IRELAND’S SEAMUS POWER sits nine shots off the lead at the PGA Tour Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas after carding a 71 in the second round, which was suspended by darkness for the second straight day.
The second round will resume early Saturday morning and will be immediately followed by the third round.
The Waterford man made a promising start on the opening day, and was three-under through 14 holes before his progress was interrupted due to the poor light.
Day two however was rather mixed for Power, with a flurry of bogeys overshadowing his five birdie shots across the front and back nine.
He’s two under overall for now, with a lot of work to do in order to catch up with American leader JJ Spaun.
After missing the cut last year Spaun shot a 65 in the second round. The 27-year-old who fired a five-under 66 in the opening round, is at 11-under-par 129 after 36 holes at the Summerlin golf course in Las Vegas.
If Spaun can maintain the lead it will be the first time in 34 career USPGA events he leads through two rounds.
Spaun’s only previous lead after any round was in the first round of last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. He finished tied for 34th.
Spaun’s lead is contingent on how fellow American Kelly Kraft finishes.
Kraft, who shot a 67 in the opening round, is three strokes back after making it through 15 holes on Friday.
Kraft’s round included one of two aces recorded Friday. He got his hole-in-one at the par-three fifth hole with a 174-yard shot.
Brice Garnett had the other ace, scoring it on the par-three 14th hole.
First-round leader Whee Kim could not hold the lead, shooting a one-over 72 to drop into a sixth-place tie.
Defending champ Rod Pampling is trying to join Jim Furyk (1998, 1999) as the only players to win this event in consecutive years. He has some work to do as the 48-year-old Aussie is tied for 66th.
With additional reporting by AFP © – AFP 2017
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