Pat Perez took advantage of the cooler conditions by firing a superb seven-under-par 65 to seize the second round lead at the US$7 million CIMB Classic on Friday.
The American turned in 35 but benefited from a three-hour 40-minute thunderstorm by shooting six birdies on his homeward nine to lead on 13-under-par 131 at the TPC Kuala Lumpur.
Xander Schauffele, who was voted the 2016-2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, eagled the par-three fifth hole from 27-feet to stay a further shot back following a 67 in the event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGA Tour.
Sung Kang (68) of Korea, a winner on the Asian Tour, overnight leader Cameron Smith (71) of Australia and Thomas Pieters (67) of Belgium shared third place on matching 135s to lie four shots back of the lead.
The 41-year-old Perez bogeyed his third hole but recovered with birdies on 13 and 14. He made a charge on his back nine with four straight birdies from the second hole and closed with two birdies to move to the top of the leaderboard.
After winning the TOUR Championship three weeks ago, Schauffele is in contention for another victory in his maiden appearance at the CIMB Classic.
Did you know?
- Perez enjoyed his best season on the 2016-2017 PGA Tour season where he won once and claimed six other top-10 finishes. The victory was his second on the PGA Tour.
- This is his fifth appearance at the CIMB Classic. His best result in the tournament was ninth at the 2012 showpiece albeit on a different golf course.
- Perez, 41, is in the running to become the oldest champion in the CIMB Classic. Bo Van Pelt is currently the oldest winner at the age of 36 when he won in 2011.
- Only two players have led at the halfway stage and gone on to win the CIMB Classic. They are Ben Crane (2010) and Justin Thomas (2015 and 2016)
- Schauffele is making his first start at the CIMB Classic. He is also playing in his first event since being voted as the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after winning The Greenbrier Classic and TOUR Championship.
- He dropped his only bogey after 36 holes on the par-four sixth hole. He fired six other birdies and one eagle in the second round.
- Schauffele has some Asian heritage. His father is half French and German but his mother is Taiwanese and grew up in Japan.
- Sung Kang won his first Asian Tour title at the 2013 CJ Invitational hosted by KJ Choi on home soil.
- He made his debut in the CIMB Classic last year where he finished in a share of 21st position. He is currently four shots back of the lead.
- The round of the day belonged to Paul Casey of England who shot a 63 highlighted by 10 birdies and one bogey. It was a welcome return to form for the world number 14 who opened with a 77. He is currently tied in 23rd place.
Scores after round 2 of the CIMB Classic being played at the par 72, 7005 Yards TPC Kuala Lumpur course (am – denotes amateur):
131 – Pat PEREZ (USA) 66-65.
132 – Xander SCHAUFFELE (USA) 65-67.
135 – Sung KANG (KOR) 67-68, Cameron SMITH (AUS) 64-71, Thomas PIETERS (BEL) 68-67.
136 – Keegan BRADLEY (USA) 65-71.
137 – Rafa CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 67-70.
138 – Hideki MATSUYAMA (JPN) 70-68, Kyle STANLEY (USA) 71-67, Michael KIM (USA) 68-70, Lucas GLOVER (USA) 71-67, Adam HADWIN (CAN) 71-67, Brendan STEELE (USA) 67-71, Danny LEE (NZL) 73-65.
139 – Harold VARNER III (USA) 72-67, Branden GRACE (RSA) 72-67, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70-69, Kevin NA (USA) 66-73, Scott BROWN (USA) 70-69, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 65-74, Wesley BRYAN (USA) 71-68, Gary WOODLAND (USA) 66-73.
140 – Ollie SCHNIEDERJANS (USA) 72-68, Luke LIST (USA) 70-70, David LIPSKY (USA) 69-71, Davis LOVE III (USA) 67-73, Paul CASEY (ENG) 77-63, C. T. PAN (TPE) 70-70, Jamie LOVEMARK (USA) 70-70, Stewart CINK (USA) 72-68, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 67-73, Camilo VILLEGAS (COL) 72-68.
