Belgium’s Thomas Detry went on a late run and turned in a 7-under-par 64 Friday to grab the second-round lead before play was suspended due to darkness at the WM Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Eight players were still on the course when play was halted at 6:10 p.m. local time. The round will conclude Saturday morning.
Detry is two shots ahead of Michael Kim, who tied the low round of the day with a 63, and Alex Smalley, who posted a 65. Jordan Spieth (65), South Korea’s Tom Kim (66) and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout (66) are right in the mix at 9 under.
Justin Thomas (68) is part of a group tied at 8 under. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler improved on his first-round score by three strokes, carding a 66 to get to 7 under, tied for 12th.
Detry birdied three straight holes beginning at No. 9, went birdie-bogey at Nos. 13-14 and then grabbed the outright lead by playing the par-3 16th Stadium Hole at TPC Scottsdale to perfection.
He stuck his tee shot inside 3 feet of the pin and birdied to get to 11 under, then added one more birdie at the par-4 17th.
Detry said of playing in front of the notorious throng at No. 16, “It’s just fun. The crowds, people are just here to have a good time and you’ve got to embrace it. It’s really fun. … It’s just fun to give the crowds what they want, a bit of fun, and give a good look at a hole-in-one, which is what I did the last two days. Almost dunked it yesterday, and today was pretty close.”
Regarding his round in general, Detry said, “I’ve actually been very comfortable on the greens this week. Did some good work with my coach, and the greens are rolling just as good as it gets. … I’ve been hitting a lot of fairways, as well.”
Scheffler completed a bogey-free round to get close to contention.
“I feel much better about how I played today than yesterday,” he said. “I felt like both days could have gotten more out of my rounds, but overall did a lot more good things out on the course and looking forward to the weekend. We’ll see how the leaderboard shakes out, but I have an outside chance going into the weekend.”
Defending champ Nick Taylor of Canada (66) is at 6 under, tied for 18th. First-round leader Wyndham Clark followed a 64 with a 2-over 73 to drop to 5 under, tied for 28th.
The projected cut line was 2 under par. Amateur Luke Clanton had a disappointing end to his second-round 67, as a missed birdie putt at No. 18 left him at 1 under for the tournament.
Had the Florida State golfer made the cut, he would have earned his 20th point in the PGA Tour University Accelerated standings and become eligible for a full PGA Tour membership.
Others on the wrong side of the cut line included Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick (1 under), Billy Horschel (1 over), Max Homa (3 over) and last year’s runner-up Charley Hoffman (4 over).
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo made a hole-in-one at the Stadium Hole, the 12th at the famed hole in Phoenix Open history. His shot dunked into the cup without a bounce, and the crowd celebrated by tossing beer bottles down from the grandstands.
It mattered for Grillo’s scorecard, too, as he is likely to make the cut on the number at 2 under following his 69.
–Field Level Media
