Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Austin Smotherman matched the best score of his career – a nine-under 62 – to take a one-stroke lead over Nico Echavarria at the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic.
Smotherman became only the seventh player to shoot 62 or better at PGA National in this event.
The others are Jake Knapp (59 in round 1, 2025), Australian Matt Jones (61 in round 1, 2021), Brian Harman (61 in round 2, 2012), Chris Kirk (62 in round 2, 2023), Brandon Hagy (62 in round 2, 2021) and Tiger Woods (62 in the final round, 2012).
“It was a pretty easy round,” Smotherman said, “on a golf course that shouldn’t be this easy.”
And that was a talking point at PGA National on Thursday.
The course is overseeded, which means rye has been added to the Bermuda grass. The advantages are many, including the grass looks greener, which means PGA National looks prettier on television. Not just that, but the course plays softer as well.
“This is a really good golf course,” said Billy Horschel, who shot a two-under 69. “It’s a very fair golf course. When it blows hard, it’s a challenge, and when it’s sort of benign like it is today, it’s gettable.”
Smotherman, fuelled by six consecutive birdies on holes seven through 12, tapped in for a birdie on the par-5 finishing hole for the second 62 in his PGA Tour career. He also shot 62 in the first round of the Bermuda Championship in October 2022.
He held a first-round lead once before this week, at the 2023 Mexico Open, and hasn’t won any of his first 81 starts on tour. He’s also playing without a line on the ball this week, seeing what that does for his putting.
So far, so good.
“Trying to just be a little bit more freeing with the stroke, be an artist on the greens, see the line, kind of let it just be external, look at the hole, see where I want it to go in and just trust that I’m pretty good at just aiming in the general vicinity that needs to happen,” Smotherman said.
“Then from there, just letting good speed take over, and hopefully the hole gets in the way.”
Echavarria shot 63 in the morning half of the draw. No one else who started in the morning shot better than 67, with Taylor Moore and Jackson Suber coming in with those scores.
Potus Nyholm, Kristoffer Reitan, Daniel Berger and Kevin Roy had 67s in the afternoon, but nobody got close to Smotherman.
Karl Vilips shot a two-under 69 to be tied 20th.
The promising Australian made four birdies before two bogeys in his last three closing holes pegged him back in the field.
Cam Davis, the other Australian in the field, had a 72.
Recent PGA Tour returnee Brooks Koepka never found much rhythm in his Florida return.
He was four-over for his last six holes, including a double bogey at the par-3 17th, and signed for a three-over 74 that left him buried in a tie for 98th heading into Friday.
