Dell Technologies Championship: Jon Rahm opens two-shot lead
Sunday 3 September 2017 21:44, UK
Jon Rahm responded to an erratic start with an eagle and a barrage of birdies as he powered into a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Dell Technologies Championship.
Rahm was two over for the day after eight holes, but a superb eagle at the 18th ignited his charge to the top of the leaderboard and five birdies over the front nine in excellent conditions at TPC Boston saw him card a 66 which hoisted him to nine under par.
Overnight leader Dustin Johnson paid the price for an erratic display off the tee as he scrapped his way to a 72 which included two double-bogeys, leaving him five adrift of the leader, while defending champion Rory McIlroy missed the cut by a shot after adding a 74 to his opening 72.
The swirling winds which hampered scoring on the first day abated on Saturday, although Rahm struggled early on as he bogeyed the 12th - his third - before getting the shot back at the 14 only to run up an ugly double-bogey five at the short 16th.
But the exciting young Spaniard converted a delightful second to 12 feet for eagle at 18, and he was flawless on the outward nine and reeled off three straight birdies from the second before picking up further strokes at seven and nine to set an imposing target in the clubhouse.
Kyle Stanley gave himself a chance to catch Rahm when he reached eight under, but he dropped his fifth shot of a rollercoaster round at his final hole to return a 68 which also featured eight birdies and only five pars.
The American slipped into a share of second alongside Paul Casey, who returned a dynamic 65 that featured four birdies in five holes to close out a back-nine 32 and a further three gains over his last four holes.
Casey is nicely placed on seven under with Stanley and Adam Hadwin, who boosted his chances of a Presidents Cup place with five birdies and an eagle in his 65, while Kevin Streelman was another to shoot six under for the day and make it a four-way tie for second.
Veteran 2007 champion Phil Mickelson was again solid rather than spectacular as a 67 got him to six under with Grayson Murray, who made a hole-in-one at the eighth barely a minute before Lucas Glover aced the 16th, while Justin Rose enjoyed five birdies over the last seven holes in another 65.
Rose heads into the third round on five under, a score matched by a charging Jordan Spieth late in the day after The Open champion, who was three over after seven holes on day one, continued his fine recovery with seven birdies and a lone dropped shot.
Spieth's playing partner Johnson appeared on course to extend his overnight lead when he birdied the opening two holes, but the world No 1 endured a rare, wayward stretch with the driver thereafter and double-bogeyed both the 10th and 15th after the turn although a closing birdie lifted his spirits and salvaged a 72.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia failed to reproduced his remarkable touch with the putter from Friday and made only one birdie against three bogeys in a frustrating 73 which left the Spaniard seven shots adrift of his compatriot.
But McIlroy will have an unscheduled two days off after another faltering performance which effectively ended his already-slim chances of retaining his FedExCup title, and the Northern Irishman now needs a strong week at the BMW Championship just to make it to the 30-man Tour Championship in Atlanta.
McIlroy was safely inside the cut line despite mixing four bogeys with three birdies, but he got into all sorts of trouble at the fifth and was forced to take a penalty drop en route to a double-bogey six, and he missed good chances for birdie at the next two holed before further pars at eight and nine left him at four over par.
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