South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel is four shots off the pace after the second round of the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
The former Masters champion followed his opening-round 67 up with a brilliant bogey-free 66 on Friday, moving up eight spots in the process to finish the round in T4 on 10 under par.
The 35-year-old, who started on the 10th hole, made six birdies throughout his round, four of which came on the first nine holes, including an impressive 13 foot put on the 18th with his putter warmed up.
He also boasted a marked improvement off the tee as he managed to hit 12 of the 14 fairways, which set him up with a number of scoring opportunities. Schwartzel will start Saturday’s third round alongside American Chris Baker as he tries to chase the leader Nick Taylor down, who sits comfortably at 14 under par.
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The Canadian continued his good showing on Friday with a round of 66 after he grabbed the early lead after round one.
Taylor holds a slender two-shot lead over Australia’s second-placed Jason Day, who experienced a brilliant day out. The former World No 1 carded six birdies and an excellent eagle on the par-five 14th to finish with a round of 64.
The defending champion and one of the favourites heading into the start of this week, Phil Mickelson, is also very much in contention once again after finishing his second round in third position on 11 under par.
The five-time Major winner, who played the Monterey Peninsula course, carded seven birdies, an eagle and two drop shots throughout his round to come home with a 64. Four consecutive birdies on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th emphasised the danger of Mickelson and why he is so determined to go back to back at the event only three shots behind Taylor. Mickelson will certainly fancy his chances to cut the gap on the leaderboard on Saturday.
Branden Grace is down in 89th place after a 70 on Friday.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
