Day Two at The Gamers Championship has wrapped up and two younger PGA Tour stars sit atop the leaderboard. Min Woo Lee, some of the entertaining gamers on the planet, and Akshay Bhatia, who received final yr’s Valero Texas Open, sit atop the leaderboard at 11-under par after posting a pair of 66s.
Right here is every little thing it is advisable know.
Spherical 2 Scores:
T1. Min Woo Lee -11 — 67-66
T1. Akshay Bhatia -11 — 67-66
3. J.J. Spaun -10 — 66-68
T4. Rory McIlroy -9 — 67-68
T4. Collin Morikawa -9 — 70-65
T4. Alex Smalley -9 — 68-67
T7. Lucas Glover -8 — 66-70
T7. Will Zalatoris -8 — 70-66
T9. Tommy Fleetwood -7 — 71-66
T9. Jake Knapp -7 — 69-68
T11. Sepp Straka -6 — 70-68
T11. Billy Horschel -6 — 67-71
T11. 4 others -6
Takeaways:
Min Woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia eye greatest win of their careers
Min Woo Lee turned in a near-flawless spherical with seven birdies and one bogey on the par-5 ninth, his ultimate gap of the day. The Aussie is a must-watch, exacting a mix of aptitude and energy no person else possesses. He can hit any shot he must, which explains why he has had a lot success at TPC Sawgrass this week.
“Felt actually good over the ball,” Lee mentioned.
“Simply actually good numbers and rolled some putts in. Right this moment was strong once more and hopefully two extra of them.”
Akshay Bhatia additionally shot a 6-under 66, as Bhatia made eight birdies and two bogies. He made an adjustment to his driver forward of the match, which has helped up to now.
“Simply went again to my older driver after which I went again to a shaft I performed 4 years in the past and it’s a bit longer and so it’s type of been a pleasant recipe,” Bhatia mentioned.
“Then working fairly onerous on method. I’ve really feel this week with my coach. Additionally really feel like I put a mini driver in play this week, which has been a pleasant attribute to a number of the awkward holes for me which after I want to show it left-to-right. So simply type of a pleasant setup for me this week.”
Bhatia and Lee will comprise the ultimate pairing on Saturday as each stars eye the most important win of their careers up to now.
Justin Thomas matches course file
Justin Thomas turned in a historic efficiency by making 11 birdies, which set the Gamers Championship file for many birdies made in a spherical. However he would have had the course file by himself if not for a bogey on the 18th gap. His second shot from the tough, during which he needed to navigate the bushes and hit a punch shot, discovered the water.
“I simply wished to make one other birdie, after which as soon as I missed the golf green, birdie is type of out of the query after which I used to be attempting to hit one thing wanting the inexperienced there and the tough grabbed the face sufficient to have it shoot out straight left, and with the momentum of that ball, it’s clearly going within the water,” Thomas mentioned of what occurred on the 18th.
“However I very simply may have hit it the place I wished to, hit a very good pitch or chip and a very good putt and never gone in and made the identical rating. I’m on no account, form or kind letting that dwell on the nice spherical I had immediately.”
Had Thomas made a par on the 18th, he would have shot an 11-under 61. As an alternative, he posted a 10-under 62, which matched the course file set by Tom Hoge two years in the past. Humorous sufficient, Thomas performed alongside Hoge that day.
Thomas is at 4-under for the championship and 7 strokes again of the lead going into Saturday’s third spherical.
Rory McIlroy re-discovers groove off the tee
Rory McIlroy hit solely 4 fairways on Thursday, however one way or the other managed to open with a 5-under 67. He then went straight to the driving vary to try to determine his misses, training nicely into the night time.
The transfer to take action paid off, as McIlroy drove the ball fantastically on Friday. He hit 11-of-14 fairways and ranked fifth among the many subject in strokes gained off the tee.
“I used to be simply getting a bit beneath it, simply getting a bit an excessive amount of kind of aspect bend coming down, kind of in transition,” McIlroy mentioned when requested what he labored on on the vary.
“So simply attempting to maintain my proper aspect a bit greater and simply attempt to cowl it a bit bit extra was actually the thought.”
McIlroy had 5 birdies on his entrance 9 and held a share of the lead at one level, however he cooled off on his again aspect with a 1-over 37. He sits at 9-under total, two again of Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.
