Wolff stretches PGA Mayakoba lead as Scheffler charges
Matthew Wolff and stretched his lead to three strokes at the US PGA Mayakoba Championship.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN (AFP) - American Matthew Wolff fired a three-under par 68 and stretched his lead to three strokes after Friday s second round of the US PGA Mayakoba Championship in Mexico.
The 22-year-old runner-up at the 2020 US Open stood on 13-under 129 after 36 holes at El Camaleon, where he set a course record Thursday with a 61 to lead by two.
Wolff, who won his only US PGA title at the 2019 3M Open, contended again at this year s US Open and seized his first consecutive solo 18- and 36-hole leads in Mexico after a runner-up effort last month at Las Vegas.
"A lot of good," Wolff said. "I feel like I m hitting it pretty good. All parts of my game are clicking.
"I m ready for the weekend. I m giving myself a lot of good looks from the middle of the fairway with not-so-long clubs."
A victory would put him in rare company as a double PGA winner before the age of 23, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth.
"I put myself in a pretty good spot," Wolff said. "Pretty happy for the weekend."
American Scottie Scheffler, chasing his first US PGA triumph, fired a bogey-free 64 to stand second on 131. He started off the 10th tee and caught fire with a birdie run from the fourth through eighth holes.
"I gave myself a lot of looks," said Scheffler. "I don t think I missed very many greens. That s really important around this place, just keep it in position. I did a good job of that."
Norway s Viktor Hovland, the defending champion, and Mexico s Carlos Ortiz shared third on 132.
India s Anirban Lahiri, Spain s Sergio Garcia and Americans Bill Haas, Aaron Wise, Talor Gooch, Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, Ryan Palmer, J.J. Spaun and Michael Thompson were on 133.
Wolff started Friday with a birdie and followed with more at the par-4 third and par-5 fifth before taking his first bogey of the event at the par-4 sixth.
Wolff answered with a birdie at the par-4 seventh and birdied the par-3 10th and par-5 13th to stretch his lead to five shots.
But he found a greenside bunker at the par-4 16th and made bogey and missed a 15-foot par putt at 18, trimming his edge entering the weekend.
"I had a couple bad breaks coming in," he said. "It was a hard finish but I was really happy with how I played."
Hovland, who began off the 10th tee and made three back-nine birdies, found the rough, a sprinkler head and a penalty drop at the first hole on the way to a double bogey.
But he birdied three of the next four holes and added birdies at the par-5 seventh and par-4 ninth.
"I played really solid. It didn t feel like I did anything extravagant out there." Hovland said. "I just had to reset and I was happy I made five birdies coming in."
Ortiz, another back-nine starter, birdied the par-5 13th and par-3 15th before his lone bogey at 18, then reeled off four birdies in a row starting at the second and closed with a birdie at the ninth.
"The front-nine is pretty gettable. I took advantage of that," Ortiz said. "I kept grinding. It s a good course to bump it around and that s what I did."
