PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Russell Henley is enjoying so properly that even a few of his conservative pictures wound up shut sufficient for simple birdies. He had one other 8-under 63 and opened a three-shot lead Friday within the World Vast Expertise Championship at Mayakoba.
Henley ran off three straight birdies early in his spherical at El Camaleon, and he capped off one other string of three birdies with a daring tee shot to a again pin on the par-3 eighth.
That one might need been an accident.
“I wasn’t attempting to hit it again there on No. 8. It simply went a bit of farther than I wished,” Henley stated. “However clearly very pleased with the end result.”
Henley was at 16-under 126, one in need of his profession greatest for the opening 36 holes on the PGA TOUR. He shot 125 (62-63) on the Sony Open in Hawaii to begin the 12 months, a match that ended with Hideki Matsuyama beating him in a playoff.
Henley additionally had a three-shot lead on the Sony Open. This time, Henley leads over Will Gordon (67) and Sam Ryder (65), every on the lookout for their first PGA TOUR title.
Henley is a three-time winner, his final victory coming greater than 5 years in the past within the 2017 Houston Open.
Two-time main champion Collin Morikawa lastly put collectively an enormous spherical with a 63 and was eight behind, whereas Masters champion Scottie Scheffler needed to accept a 71 that left him 10 pictures again.
The reduce was at 4-under 138, a 12-shot differential from high to backside, which was extra concerning the high quality of Henley’s play.
El Camaleon is simply over 7,000 yards at sea degree (Gulf of Mexico). The tropical breeze is nothing gamers have not seen earlier than. The greens are clean and comparatively flat. The problem is the mangroves that line the fairways and make them look even harder to hit.
“Mentally felt assured and believing in what I used to be doing,” Henley stated. “It begins off the tee. There’s some intimidating tee pictures for me and I’m attempting to simply decide to what I am doing and decide to attempt to hit a fantastic shot. Being in a very good head house for these tee pictures is an effective begin.”
A dependable putter by no means hurts, and that is lengthy been the most effective membership in Henley’s bag. He rolled in a 25-footer on No. 3, and he additionally had a couple of momentum-saving par putts.
Gordon opened with a 62 and adopted with a 67, although he nonetheless felt as if he was headed in the precise path.
“I did not give myself as many shut seems to be at present after which I didn’t convert a pair putts, however I imply, it was a stable day,” Gordon stated. “A protracted solution to go and two stable days underneath me.”
Viktor Hovland, going for a 3rd straight victory at Mayakoba, might solely handle three birdies in his spherical of 69 that left him eight pictures behind.
Solely two different gamers have been inside 5 pictures of Henley going into the weekend. Patton Kizzire had a second straight 65 and was 4 again, whereas David Lingmerth (66) was one other shot behind.
That is the eighth time Henley has had a minimum of a share of the 36-hole lead on TOUR, and he has transformed just one right into a win — his first begin of his rookie 12 months in 2013 when he received the Sony Open towards fellow rookie Scott Langley.
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