Xander Schauffele fired a superb seven-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Steve Stricker and Keegan Bradley in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Friday.
Starting the day sharing sixth place after a 66, world No 4 Schauffele carded a quiet, blemish-free front nine with just a single birdie on the par-five third hole.
But the 27-year-old exploded after the turn, playing the back nine in six-under 30 to take the tournament lead at 12-under, with four birdies and a spectacular eagle three on the 15th when he drilled a 21-foot putt.
Ireland’s Rory McIlroy improved on a first round 70 with a 67 that left him at five-under, seven off the pace.
Fellow American Stricker, the US Ryder Cup captain who won his last PGA tournament in 2012, shot a five-under 66 in his bid to become the oldest winner in the tour’s history.
Starting on the back nine, the 53-year-old carded four birdies in a smooth front half and two more on the third and seventh holes, before stumbling with a bogey five on the last.
Bradley opened with four straight birdies on his way to a 65, while Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns and South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-Hoon were a further shot away at 10-under.
Collated second round scores (USA unless stated, Par 71)
130 Xander Schauffele 66 64,
131 Keegan Bradley 66 65, 131 Steve Stricker 65 66
132 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 66 66, Sam Burns 64 68, Scottie Scheffler 67 65
133 Nate Lashley 64 69
134 Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 67 67, James Hahn 67 67, Billy Horschel 66 68, Patton Kizzire 69 65, Brooks Koepka 68 66, Matthew NeSmith 63 71, J. T. Poston 68 66, Jordan Spieth 67 67
135 Lucas Glover 72 63, Kevin Streelman 68 67, Justin Thomas 70 65, Cameron Tringale 71 64, Nick Hardy 68 67
136 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 67, Mark Hubbard 63 73, Matt Kuchar 69 67, Andrew Putnam 67 69, Bo Van Pelt 69 67, Harold Varner III 68 68
137 Matt Jones (Aus) 68 69, Corey Conners (Can) 69 68, Adam Hadwin (Can) 67 70, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 70 67, Russell Knox (Sco) 68 69, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 71 66, Jon Rahm (Spa) 68 69, Ted Potter Jr. 66 71, Sam Ryder 70 67, Scott Stallings 67 70, Brendan Steele 70 67, Brendon Todd 68 69, Will Zalatoris 71 66
138 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 71 67, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 69 69, Russell Henley 71 67, Bo Hoag 67 71, Max Homa 69 69, Zach Johnson 68 70, Michael Kim 67 71, Grayson Murray 70 68, Ryan Palmer 70 68, Davis Riley 72 66, Robby Shelton 72 66, Webb Simpson 73 65, Kyle Stanley 71 67, Brian Stuard 70 68, Richy Werenski 69 69,
139 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 69 70, Xinjun Zhang (Chn) 70 69, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 68 71, Sung Jae Im (Kor) 72 67, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 68 71, Stewart Cink 69 70, Wyndham Clark 72 67, Brian Harman 71 68, Luke List 72 67, Bubba Watson 71 68, Aaron Wise 74 65, Matthew Wolff 68 71
140 Sepp Straka (Aut) 71 69, Nick Taylor (Can) 70 70, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 71 69, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 73 67, Ryan Armour 68 72, Daniel Berger 69 71, Joel Dahmen 75 65, Brice Garnett 70 70, Charley Hoffman 71 69, Tom Hoge 66 74, Beau Hossler 70 70, Jerry Kelly 71 69, Adam Long 72 68, Denny McCarthy 70 70, Jesse Mueller 72 68, Pat Perez 69 71, Doc Redman 72 68, Kelly Kraft 72 68
141 Jason Day (Aus) 71 70, Tom Lewis (Eng) 70 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 74 67, Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 77 64, Chengtsung Pan (Tai) 71 70, Austin Cook 71 70, Jason Dufner 72 69, Harris English 72 69, Talor Gooch 70 71, Michael Thompson 70 71, Kevin Tway 73 68
142 Luke Donald (Eng) 73 69, Scott Brown 72 70, Cameron Champ 68 74, Rickie Fowler 74 68, John Huh 68 74, Chez Reavie 69 73, Patrick Rodgers 72 70, Adam Schenk 72 70, Robert Streb 72 70, Mark Anguiano 72 70
143 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 72 71, Harry Higgs 75 68, J. B. Holmes 72 71, Troy Merritt 74 69, Keith Mitchell 75 68, Vaughn Taylor 73 70, Jimmy Walker 70 73, Gary Woodland 76 67
144 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 73, Martin Laird (Sco) 73 71, Tyler Duncan 74 70, Will Gordon 70 74, Scott Harrington 72 72, Chris Kirk 70 74
145 Camilo Villegas (Col) 74 71, Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor) 77 68, Jamie Lovemark 70 75, William McGirt 75 70
146 Brian Gay 72 74, Ryan Moore 70 76, Kevin Stadler 72 74, Vincent Whaley 73 73
148 Hunter Mahan 74 74, Martin Trainer 75 73
150 Hudson Swafford 77 73
151 Sebastian Munoz (Col) 78 73, John Augenstein 76 75
