Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Overnight leader Austin Smotherman finished seven shots worse off his opening round but still found the lead after an intriguing second day of the Cognizant Classic.
The American followed Thursday’s 62 with a two-under 69 on Friday and holds a commanding three-stroke lead over Taylor Moore (67) at PGA National.
Smotherman stayed red-hot, with a 55-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th among the highlights.
Moore is solo second after a second consecutive 67 and is followed by A.J Ewart (64) – the round of the day – at seven under. He is tied for third with Nico Echavarria (72).
After their poor opening rounds, Brooks Koepka and Ben Silverman fought back and will return for the weekend.
Koepka shot a five-under 66 on Friday, trimming eight shots from his opening round, while Silverman shaved six shots from his 73 a day before.
That got them well within the cut line, and both are at two under headed into the weekend – nine behind leader Smotherman.
“If I’m out here to try to make cuts, I’m probably done,” said Koepka, the five-time major championship winner who is a native of Palm Beach County and has a bit of a home-field edge this week.
He has now made two of three cuts since returning to the PGA Tour earlier this year following a stint of nearly four years with Saudi-backed LIV.
Koepka only hit six of 14 fairways on Friday but putted the ball far better and made six birdies – four more than he had in round one.
“I hit it a lot worse today,” Koepka said. “Didn’t drive it nearly as good. Iron play wasn’t as good, but the putter was better. Made a few adjustments after the round yesterday.”
Ewart has been to the Cognizant before as a fan and remembers following Koepka around in the past.
“Coming into the week, I had never actually played the golf course, but I felt like I knew it just from watching it,” Ewart said. “Somewhat of a home game, yeah. It feels good.”
The two Australians in the field, Karl Vilips and Cam Davis, both had disastrous second rounds to miss the even-par cut.
Karl Vilips followed his opening 69 with a 78 for a five-over total while Davis finished near the rear off the field after adding an 80 – the worst score of the round – to his 72 for a 10-over total.
Davis’s round included two birdies, eight pars, six bogeys, one double bogey and a triple bogey.
