Tyrrell Hatton carded a 2-under-par 69 on Friday to secure a two-stroke lead after the second round of LIV Golf Andalucia in Valderrama, Spain.
Hatton recorded an eagle on the par-5 17th hole to highlight a round in which he also collected three birdies and three bogeys at Real Club Valderrama, home of the 1997 Ryder Cup.
The 34-year-old Englishman is at 6-under par for the tournament and holds a two-shot lead over Thomas Detry of Belgium, who shot a 70 on Friday.
“Yeah, certainly if you’d have said to me on Wednesday that I’d have a two-shot lead going into the weekend, I probably wouldn’t have believed you, to be honest,” Hatton said. “As I said (Thursday), I feel like I had a good warmup and allowed me to — I simplified a few things and just kind of went out with that feeling, and I feel like I hit some really good golf shots.
“Tried to do the same thing again today. It was a tricky day, so even if you did hit some good shots, it was pretty easy to miss the greens. Yeah, I’m happy with how it feels, and hopefully I can keep going with that this weekend.”
Hatton admitted that the front nine proved “pretty frustrating” and his bogey on No. 10 did him no favors before it began to turn around at the 11th hole.
“Yeah, obviously making birdie on 11 and then a really good up-and-down on 12, and then a bonus putt on 13 kind of really got me going momentum-wise,” he said. “The eagle on 17 was clearly a highlight and definitely a bonus, as well.”
Hatton also has helped Legion XIII claim a two-shot lead in the team competition. Legion XIII shot 5-under on Friday to rest at 3-under for the tournament, with Ripper GC and 4Aces GC each at 1-under.
Detry saw his string of bogey-free holes end at 32 to start the tournament before recording two over his final four holes on Friday.
“It’s a grind out there,” Detry said. “Bit of a shame to have leaked two more shots there on 15 and 18. But I feel like my game is in a pretty good spot for my fifth week in a row.”
Scott Vincent, from Zimbabwe, shot a 72 on Friday to fall into a four-way tie for third place at 3-under for the tournament.
Defending champion Talor Gooch shot up the rankings with a 67 on Friday to pull even with Vincent, Sergio Garcia (70) of Spain and Australia’s Cam Smith (70).
Gooch recorded an eagle on the 11th hole to highlight a round in which he also had five birdies and three bogeys.
–Field Level Media
