Like Shinkansen, the famed Japanese bullet train, Seamus Power, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler raced up the leaderboard on Friday at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in the Japanese prefecture of Chiba, 25 miles northeast of Tokyo.
Power, who is making his first start at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship and first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, shot 8-under 62, the low round of the tournament.
“When you shoot 62 most things go your way,” Power said. “It was interesting because it was kind of an unusual start. I ended up having to make a good par save on 1, 2 and 3.”
Then he rattled off four straight birdies in a row, including a chip in from 58 feet at the fifth. Overcast conditions and lighter wind than forecasted had the greens soft as a baby’s bottom. Power took advantage, leading the field in driving accuracy and having the best putting performance in the second round. Fowler and Thomas appear to have or to be getting their mojo back and both carded 6-under 64.
Despite going low, they’re still chasing Mexico’s Nico Echavarria, who signed for his second straight 64 and leads Taylor Moore, his college teammate at Arkansas, and Thomas by two strokes.
In case you didn’t stay up late to watch, here are five things to know about the second round of the Zozo Championship.
Echavarria the surprise leader
Nico Echavarria posted a pair of 64’s to grab his first 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour.
With just one top 10 this season and three missed cuts in his last four starts, Echavarria is the surprise of the tournament at the halfway mark. Starting on the back nine, he birdied No. 10 and stuck his tee shot at 13 inside 3 feet. He notched three more birdies on the back nine, all in a row starting at No. 4.
“I hit it good, I kept it in play,” he said. “Didn’t make many mistakes and the putter was still hot.”
Echavarria topped the putting stats in the first round but on Friday he put on a ball-striking clinic, leading the field in both Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and SG: Approach the Green. He’s seeking his second Tour title and will have a comfortable pairing in the third round with college teammate Taylor Moore being part of the grouping along with Justin Thomas.
Thomas dazzles with eagle finish
Justin Thomas didn’t play on Friday like a golfer coming off a seven-week hiatus.
“I’ve been champing at the bit to be able to get back out because I feel like I’ve been playing really well and I like the way things have been trending but it doesn’t matter when you’ve been at home playing with your buddies,” he said. “You want to come out and have a chance to put it in play at a tournament.”
With wife Jillian expecting the couple’s first child in November, it’s now or never for Thomas to end his 2 ½ year victory drought since the 2022 PGA Championship this season. Thomas fired a bogey-free 64 on Friday to vault into a tie for second at 10-under 130.
Thomas sank a 16-foot birdie at No. 6 for his lone birdie on the front nine. He made a similar length putt at No. 10 and then stuffed his tee shot at the par-3 13th inside of a foot. He tacked on a 23-foot bender at the par-3 16th and finished up with the shot of the day, a cut 5-iron from 214 yards to 4 feet to set up eagle at the last.
“That was about as perfect as I could draw it up to end the day,” he said.
Fowler matches his low round of the year
Rickie Fowler is officially trending in the right direction. He shot 6-under 64 on Friday, tying his low round of the season (Travelers Championship, first round) and recorded his 10th straight round in the 60s during the FedEx Cup Fall.
He credited better iron play that helped him hit 15 of 18 greens, but two of the misses were on the fringe.
“Pretty stress-free,” he said.
Fowler also inserted a new L.A.B. putter in the bag at the Sanderson Farms Championship that has him draining more putts.
“I’m hitting my lines really well and that’s a nice boost of confidence,” he said. “It’s a little different look the way the shaft leans and being onset. I saw a lot of good benefits from it and it’s been fun to put it under the gun.”
Add it up and Fowler said he played a little better across the board on Friday. He’s lurking, just four off the lead. How much would it mean for Fowler to win in Japan?
“it would be amazing to win here. Came close a few years ago,” said Fowler, whose ancestry includes Japanese relatives on his mom’s side. “My great grandma, she came over fairly young. Pretty far removed from Japan. I’m sure I have relatives here, but I don’t know anyone.”
Cole’s mom the ‘Fairy of the Greens’
One year after finishing joint second at the Zozo, Eric Cole is in the mix for his first Tour title yet again.
The reigning Tour Rookie of the Year fired 67 on Friday and improved to 9-under 131. He had another good putting day and was bogey-free until he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker at his final hole, the ninth.
Cole’s fondness of playing in Japan stretches back to him mother, Laura Baugh, who passed up a scholarship at Stanford and turned pro in 1973. She went to play in Japan until she met the LPGA’s age requirement for membership.
“IMG [International Management Group] offered me $1,000 to turn pro and go to Japan, all expenses paid. What could I say?” she told Golf Digest’s Guy Yocom.
One of the reporters asked Cole about his mother, calling her “The Fairy of the Greens,” and wondered if she’d be coming to Japan.
“I think she would love to come back, but this year didn’t work so maybe next year it’s on the schedule, we’ll see,” Cole said.
He added, “she’s told me a lot of great things about Japan. Last year being my first time, it was kind of cool to hear some of the great things that she had to say from her trips here, so it was kind of cool to share that with her.”
Schauffele serenaded
Happy 31st birthday to the Champion Golfer of the Year.
One day after making a quadruple bogey and shooting 3-over 73, Xander Schauffele bounced back to card a 5-under 65 on Friday. His round started on the right foot with the crowd serenading him to the tune of “Happy Birthday.”
“Everyone was very supportive along the way. Nice way to spend my 31st birthday,” Schuaffele said.
He’s still got his work cut out to make a run at the title but Friday’s round helped him move in the right direction.
“If you’re hitting the ball nicely you can definitely shoot some low scores. Just got to keep the ball in front of me tomorrow and Sunday and try to give myself a chance,” Schauffele said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Justin Thomas’s eagle finish, Rickie Fowler’s low round of the year & a surprise leader among takeaways from the 2nd round at the Zozo Championship
