Brooks Koepka made up for three bogeys on Friday to jump to a two-stroke lead at the Frys.com Open.
Koepka shot a 7 under 64 to finish 11 under after two days.
“The golf course is in great shape, very good conditions, very scorable,” Koepka said. “So to get off to a good start was key and just kind of hang in there and keep playing well.”
He took the lead in the morning group and it stood up for the remainder of the afternoon.
The 23 year old has been nearly everywhere, traveling to 15 countries through his brief career trying to get on the PGA TOUR. He is planning to head to China after the Frys.
Jason Kokrak pulled to within one shot in the late group after he made eagle on No. 9 to finish out the day.
Robert Garrigus and Jim Harmon are both two off the lead at -9.
“It was an A-plus day,” Garrigus said. “I did miss a couple short eagle putts. Can’t really get mad at that when you made a bunch of par putts. Made a lot of midrange putts as well. I hit it close a lot.”
The projected cut is 142 strokes. There are 81 who are expected to make the cut.
This was the second day in a row the leader shot a round of 64. But the best round of the day came from Andres Gonzales who tied a course record with a 9 under 62. That jumped him up from three over the day before to tied for 12.
Gonzales had 10 birdies, with a bogey on hole 4 his only blemish.
Last year’s winner Jonas Blixt should make the cut after finishing one under. He dropped a stroke Friday after finishing day one two under.
Blixt recorded a birdie on 18 to give him a cushin and allow himself a tee-time for Saturday.
The crowds picked up on Friday, especially in the afternoon as the weather was mild and the wind was low.
The morning was cold, but some said it wasn’t as bad as the mid 40s on Thursday.
“(It was) a little cold this morning. Not as cold as yesterday. I heard the boys say it was pretty cold yesterday,” said Camilo Villegas, who was fifth at 8 under.
After leading the group Thursday, Jeff Overton dropped a stroke to fall to 11th overall. Where he was four under on the back nine the day before, Overton went one over through the same stretch.
Five people were four off the lead, including UC Berkley graduate Charlie Wi.
Wi had five birdies on the day.
NOTES:
Max Homa improved one place, shooting a 3-under 68 to improve to 5 under for the tournament.
Among those to miss the cut are notable names Angel Cabrera, Fred Funk, Patrick Reed and Stuart Appleby.
LEADERBOARD
1. Brooks Koepka -11
2. Jason Kokrak -10
T3. Robert Garrigus -9
Jim Herman -9
4. Camilo Villegas -8
T6 Scott Brown -7
Charlie Wi -7
USA Kevin Tway -7
Kyle Stanley -7
Billy Hurly III -7
