Kensei Hirata of Japan fired a 7-under-par 64 on Friday to join Chandler Blanchet atop the leaderboard halfway through the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Southampton, Bermuda.
Hirata and Blanchet are tied at 13-under 129 after two rounds at Port Royal Golf Course. Blanchet held the first-round lead and followed his opening 62 with a 67.
They are one stroke ahead of Ireland’s Seamus Power (64), Eric Cole (65), Danny Walker (67) and Canadians Corey Conners (67) and Ben Silverman (67).
Five players are another shot back at 11 under. David Skinns of England had the round of the day with a 63 to join Denny McCarthy (64), Greyson Sigg (64), Austin Smotherman (66) and Ben Kohles (68) in eighth place.
Hirata, 25, is ranked No. 430 in the world and a distant No. 176 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. None of that would matter if he pulled out his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday.
“This is the first time in contention in a while, so I think I’ll feel a lot of emotions on the weekend, but I think those past six wins will help this weekend,” said Hirata, referring to his six titles on the Japan Golf Tour.
Hirata set the tone for his day by sinking a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-4 first hole. He went bogey-free, and two of his seven birdies came at par-3 holes.
“It’s not a long course, first of all, and then you’ve got to hit it to tight spots to the green and I think that suits … my game,” he said.
After holing out for two eagles in the first round, Blanchet had a calmer round on Friday. Yet he finished with a flourish by following a wayward tee shot at No. 18 with a terrific approach out of the rough to inside 6 feet, where he converted the birdie.
“I pulled it a little left, I was trying to hit kind of a hold cut and was hoping it was in the bunker for a flat lie, but covered the bunker and had a pretty uphill, above-the-feet lie and completely blind shot,” Blanchet said. “It was kind of a fun, creative one, which I think you’ve got to be pretty solid at this week with the wind, can’t just take your stock shots, so it was a good way to end it.”
Blanchet (No. 114 in FedEx Cup Fall) and his counterparts are vying to keep their tour cards this fall. The top 100 players in points at the end of the fall series retain full status for 2027.
Power, for instance, is projected to jump from No. 103 to No. 89 if the current standings hold. The 2022 Bermuda Championship winner showed off his course knowledge Friday with a bogey-free round.
“(I) played a full schedule (in 2026), but it was the unknowns and not knowing where I was going to get in and when I was going to get in was the tough part,” Power said. “So for me, trying to get back into that top 100, get yourself back to full status, and then I just feel like you’re in a better more comfortable spot starting off in January. So, like, that’s going to be the big goal.”
Notable names who missed the cut of 5 under par included Canadian Taylor Pendrith (4 under), Camilo Villegas of Colombia (3 under) and China’s Haotong Li (3 under).
–Field Level Media
