Australia Cam Davis has rebounded from a nightmare start to The Sentry, recording the joint best second-round score of the day to move up inside the top 20 on the leaderboard by the day’s end.
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Davis smashed a nine-under 64 on Friday, a vast improvement on the even-par 73 he managed on Thursday, to sit alongside fellow Australian Adam Scott on nine under for the tournament.
Davis had nine birdies on the day while Scott, who opened the round with two-straight bogeys, recovered well by recording three quick birdies and then another four on the back nine.
Scott said he was “very happy” with his first round and on Thursday revealed finding motivation is definitely not a challenge at this point of his career.
“I don’t think it’s unrealistic, given the way I’ve played certainly the last six or eight months, to get myself back up toward the top of the rankings again,” said Scott, who is currently at 18 in golf’s official world rankings.
“I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think I can still achieve a couple big victories out here that I would like, and that’s really what drives me.”
Away from the Australian contingent, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shot an 8-under-par 65 to grab a one-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa at the PGA Tour’s season-opening tournament.
With the usual wind factor almost absent, it was a day of low-scoring on the beautiful Plantation Course with only two players shooting over-par.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, hit his stride with a run of three straight birdies from the fourth hole on, adding another on the par-3 eighth.
He added four more birdies on the back nine, including a 35-foot birdie putt on the 11th, and said he felt his injury problems were now out of his mind.
Matsuyama sits on 16-under after two rounds and doesn’t have to worry about a charge from world number one Scottie Scheffler, who is missing the event after hurting his hand in a Christmas Day cooking accident.
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But Californian Morikawa, whose grandparents were born just 10 miles from the course in Lahaina, also shot 65 to make sure he heads into the weekend in contention.
Morikawa took full advantage of the birdie chances on the back nine with a streak of five straight birdies from the 13th hole.
A quartet of players were a further shot back of Morikawa — Canadian Corey Conners, American Maverick McNealy, who shot 64, overnight leader Tom Hoge, who slipped back after his 68, and Belgian Thomas Detry (65).
USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley also shot 64 and sits three shots off the lead after ending his round with an eagle on the 18th, where he sank a 29-foot putt.
Wyndham Clark, the 2023 US Open winner, was also on 13-under after his 64, which included seven birdies on the back nine.
LEADERBOARD
1. Hideki Matsuyama (-16)
2. Collin Morikawa (-15)
T3. Maverick McNealy, Tom Hoge, Corey Conners, Thomas Detry (-14)
T7. Wyndham Clark, Keegan Bradley, Cameron Young, Harry Hall (-13)
11. Sepp Straka (-12)
12. Will Zalatoris (-11)
T20: Cam Davis (-9)
T20: Adam Scott (-9)
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