Golf

Russell Henley flawless through two rounds to take halfway lead in Mexico

Séamus Power cards second round 68 to sit in tied-22nd heading into the weekend

Russell Henley leads in Mexico. Photograph: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
Russell Henley leads in Mexico. Photograph: Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
Sat Nov 05 2022 - 11:14

Russell Henley fired his second straight round of eight-under 63 to build a three-shot lead at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on Friday in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Séamus Power carded a three-under 68, leaving him at seven under for the tournament in a tie for 22nd.

For the second straight day, Henley piled up eight birdies without a bogey. At 16-under 126, he established a cushion over Sam Ryder (65) and Will Gordon (67), who were tied for second at 13-under.

Henley started his round at El Camaleon Golf Club on the back nine and made four birdies on each side. He rolled in three in a row at holes 11-13 and six, seven and eight.

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"It starts off the tee," Henley said. "There's some intimidating tee shots for me and I just am trying to just commit to what I'm doing and commit to trying a great shot. Just being in a good head space for those tee shots is a good start."

Gordon was the leader after an opening-round 62. He had a bogey-free card but just four birdies Friday.

Ryder, meanwhile, shot a seven-under 29 on the front nine with seven birdies but ran out of steam, bogeying 10 and 16 on the way to his 65.

"I came out and just didn't really miss much on the front, was playing really solid, driving it well, making some putts is always nice, had one chip-in, pretty simple," Ryder said. "Then kind of just got a little loose on the back and this place kind of, with a little bit more wind, it can be a little bit nervier off the tee. So I think I just, I kind of got a little out of sync there, but I managed it pretty well.

"And it was kind of the tale of two nines for me, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the way I got it around and just going to kind of continue to keep doing what I'm doing."

Ryder and Gordon are searching for their first wins on the PGA Tour.

Patton Kizzire shot his second straight 65 to get to fourth place at 12-under. Sweden’s David Lingmerth (66) is in fifth at 11-under.

Harry Higgs shot the round of the day, a nine-under 62, to leap into a tie for sixth at 10-under with Brian Harman (66) and Scotland’s Martin Laird (67). Higgs stayed bogey-free and holed out from 86 yards for eagle at the par four third to go with seven birdies.

“I thought it was going to be really good, so I said, all I said was ‘in,’ and that’s usually the curse,” Higgs said. “It either will like fly in the hole and come out or it will lip out. Fortunately, I called for it early and it fell in the hole.”

World number nine Collin Morikawa shot a bogey-free 63, including four straight birdies at four to seven, to move away from the cut line and up to a tie for 14th at eight-under.

"This golf course, the way it's playing, you can post two really good low ones on the weekend," Morikawa said. "I'm definitely going to need that if I'm going to be in contention, but after today I'm feeling pretty good."

Sixty-eight players made the cut of at least four-under. Notable names to miss the cut included Tony Finau (three-under), Jason Dufner (three- under) and England’s Justin Rose (one-under).