Camilo Villegas finished off his second consecutive 8-under 64 to set a two-shot lead as play was suspended at the World Wide Technology Championship on Friday in Los Cabos, Mexico.
The 41-year-old from Colombia started his round eagle-birdie-birdie at El Cardonal at Diamante, the first Tiger Woods-designed course to be used at a PGA Tour event. He withstood two front-nine bogeys by adding six more birdies — including at each of his final three holes — to nose in front of the pack at 16-under 128.
Matt Kuchar, a 45-year-old vet with nine PGA Tour wins, is alone in second at 14 under after a bogey-free 65. Villegas has not won on tour since 2014, while Kuchar’s last victory came in January 2019 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
In the field this week on a sponsor exemption, Villegas posted a career-low 36-hole score on tour.
“You just focus on the process and just keep grinding,” Villegas said. “Our job is a lot better when you’re playing good, but like I said (Thursday), doesn’t really change. You wake up with the same purpose.
“It’s a frustrating game. We go through the ups and downs. It’s nice to be on a good note these first two days.”
Kuchar started his round with three birdies on the back nine before picking up four more on the front nine, including three straight at Nos. 5-7.
“Good steady golf,” Kuchar said. “I left for this trip kind of saying to my family I’m excited about the week, my game’s in good form, I’m looking forward to getting down to Cabo and hopefully playing some good golf. Never know. I’ve certainly said that before and it’s not gone quite as planned. Golf is a fickle creature.”
Three golfers still had one hole left to complete when play was suspended due to darkness. Two of them, Satoshi Kodaira and Kensei Hirata of Japan, are 4 under and need a birdie or better on the par-5 18th to make the cut on the number.
Stephan Jaeger of Germany and Justin Suh both shot 65 on Friday and are tied for third at 13-under 131.
Will Gordon and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen vied for the lead before ending their rounds with a bogey and a double bogey, respectively. Gordon carded two eagles over a three-hole span during his 9-under 63, and van Rooyen stood at 10 under for his round and 14 under for the tournament before a double-bogey 7 at No. 18.
Gordon, van Rooyen, Kramer Hickok (67) and Chesson Hadley (66) are tied for fifth at 12 under.
Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg, a Ryder Cup standout, shot a bogey-free 65 and is part of a large tie for ninth at 11 under. He entered the week as the betting favorite to pick up his first win on the PGA Tour.
“Obviously it’s fun,” Aberg said. “(The favorite status is) nothing I can control, it’s out of my reach. All I can do is try to prepare and try to play well whenever the tournament day comes. You know, it’s obviously flattering that people think that, but all I can do is try to have fun and hit as few shots as I can.”
Australian 49-year-old Cameron Percy, who held the outright lead with a first-round, 10-under 62, followed it up with a 72 on Friday and is part of a tie for 16th at 10 under.
The list of notable players who will miss the cut of 5 under par includes Sahith Theegala (3 under), Stewart Cink (2 under), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (even) and PGA teaching professional Michael Block (4 over). Block tied for 15th at the PGA Championship in May.
–Field Level Media
