With day two of the action all wrapped up at the Hero World Challenge, what are the key storylines so far?
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
With slightly smaller galleries after the initial return was completed, Tiger Woods and the Hero World Challenge fired back up again on Friday, this time producing even better results.
After Woods showed positive signs only to falter on the back nine on Thursday, there was plenty of intrigue to see which version of the 14-time major winner would show up for day two.
The answer that arrived on the course at Albany on Friday was that we saw a version of Woods that was better than anyone likely expected this week.
As if being able to string together seven birdies wasn’t impressive enough, Woods also showed great resolve to keep bogeys off of his card and move himself back into the competition’s top-10.
Outside of Woods, Bubba Watson starred with a sparkling round of his own, while many of the stars who impressed on day one remained steady on Friday.
What were the key takeaways from the second day’s play at the Hero World Challenge, though? Let’s take a closer look.
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Tiger Dazzles With Throwback Performance
The flashes were there on Thursday, but Friday’s performance from Tiger Woods was akin to being transported a decade back in time. It’s far too soon to make any statements on whether Tiger is “back” in a permanent sense, but he can at least offer welcome reminders of what made him so great to begin with.
Just like on Thursday, Woods would reach the turn in 33. Where this round differed was in how Tiger converted his opportunities on par-5s and in recovering to save pars when he did stray out of position.
In a round that included some stunning iron play and stellar putting, in a round that resulted in seven birdies and no blemishes, Tiger most resembled his dominant old self in making a great up and down from a bush to the left of the par-3 eighth and making a lengthy putt to prevent a bogey on 16. These are the kind of signs his fans wanted to see this week.
Woods’ competitive drive is as strong as ever and his game looks in decent shape too.
Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Big Hitter’s Paradise
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize something of a trend among those placed towards the top of the leaderboard over the opening 36 holes of the Hero World Challenge. If not necessarily the cream, it’s certainly the longest hitters who have risen to the top so far.
J.B. Holmes led after round one, and if it wasn’t for a couple of unfortunate encounters with the water on his back nine (a double-bogey on 12, and a triple-bogey on 18), he may still be sitting towards the top of the pile.
Then, the lowest score on Friday belonged to Bubba Watson who played the par-5s in six-under en route to a 63. That’s not to mention that Dustin Johnson holds a share of the lead after 36 holes too. In short, on a course with five par-5s, it certainly doesn’t hurt to hit the ball a long way.
Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Consistency Could Win Out
While many of the headlines have been grabbed by those who’ve put together a mixture of the exceptional and the terrible through the first two rounds in the Bahamas (Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes), it could just be that it’ll be those who are playing the steadiest golf who could prevail over the weekend.
Steady as ever, back-to-back 67s leave Matt Kuchar in a particularly strong position to finally break through and claim his first Tour win since the RBC Heritage in April 2014. Kuchar’s putting has been dialed in so far, and coupled with his outstanding wedge game the course sets up well for him.
Another man who has recorded the same score back-to-back on the first two days was Kuchar’s Ryder Cup teammate Dustin Johnson. DJ’s play hasn’t been grabbing the highlights over the first two days, but he’s been as reliably good as ever in posting a pair of 66s. While others score lower and higher, two more solid rounds could certainly be enough for either of these two men to pull through.
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Hero World Challenge – Day 2 Leaderboard
T1 – Dustin Johsnon – 66 (-12)
T1 – Hideki Matsuyama- 67 (-12)
T3 – Louis Oosthuizen – 67 (-10)
T3 – Matt Kuchar – 67 (-10)
5 – Bubba Watson – 63 (-9)
6 – Brandt Snedeker – 64 (-8)
T7 – Jordan Spieth – 69 (-7)
T7 – J.B. Holmes – 73 (-7)
T9 – Tiger Woods – 65 (-6)
T9 – Rickie Fowler – 70 (-6)
T9 – Henrik Stenson – 71 (-6)
Check back with us tomorrow as we’ll have the key takeaways heading into the final round at the Hero World Challenge.
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