Sam Ryder always likes to birdie the first hole, and he did just that on Friday by sinking a 40-foot putt. As the saying goes, you can’t birdie them all if you don’t birdie the first. Ryder nearly did, pouring in seven birdies in his first nine holes to shoot 29 and race to a five-stroke lead at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
“I didn’t really miss a shot on the opening nine,” Ryder said.
The 32-year-old, who played his college golf at Stetson University, signed for 6-under 65 at El Camaleón Golf Course and a 36-hole total of 13-under 129.
Ryder is still seeking his first PGA Tour title and tried his best not to think about his lead as he played the back nine.
“But it’s impossible to not know that, OK, I’ve got five shots on the field right now or, you know, it creeps in,” he said.
Ryder made his lone bogey of the day at 10, blaming it on “an uncommitted swing,” but made some clutch par saves including at No. 13, where he hit into a penalty area but managed to save par.
How did his birdie putt on 17, which rimmed out, not go in, he was asked after the round?
“I don’t know how that missed, but I made plenty,” he said. “The hole was looking pretty big. Anything I got within 20 feet I felt like I had a good chance.”
Brian Harman plays a shot on the 7th hole during the second round of the World Wide Technology Championship in Playa del Carmen. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Since a result of T-26 in his debut at El Camaleon in 2012, Brian Harman has never recorded a better finish in nine starts and missed the cut last year.
“This place kind of had my number over the years,” Harman said.
Credit to Harman for continuing to come back, and this year it may pay dividends as he opened with a pair of 66s to sit at 10-under 132 at the midway point of the tournament.
Harman was stuck in neutral on Friday, even through 12 holes, when he made his third hole-in-one on the PGA Tour at the par-3 fourth hole.
“Watched both the guys in front of me hit pitching wedge and I figured I could hook a 50-degree and get it there,” he said. “It hit and we got to watch it spin right back. That was my first since I got two in one day.”
That was in the final round of the 2015 Barclays. Did it pop into his mind when he got to the par-3 eighth?
“I didn’t even think about it,” he said. “The funny thing is when I made the first one my caddie ‘Country’ said, ‘Well, they…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…