, that’s where it gets scorable. Greens are receptive. And the biggest challenge when there’s no wind, there’s just the lies you get. You get some hanging lies, you get the ball below and above and down and up, and like that. The only place comparable is the Masters.”
Lee on target
South Korea’s Danny Lee isn’t quite a household name on tour just yet, but the Texas resident is doing everything he can to change that.
He has managed single victories on the PGA, European and Web.com tours to put himself in position to be a regular contender out here. He turned pro in 2009 and earned his tour cards for Europe and the PGA in 2012. Lee got his first PGA win last July at the Greenbrier Classic and is alone in fifth here at 11 under after opening with rounds of 67 and 68 to trail Spieth by five.
It was even better when considering he opened Friday’s round with back-to-back bogeys.
“My mind-set was, ouch, that was a tough start,” Lee said. “I wasn’t expecting two bogeys in a row the first two holes. But making eagle on the first par-5 helped me a lot. And that kind of gave me the momentum for getting back in it. After that, it just went smoothly.”
Inside the numbers
The scoring average during Friday’s second round was a solid 69.719 after opening with a 70.594 on Thursday. The 32 golfers in this winners-only field produced 157 birdies — 15 more than Thursday — and only 45 bogeys and six doubles on the receptive Plantation Course.
The most difficult hole was the par-4 17th with a scoring average of 4.313, with no birdies, 24 pars, seven bogeys and one triple by Chris Kirk. The easiest hole was the par-5 fifth with a scoring average of 4.188 with three eagles, 21 birdies, seven pars and one bogey by J.J. Henry.
