China‘s Dou Zecheng and Chinese Taipei’s Yu Junan rushed into the ranks of title contenders after half-time at the Bermuda Championship. They will continue their pursuit of their first victory on the PGA Tour.
This is the fourth game of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. Dou Zecheng and Yu Junan shot a 6-under 65 and a 5-under 66 at Port Royal Golf Club on Friday, two shots off 36-hole leader Ben Klein, who finished with a staggering 5-under 66. His 62 equaled his career-lowest single-round score.
Following Kim Joo-hyung’s victory at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas, the duo are looking to bring their second victory to Asia in a month. Indian veteran Atwal opened with a 63 on Thursday, one shot behind, and slipped to a tie for 34th with a 71 on Friday.
Dou Zecheng, 25, showed great determination as he shot seven birdies and one bogey all day to finish at 6-under for the second day in a row to finish at 12-under. climbed to a tie for seventh. The aspiring mainland Chinese teeed off from the 10th hole and shot a -5 in the opening eight holes, notably a hat-trick of three consecutive birdies to start on the 15th. He later made two more birdies and missed a shot on the par-3 8th.
“It started raining from the back nine today, so it was a little bit harder to play. The front nine was very good, just like the front nine yesterday, it was -5. There were some small mistakes in the back, but overall it was good. ” said Dou Zecheng, a three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner who entered the PGA Tour for the first time in 2018, and this year is his second PGA Tour season as a member.
Dou attributed his strong performance to some ranging work with coach Mike Cormick. “After Las Vegas, my ball speed recovered very slowly, so I was very nervous,” he recalled. “I went to my first class, and there was no major change, and I didn’t find any specific problems. At first I thought it was a few days off and I was still adjusting, but after four or five days of practice, the speed is still very slow, the driver (head speed) is about 116 (mph).”
“I was very anxious at the time, and I was discussing it with the coach. After that class, the speed went back to 120. That class gave me a lot of confidence. I’m hitting farther now, and the irons are more stable. Compared to 2008, my mentality has matured a lot. Now I’m not as anxious as I used to play, and even if I don’t play well, I’m more calm. There is a big improvement overall.”
Yu Junan, a rookie in the same group as Dou Zecheng, also performed well, making six birdies, including two in the last three holes. “I have a lot of birdies or eagles, so overall the irons and putts are pretty good,” said Junan Yu, 24, who earned his PGA Tour card last season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
“Today I think the best ones should be the 7th and 8th holes. The second shot of the 7th hole and the tee shot of the 8th hole were pretty close to the flag.”
2019 RBC Heritage Champion Pan Zhengcong moved to a tie for 24th after a 67, while Lu Chenglie, a 2014 New Orleans Zurich Classic champion, shot a 67 to tie for 41st.
Five-time PGA Tour champion Klein, who took the second-round lead with nine birdies, one eagle and two bogeys, is happy to have the hope of ending a win drought since June 2014, when he won the Commonwealth Express St. Jude Classic. “I’m very encouraged. Obviously, I’m playing my best form in a long time,” Klein said.Return to Sohu, see more
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