From a Correspondent
HONG KONG: Abraham Ancer has put on a bogey-free ball-striking clinic to take a commanding lead through the first two rounds at LIV Golf Hong Kong. He’s now 18 holes away from his first LIV Golf individual victory.
The Fireballs GC star hit all 18 greens in regulation Saturday to shoot a second-round 8-under 62 at historic Hong Kong Golf Club.
At 15 under, he’ll enter Sunday’s final round with a five-stroke lead over teammate Eugenio Chacarra and 4Aces GC’s Harold Varner III. Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith, Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm and Henrik Stenson of Majesticks GC are tied for fourth, six shots back.
With Ancer and Chacarra leading the way, the Fireballs top the team leaderboard at 28 under, three shots ahead of the Rippers. Cleeks GC are solo third.
The Fireballs and Rippers are seeking their first team wins of the season, while the Cleeks hope to rally for their first-ever team trophy.
Sunday will be the first time Ancer has taken a lead into any round of a LIV Golf tournament, but it’s not the first time he’s held such a large advantage.
Stage set
He entered the final round of the 2018 Australian Open with a five-stroke advantage and cruised to victory. He’d love to do the same in Hong Kong.
“I’m not going to be thinking about leading the tournament,” said the 33-year-old from Mexico, whose best result is a tie for third last season at LIV Golf Bedminster.
“I’m just going to go out there and stay in the present, go about my routine, and just keep doing the same thing. Try to focus on the shot that I’ve got in front of me.”
That approach has served him well thus far. He leads the field in both fairways hit and greens in regulation and is the only player yet to make a bogey.
The Mexican followed his opening 63 with a 62 in which he rarely encountered trouble. Saturday’s score is the lowest he’s shot in 68 regular-season rounds in LIV Golf.
“I did what I wanted to do – keep it in the fairway and give myself chances,” said Ancer, whose round was highlighted by four consecutive birdies starting at the 11th hole.
“I feel like I hit the ball really nicely today and rolled it really good as well. No complaints.”
Hard task
His closest chasers realise they face a difficult task trying to reel him in Sunday.
“Obviously Abe is playing tremendous golf,” said Chacarra, who shot a 66 to move to 10 under, with a birdie on his final hole moving him into the leaders group Sunday.
“Five shots is a lot of shots – I’m not going to lie. But you never know.”
Varner also shot a 66 on Saturday, putting himself into position to chase his second LIV Golf victory. He won last year in DC.
“The most important thing is not worry about Abe,” Varner said. “That’s how you lose. I think I’ve played enough golf to know that the best thing is to give myself as many looks as possible and try to stay within myself.” (courtesy livgolf.com)
Day two counting scores
1. Fireballs GC -28 (Ancer 62, Garcia 66, Puig 66; Rd. 2 score: -16)
2. Ripper GC -25 (Herbert 64, Smith 64, Jones 68; Rd. 2 score: -14)
3. Cleeks GC -22 (Meronk 64, Bland 68, Samooja 68; Rd. 2 score: -10)
T4. Torque GC -21 (Ortiz 64, Muñoz 66, Niemann 68; Rd. 2 score: -12)
T4. Crushers GC -21 (Casey 67, DeChambeau 68, Howell III 69; Rd. 2 score: -6)
T6. Majesticks GC -20 (Stenson 65, Horsfield 66, Poulter 66; Rd. 2 score: -13)
T6. 4Aces GC -20 (Perez 65, Varner III 66, Reed 69; Rd. 2 score: -10)
8. Stinger GC -19 (Schwartzel 68, Burmester 69, Oosthuizen 70; Rd. 2 score: -3)
9. Smash GC -17 (McDowell 64, Koepka 68, Gooch 68; Rd. 2 score: -10)
10. Legion XIII -16 (Rahm 64, Hatton 65, Surratt 71; Rd. 2 score: -10)
11. RangeGoats GC -14 (Uihlein 65, Watson 67, Pieters 68; Rd. 2 score: -10)
T12. HyFlyers GC -12 (Ogletree 66, Mickelson 68, Steele 69; Rd. 2 score: -7)
T12. Iron Heads GC -12 (Kozuma 68, Lee 68, Vincent 68; Rd. 2 score: -6)
Also read: Burmester, Ancer lead as Crushers chase Stingers at LIV HK
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