Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz hold the 36-hole lead at LIV Golf Hong Kong, up by one stroke over Thomas Detry and two over a surging Jon Rahm heading into the weekend.
Burmester, of South Africa, and Mexico’s Ortiz are tied at 14-under 126. After firing an opening-round 60, Ortiz followed with a 66 on Friday. Burmester carded seven birdies and a bogey to finish at 64.
Detry, who earlier this week was evacuated from the Middle East and was a late arrival in Hong Kong, shot a bogey-free 63 to stand at 13-under. Rahm, of Spain, mixed seven birdies, an eagle and a bogey to finish with a 62 and move up the leaderboard to fourth place at 12-under.
They are being pursued by a group of three players at 11-under and two more at 10-under.
Ortiz was not as sharp as he was in the first round, recording seven birdies and three bogeys. He said he is still trying to get the feel for a modified swing.
“It was kind of a rough start,” he said. “I wasn’t in position a lot in the first few holes. Had to scramble. I made a few bogeys. But honestly, I’m just trying to get good reps. My swing has changed a little bit and the feels have changed. I’m just getting really comfortable with the new swing. It’s also I’m getting a little bit uncomfortable to feel how it’s holding, and it’s actually holding pretty good.”
Burmester opened with a 62 on Thursday and said after the second round that the Hong Kong course is to his liking.
“I feel like I’ve been swinging it nicely for a while. I do tend to try and hit it a little too hard at times, and that’s when I get out of rhythm and out of sync,” he said.
“But when I get to a golf course like this, I love it so much because you don’t have to hit it that far. You’ve just got to position your ball right. Obviously, my distance does help every now and again, but it’s all about positional play and second shots.”
Rahm began play at No. 6 and birdied four out of his final four holes for his 8-under 62.
“Really good day of golf. There’s no other way of saying it,” Rahm said. “Did OK off the tee, which I think is one of the keys out here. It’s not the longest golf course, so you can put those tee shots in the fairway and you’re going to have a lot of opportunities to attack, and did just that.
“If I had to say an MVP of the day, it’s the putter. Made a lot of good putts, made a lot of mid-range putts from 15 to 20 feet, which can’t be taken for granted. It’s a fun day on the greens.”
In the team competition, Smash GC — Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Graeme McDowell and Harold Varner III — combined to go 16-under on the round, moving to 35-under for the tournament. Smash has a five-stroke lead over captain Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC.
–Field Level Media
