LA QUINTA, California — Filipino-American Rico Hoey stumbled right on the first hole of the second round on Friday to fall six shots behind the leader in the United States PGA Tour American Express golf tournament.
Right after a sensational 63 on the first day that put him among the leaders, the 28-year-old Hoey slid to a tie of 26th place entering moving day following a two-under-par 70 at the Pete Dye Stadium Course.
He is now 11-under 133, six behind Sam Burns who notched two eagles on the way to an 11-under-par 61 for a one-stroke lead over Michael Kim.
Following a bogey on the Par 4 No. 1, Hoey recovered with birdies on the fourth, fifth, 11th and 12th. But just as he was regaining his bearing, Hoey bogeyed the Par 4 15th despite a 320-yard drive and a 141-yard second shot.
Only on his second start in the PGA Tour, Hoey still has a lot of chance in the tournament which is played on three different courses.
But the prospective Filipino bet in the Paris Olympics need to steady his nerves against the world-class field.
The 27-year-old Burns said he didn’t realize he was within sight of the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history until he was on the 17th green, where his birdie putt from about 25 feet slid by.
He parred 18 to cap his career-best round, heading the field on 17-under-par 127 on another low-scoring day in the California desert east of Los Angeles.
Burns kickstarted his round with a 15-foot eagle at the par-five fourth hole on the Nicklaus Tournament Course, one of three in use over the first three rounds of the event.
He added birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh, then eagled the par-five 11th where he hit a “perfect seven-iron” that left him three feet for eagle.
“Overall just a really solid day,” said Burns, who added birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 16 to grab the solo lead. “I hit a lot of quality shots and was able to make some putts.”
Burns said he wasn’t thinking about a 59.
“Based off the scores, obviously everybody’s shooting some good numbers, so I think (I was) just trying to keep pace and trying to hit as many quality shots and get as many looks as possible,” he said.
Korean-born American Kim had 10 birdies and a bogey in his nine-under-par 63 for 128 on the Nicklaus Tournament course, where South Korean Lee Kyoung-hoon had nine birdies in his eight-under 64.
Lee was tied for third on 15-under 129 with amateur Nick Dunlap, a University of Alabama sophomore who shot an impressive seven-under 65 on the Stadium Course, the toughest of the three that will be used for Sunday’s final round.
