China’s Carl Yuan holed two monster putts en route to a second round of 4-under 66 to move up to tied fifth place in the weather-disrupted Cadence Bank Houston Open on Friday as Tony Finau seized the clubhouse lead with a career low equalling 62.
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Finau, 33, got off to a sizzling start at Memorial Park Golf Course with seven birdies in his opening 10 holes before capping his day with three closing birdies to open a four-shot lead on 13-under as he seeks a fifth career PGA TOUR victory.
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“They set the tee boxes up to where we had to take advantage. We got the better wave,” said Finau, who has shot 62 on four previous occasions. “Thirty-six holes is a lot of golf left, and it’s trickier to score with a north wind. But I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
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Yuan was delighted to finally make the weekend play for the first time in his rookie season after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour in second position. The 25-year-old, who missed the cut in his first three PGA TOUR tournaments, was forced to scramble his way around following some errant driving.
“Score-wise, definitely four under par is really good on this course. Honestly, I wasn’t hitting the ball as good. Some tee shots over the ball, I have no idea where it’s going. But yeah, glad to really stay in every shot, try to get around this course,” said Yuan, who has hit 50% of fairways through 36 holes and stands at 7-under for the tournament.
Countryman Marty Zecheng Dou were amongst those who will return on Saturday morning to conclude their second round after inclement weather disrupted play. Dou, who shot a first round 67, remained 3-under through eight holes while Korean duo Byeong Hun An and rookie S.H. Kim were also 3-under through 10 holes. Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama was 1-under for the event with six holes remaining.
After a bogey on 14, Yuan bounced back with five birdies on his card, including a 32-footer on the first hole and a superb 51-foot conversion on the seventh. “I know it’s a tough track that hitting greens is a key point. There will be a lot of lag putts. Fortunately I made two long ones to pick up a couple strokes there. Overall just played solid with good strategy I think, and looking forward to more of that over the weekend,” said Yuan, who hails from Dalian.
The rising Chinese star worked on quickening his pre-shot routine during a two-week break in hope of getting himself more committed into his shots. “(Worked on) things more routine and stuff, getting over the ball, not taking too much time before hitting a shot, just more committed walking into the shot and execute it and accept the result of it,” said Yuan.
“Didn’t run off a good start obviously and there’s a couple things that I like to change. Took some time off and looking forward to the last one to finish off the fall.”
