The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

PATRICK Reed maintained his spot atop the leaderboard on day two of the Hero World Challenge, but a late surge by the defending champion vaulted him into third place at the end of day two.

Reed shot an identical -6 (66) on day two and leads the field at -12, three strokes ahead of Gary Woodland in second place at -9 after he shot 69 at the Albany resort.

“Today was a steady day. I hit the ball not as straight off the tee, but was able to keep the ball in the fairway, and from there I was able to hit some quality iron shots and make some putts. I think that’s the biggest thing around here is you’ve got to make putts,” he said.

“It’s one of those golf courses that when the wind lays down, it gives you opportunities to make birdies, but when the wind starts blowing, the golf course can get really challenging. It’s just one of these days and one of these weeks that you need to give yourself as many opportunities as you can and play from the short grass because when you do, you can attack.”

He scored his seventh birdie of the day on 18 to conclude the afternoon.

Woodland also finished strong with a trio of late birdies to remain in contention.

“I actually played really well today. Got a little unfortunate where the ball ended up there on 14 and let the bad lie kind of get the best of me there for two holes, which is frustrating. But outside of that, I played great. It’s nice to finish the way I did because I played a lot better than I scored today,” he said.

“[My finish] was huge. I needed that, because like I said, I played solid all day and didn’t get anything out of it, and then a little bad break there on 14 and let it unfortunately get the best of me on 15 and then it kind of made me a little mad, I guess. And birdieing the last three was huge, got me back in the golf tournament and gives me a chance for this week.”

The consensus of the field reiterated that better conditions prompted improved scores on day two.

Henrik Stenson and defending champion John Rahm are tied for third at -8.

Rahm said: “Good day, can’t complain. Conditions were much easier today. It was a little bit more doable out there. I believe I played pretty much as good as yesterday. The only difference between today’s scores and yesterday was a couple made putts. Made a few longer ones today on the second hole, that bonus eagle putt on 15 and the one on 16, right? So making a few of those was the only difference really.”

Stenson added: “I had a bit of a slow start to my round. I was dropping a shot on the second and made a birdie on the seventh to turn level par and really give myself -- hit some good shots and scrambled well when I needed to and made five birdies coming home. Yeah, that’s always a good day out there. You know, probably hit three or four really good iron shots and gave myself some really nice birdie putts as a consequence. Hopefully more of the same in the next couple of days.”

Reed, Rahm and tournament host Tiger Woods all had stellar days on the course with rounds of 66.

Woods moved ahead six spots in the field and is now tied for fifth at -6 alongside Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas.

“I just think it was less windy. It was a little bit easier today. Scoring conditions were a little bit better. I didn’t hit the ball as well as I would like starting out, missed a few greens. Other than No. 2, I missed all the -- every green in the correct spot, so I had easy chips and I had to make a couple. But I got it going on that back nine, which is nice,” Woods said.

Today’s first pair, Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau, tee off at 10:50am. Reed and Woodland will be the final pair to tee off at 12:18pm.