Players’ Quotes
Pat Perez (Usa) – Second Round 65 (-7), Total 131 (-13)
I don’t want sunshine at all. It’s too hot, way too hot. No, I like it just the way it is right now, perfect. Cloudy, no wind, perfect.
I just got off to a slow start. We had the break obviously and just went out, and I like the front, I play better on the front. Just made some decent shots and I putted pretty well today. My short game was good so that saved me.
I just made some good putts. I had a good up-and-down, I hit a good shot on two and made a good putt there and then on three, and four I made about a 16-footer. And I got lucky on five, I hit it on the cart path twice and went down there so I only had 150 so I made birdie there. And I had a great save on six, good seven, and great iron on eight. I got lucky on nine, I hit it way left and I had a shot and made birdie. Overall it wasn’t a great ball-striking day, but I scrambled well and I got the most out of my round.
Well, I putted great all year. I didn’t really hit it great this year but I scored well. My short game’s been good, I work on it all the time. I’ve just been seeing the putts go in all year and it really helps when you can start to see 15-, 20-footers go in and you make a great save from the rough or the bunker, whatever, it keeps your round going. You know, basically that’s all it’s really been.
Xander Schauffele (Usa) – Second Round 67 (-5), Total 132 (-12)
I’m just comfortable. I mean, everything’s kind of coming easy. Today was kind of one of those weird days where all the breaks, I had some squirrely tee shots and had a couple weird drops, but they all kind of went my way. So kind of fortunate to have it that way, go my way and kind of clean it up for the next two.
I guess I’m hitting it in most of the fairways and I figure the greens would be kind of tough for me since they’re a little slow. I mean tough for everyone out here, but kind of managed to find some way to get it in the hole.
Everything’s kind of right where it needs to be, I would say. I’m not doing anything stupid. When I have been out of position, I’ve managed to it’s easy to get greedy since you’re out of position, you kind of have a wedge in your hand and you can kind of force it at the pin even though there’s water around. So I’ve been kind of playing a little boring golf, which has been working out.
Yeah, I played in one of the last groups at the TOUR Championship, so that’s kind of the only experience I can pull from, to be completely honest.
(On the eagle on hole 3) Yeah, it was funny, that was right before the delay. Hit it up there, kind of came out and we were all just talking, hanging around. They blew the horn and I made the putt. So that was kind of a nice way to start my new day. It was like 27 feet, probably longest putt I’ve made this week.
Boring is good. Today was a little more exciting. I hit it a little bit offline. When I say boring, I mean it in the best way, shape and form. Boring is probably the wrong word to use, but when a golfer says boring, boring means fairways, greens, you’re making putts. You don’t want to be too exciting out here.
Sung Kang (Kor) – Second Round 68 (-4), Total 135 (-9)
It was a little hot, it’s always hot a little. My caddie and I just try and be in good shape, the weather’s so hot. It’s so different from last week and we also have some jetlag from the U.S. Just trying to keep it nice and close somehow, as much as possible and I think I just played pretty good solid golf.
I mean, my time zone’s still not on yet so I feel a little sleepy. Not really as good as this morning but, I still finished all right. I still try to really focus somehow and I think I did it pretty good, so it worked out pretty good today.
Cameron Smith (Aus) – Second Round 71 (-1), Total 135 (-9)
Yeah. Very hard to get into rhythm today, both with the slow play and the rain delay as well. So yeah, just a bit of a tough day for everyone, I think. It was very slow for us after the rain delay, so yeah, struggled to get into rhythm, but hung in there pretty good. No, no, I’ve still got a good opportunity over the weekend. Just got to stick to my guns.
Thomas Pieters (Bel) – Second Round 67 (-5), Total 135 (-9)
Pretty solid, didn’t make a bogey. Just happy with my game. My driving’s been a lot better, that’s what I’ve worked on the last month. Yeah, I look forward to it. Just get a good night’s rest and go out there tomorrow and try to make birdies. I played in the past, so it suits my eye. I played decent around here in the past.
