Byeong Hun An finished off a six-under 66 in the morning and then birdied four straight holes to start the second round, carrying the former US Amateur champion to another 66 and a two-shot lead at the Sanderson Farms Championship when the second round was halted by darkness.
And who could blame him for thinking the storms would cost his momentum? He was making that many birdies.
Even waking up at 4am to play 25 holes Friday didn’t slow him.
‘I was on a bit of fire yesterday. I finished with three birdies,’ An said. ‘Was a bit disappointing that they blew the horn because I was especially in good shape and I had two par fives coming in. Two 66s, that’s not bad. It was solid apart from one shot I hit in the water.’
Instead of setting up a fifth straight birdie in the second round, An pulled his second into a pond on the par-five 5th hole and made bogey. He still shot 31 on the front. He finished two rounds with 13 birdies. And he was at 12-under 132.
JT Poston, who finished his first round with a 64 to share the 18-hole lead with Tom Hoge, had a 70 and was among those at 134, along with Hoge (70), George McNeill (67) and Scottie Scheffler, a rookie who led the Korn Ferry Tour Finals that just ended earlier this month.
Scheffler also has 13 birdies through 36 holes.
Among those still on the course at the Country Club of Jackson when play was suspended by darkness, Cameron Percy of Australia was at nine under and Seamus Power of Ireland at eight under. They each had seven holes remaining in the second round, which was to resume Saturday morning. If the weather cooperates, it should be no trouble getting back on schedule, especially with a new PGA TOUR policy that reduces the cut to top 65 and ties.
Frittelli survived a disastrous four-putt on the 10th that led to a double-bogey by turning in back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 – first from four foot and then from 17 feet – to move quickly away from the cut line.
The South African earlier started his second round with three birdies in six holes and crucially kept mistakes off his card as he plotted his way into the weekend.
