J.J. Spaun converted two of his three eagle chances, Cameron Young shot a blistering 30 on the back nine, and Hideki Matsuyama played bogey-free golf as they joined a five-way tie for the lead Friday in the Hero World Challenge.
Scottie Scheffler briefly held the lead to himself but couldn’t maintain it.
Scheffler drained an 18-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th just as Young cooled off with a missed 8-foot par putt on 18. That put Scheffler at 11 under, giving him a one-shot advantage that vanished almost immediately.
He pulled his tee shot on the 16th for the second straight day, this time needing a penalty shot to escape a palmetto bush. Then he misjudged the trajectory of a blind shot that clipped another palmetto bush, leading to a costly double bogey.
Akshay Bhatia birdied the 18th for a 68 to join former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (68), Spaun (68), Matsuyama (66), and Young (64) at the top of the leaderboard.
The five co-leaders sit at 10-under 134 at Albany Golf Club, where nearly half of the 20-man field is separated by just two shots heading into the weekend.
Spaun, who made only five eagles all season, capitalized on the scoring holes Friday. He hit a 3-wood to just 3 feet on the par-5 sixth and his tee shot on the reachable par-4 14th settled 5 feet away, both resulting in eagles. He narrowly missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th.
Those eagles helped him recover from a pair of bogeys in his first four holes.
“Didn’t get a great start, but salvaged a pretty decent round,” Spaun said.
Bhatia, playing his final tournament before getting married, saved himself late with a nifty par save from short of the 16th green. He then limited the damage on the par-3 17th after chipping through the green into a bunker, blasting out, and making a clutch 15-foot putt for bogey.
He’s working with a new caddie this week, Joe Greiner, who previously looped for Max Homa. Bhatia appreciates that Greiner also swings left-handed, which has helped their communication on course.
Scheffler posted a 69 and sits tied at 9-under 135 with Alex Noren (66) and Sepp Straka (69), while former Albany resident Justin Rose lurks just one shot further back after a 68.
“I think I did some good things out there. Just a few too many mistakes, but overall still felt pretty good,” Scheffler said.
Billy Horschel shot 68 and sits five shots off the pace. He’s the only player in the field without a Masters invitation locked up after missing most of this year recovering from hip surgery. Currently ranked 45th in the world, Horschel needs a solid finish this weekend to secure a spot in the top 50 by year’s end, which would earn him a trip to Augusta in April.
