Sung Kang and his caddie did some calculations on the driving range before the second round of the AT&T Byron Nelson on an unseasonably cool day with some breezy conditions.
‘The biggest thing was we needed to figure how much shorter the ball was going to fly,’ Kang said. ‘So we just trusted the number… just hit it, and then it worked out good.’
Kang was pretty much right on, matching the Trinity Forest course record with a 10-under 61 on Friday to take the lead at 16-under. He led by four strokes over playing partner Matt Every, who had his second consecutive round of 65, and Tyler Duncan (66).
Justin Harding and Branden Grace are both at -3; the former was +2 for his second round, while Grace gained one shot
Brooks Koepka, the world’s No 3-ranked player, who enters next week’s PGA Championship as defending champion, was fourth at 11-under after a 66. He overcame two early bogeys with six birdies in an 11-hole stretch that included four in a row late.
‘Solid round, just trying to keep pace,’ Koepka said. ‘I would like to have been in the lead. But I mean, hey, 61 today was pretty darn impressive.’
Koepka was a stroke ahead of Rory Sabbatini, who had a bogey-free 65.
With temperatures in the low 50s, Kang opened with a 9-foot birdie on the par-5 No 1 hole. His approach to within a foot of the cup at the 311-yard No 5 set up a string of six birdies in a row.
‘I don’t know what the guys are talking about. Perfect and awesome and nice conditions for the course,’ Kang said jokingly after getting a post-round fist bump from Jordan Spieth, a member at Trinity Forest, who shot 67 to get to 7-under.
Kang had three more birdies in four holes on the back nine. His only par in that stretch was at the 441-yard par-4 15th — where the 31-year-old South Korean, who lives in North Texas, had his putter raised in the air in anticipation of another birdie. The 21-foot chance lipped the cup instead.
‘My 67 doesn’t look so good,’ the beanie-wearing Spieth said, comparing his score to to Kang’s. ‘But going out today, if you had offered me 4-under, I would have taken it.’
First-round leader Denny McCarthy followed his opening 63 with a 77.
Credit: PGA TOUR
