The birdies were plentiful at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas, as 17 of the 18 players in the field shot even par or better in Round 2. Co-leader Jon Rahm nearly matched Rickie Fowler’s course-record 61 with a scintillating 63 on Friday.
Here’s what else you missed from Round 2 of the Hero World Challenge.
Jon Rahm made a lot of birdies
After a quiet first-round 71 on Thursday, Jon Rahm turned up the heat in Round 2 with a flawless scorecard that included nine birdies and no bogeys. At the tournament’s halfway point, he shares the lead with Henrik Stenson at -10.
18 holes.
9 birdies.Wow, @JonRahmPGA.
He holds the solo lead at the Hero World Challenge. pic.twitter.com/0UjrG3OMx8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2018
“The way I hit the ball off the tee today, I just set myself to have a lot of birdie chances out there,” Rahm said after his round.
Rahm, who has two career PGA Tour victories, is making his Hero World Challenge debut this year.
Tiger Woods stirred some controversy
Woods was climbing the leaderboard nicely, with a round of five under par through 17 holes. But on No. 18, his wayward tee shot landed in a bush, and the ensuing trouble resulted in a double bogey, and a final score of 69.
“Did he hit the ball twice?”
It’s been determined there’s no penalty for Tiger Woods on the 18th hole. pic.twitter.com/xMCUAnBkcB
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 30, 2018
For a few moments after his round, it looked as though Woods might be penalized for a double-hit from the bush. Though slow-motion footage revealed that he did in fact hit the ball twice, a Rules Decision that took effect last year prevented him from being penalized because his infraction could not be seen by the naked eye.
Woods is currently T14 through 36 holes.
Patrick Reed took a dive down the leaderboard
After a fantastic round that included eight birdies and one bogey on Thursday, Patrick Reed was the only player in the 18-man field to shoot over par on Friday.
Reed failed to card a single birdie on Friday, and suffered three bogeys and a double en route to a second round of 77 — five over par.
Though he co-lead the tournament after Thursday’s round, Reed tumbled down the leaderboard in Round 2 to T14 (two under par overall).
In four previous appearances at the Hero, Reed has finished in the top 5 three times, and has never finished outside of the top 10.
