English two clear in Kapalua
KAPALUA, HAWAII - JANUARY 08: Harris English of the United States plays his shot from the 10th tee during the second round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on January 08, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Harris English carded a bogey-free, six-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
Seeking his xth PGA Tour win, the 31-year old leads on 14-under par from defending champion Justin Thomas (69), Daniel Berger (65), Collin Morikawa (65) and Ryan Palmer (67)
Xander Schauffele (66), Brendon Todd (67), Sungjae Im (68) and Patrick Reed (68) are tied for sixth, three shots behind English on 11-under with world No 1 Dustin Johnson lurking in joint 10th, four shots off the pace on 10-under at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
The Masters champion carded a bogey-free 65 to share 10th place with Jon Rahm (66), Scottie Scheffler (66), Bryson DeChambeau (67), Joaquin Niemann (67), Carlos Ortiz (67) and Patrick Cantlay (68).
“I played better, but I played pretty well yesterday too, just still I think the longest putt I made is about an 8-footer and that was on 16 for par,” Johnson said. “Other than that, I mean, yeah, I hit a lot of good golf shots but most of them were four, five feet. So the game feels pretty good though, I hit a lot of nice iron shots and driving it pretty well and everything seems to be going pretty well and the putts just aren't going in the hole.”
As for English, he knows he will have to continue to go low if the winds fails to blow.
:”This golf course is dictated so much on the wind,” English said. |If we get two more days like we had today with not a whole lot of wind, I know I got to keep the pedal down and making a lot of birdies because I know the scores are going to be low. I saw a lot of guys shoot 6-, 7-, 8-under today and I know it's going to take that for the next two days and to try to keep plugging along and that's all you can do out here.”
2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions
(13th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season)
Kapalua, Maui, HI January 7-10, 2021 Purse: $6,700,000 ($1,340,000) The Plantation Course Par/Yards: 36-37—73/7,596 FedExCup Points: 500 (winner)
Second-Round Notes – Friday, January 8, 2021
Weather: Partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies in the afternoon, with a high of 82. Wind N/NE 5-10 mph.
Second-Round Leaderboard
Harris English 65-67—132 (-14)
Justin Thomas 65-69—134 (-12)
Daniel Berger 69-65—134 (-12)
Collin Morikawa 69-65—134 (-12)
Ryan Palmer 67-67—134 (-12)
Things to Know
Seeking his first win since the 2013 OHL Mayakoba Golf Classic, Harris English cards a bogey-free second-round 67 for a two-stroke lead
The 2021 second-round scoring average of 68.286 is the lowest at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Since 1999 (2003/R4: 68.33 / 2012/R4: 68.96)
Defending champion Justin Thomas is two strokes off the lead, posting a second-round 69
2019 champion Xander Schauffele made an 81'6" putt for eagle on the 18th hole, setting the record for longest putt made at the Plantation Course at Kapalua since 2003
Four past champions of the event are inside the top-10 (Thomas, Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson)
Second-Round Lead Notes
19 Second-round leaders/co-leaders at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to win
Most recent: Justin Thomas/2017
4 Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win this season
Most recent: Robert Streb/The RSM Classic
Harris English (-14/1st) Age: 31 (July 23, 1989)
Turned Professional: 2011
Entering the week
FedExCup #18
Wins at Sentry Tournament of Champions 0
PGA TOUR Starts 249
PGA TOUR starts in 2020-21 6
OWGR #29
Starts at Sentry Tournament of Champions 1
PGA TOUR wins 2
Top-10s on PGA TOUR 34
Top-10s in 2020-21 4
English holds his fifth second-round lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR. Of his previous four leads/co-leads he has gone on to win twice: 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic, 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic
The 9-under marks his career best par-5 performance through the first 36-holes on the PGA TOUR
R2 stats: 12/15 fairways, 16/18 greens, 29 putts
Seeking third TOUR win in 250th start (2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic, 2013 Mayakoba Golf Classic) Qualified for the field with 12th place finish in the 2020 TOUR Championship
Miscellaneous Notes
Two-time tournament winner and defending champion Justin Thomas (T2) posts second-round 69 in search of his third win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (2017, 2020) which would tie Stuart Appleby for most wins since the tournament moved to The Plantation Course at Kapalua
Thomas, Daniel Berger, Collin Morikawa and Ryan Palmer hold a four-way tie for second and each owning 36-hole scores of 134
Palmer shoots back-to-back rounds of 67 marking the 19th time in his career on TOUR to open with two rounds of 67 or better
2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Xander Schauffele (T6) carded a second-round 66 highlighted by six birdies and an eagle on the par 5 18th hole. The eagle was his third at the event and the third time he has ended a round on TOUR with an eagle (2019/R1/US OPEN, 2019/R2 TOUR Championship)
Reigning FedExCup champion and two-time Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Dustin Johnson is T10 following a bogey-free 8-under 65
Bryson DeChambeau (T10) hit a 350-yard drive on the 15th hole marking the 15th drive of 350 yards or longer on the 15th hole since 2003
Bogey-free rounds:
R1 (9): Justin Thomas (65), Robert Streb (67), Nick Taylor (67), Patrick Reed (67), Adam Scott (68), Viktor Hovland (69), Martin Laird (69), Marc Leishman (69), Richy Werenski (69)
R2 (9): Dustin Johnson (65), Daniel Berger (65), Harris English (67), Sebastián Muñoz (66), Billy Horschel (66), Brendon Todd (67), Bryson DeChambeau (67), Cameron Champ (68), Martin Laird (69)
