Andrew Novak caught up to the lead with an eagle and pulled away with three birdies on his last four holes Friday to match his low score on the PGA Tour, a 10-under 61 that gave him a three-shot lead in the Mexico Open.
Novak drove the reachable par-four 13th and holed a 12-foot eagle putt as he jostled with Ben Griffin to carry the lead heading into the weekend at Vidanta Vallarta.
But on 15, Griffin drove into the water and had to scramble for a bogey, while Novak holed a birdie putt from just outside 15 feet for a two-shot swing.
Novak closed with a 20-foot birdie putt to finish at 14-under through the opening two rounds, three shots clear of a group of five players that included Griffin (67) and Kihei Akina, the 20-year-old Hawaiian sensation who shot a 64 to post his ninth round of 67 or lower in his last four PGA Tour starts.
Also in the mix were France’s Matthieu Pavon (66), Belgium’s Adrien Dumont du Chassart (67) and Kensei Hirata of Japan (68).
“There’s a pretty bunched leaderboard, said Novak. “I separated a little bit, but we’re halfway there, there’s so much golf to play.
“I’m going to have to go out and keep hitting a bunch of fairways. If I’m hitting my irons like this, I’m going to be able to give myself a lot of opportunities.
“I don’t know if I’ll make as many putts as I did today, but as long as I’m maximising my opportunities and make a few of those with the putter, I should be in a good spot.”
Akina chipped in for birdie on the last hole Friday to continue an excellent run of form which has him eight points away from the 20 required for a US college golfer to secure a PGA Tour card.
Kihei Akina hits his tee shot on hole 10 on Friday (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)
“I’m feeling more comfortable with each round played,” said Akina, who made three birdies on the par fives and picked up an eagle on the reachable par-four 13th when he drove the green from 296 yards.
“We had about 287 to the front of the green and that’s what I was trying to hit,” he said. “So just a nice, roasted draw mini-driver for me, landed in a perfect spot and rolled down to tap-in. So that was a bonus for me.”
His life dream is to play on the PGA Tour and he’s making remarkable progress, having already secured a top-10 finish in the Bank of Utah Championship. Dating back to August and the Wyndham Championship, Akina has picked up seven points in the PGA Tour University program for underclassmen and gets one point for every PGA Tour cut and one point for a top 10.
“I’ve just got to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas,” he said. “Feel like I’m doing that pretty well this week.”
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