Day 2 of the Player Championship is over, with two young PGA Tour stars sitting on the leaderboard. One of the funniest players on the planet, Min Wooly, and Akshay Batia, who won last year's Valero Texas Open, are sitting on the 11-under par leaderboard after posting 66 to a pair.
This is everything you need to know.
Round 2 Score:
T1. Min Woo Lee -11 – 67-66
T1. Akshay Bhatia -11 – 67-66
3. JJSpaun -10 – 66-68
T4. Rory McIlroy -9 – 67-68
T4. Morikawa Colin-9 – 70-65
T4. Alex Smalley-9 – 68-67
T7. Lucas Glover-8 – 66-70
T7. Will Zaratoris-8 – 70-66
T9. Tommy Fleetwood-7 – 71-66
T9. Jake Knapp-7 – 69-68
T11. Sepp Straka -6 – 70-68
T11. Billy Horchel-6 – 67-71
T11. Other 4-6
Takeout:
Min Wooly, Akshay Batiaeye's biggest career victory
Min Woo Lee went into the round close to Flores with his final hole of the day, par 5 ninth, seven birdies and one bogey. Australians are a must-see surveillance, and they are strict about the combination of talent and power that no one else has. He can hit any shot he needs.
“It feels really good than the ball,” Lee said.
“It was really good numbers, I rolled some putts. I'm still solid again today, hopefully two more.”
Akshay Bhatia also shot a 6-under 66. Because Bhatia made eight birdies and two bozzies. He adapted to the driver before the tournament.
“I went back to being an older driver and then back to the shaft I played four years ago. It was a little longer, so it was a nice recipe,” Batia said.
“After that, I'm working pretty hard on the technique. I feel good with the coach this week. I also feel like I'm playing a mini driver this week. It's a bit of a good setup for me this week.”
Bhatia and Lee will form the final pairing of Saturday as both stars see the biggest career victory ever.
Justin Thomas matches the track record
Justin Thomas gave a historic performance by making 11 birdies. But he would have had his own course record without a bogey on the 18th hole. In his second shot from the rough, he found water as he had to navigate through the trees and hit a punch shot.
“I just wanted to make another birdie and after missing the fairway, birdie had a kind of problem, where he was approaching the greenery and something rough was about to hit his face.
“But I could easily hit it where I wanted it, hit a really good pitch or chip and a really good putt, and I didn't make the same score. I'm not going to have it in the great rounds I had today and shape it or take shape.”
If Thomas had scored a par on the 18th, he would have shot an 11-under 61. Instead, he posted a 10-under 62, which coincided with the course record set by Tom Hoge two years ago. Interestingly, Thomas played with Hoge that day.
Thomas is 4 under the championship and a seven-stroke lead that enters Saturday's third round.
Rory McIlroy reinstalls grooves from the tee
Rory McIlroy only hit four fairways on Thursday, but somehow managed to open at a 5-under 67. He then went straight to the driving range and tried to grasp his mistakes and practiced well at night.
The move to do so was rewarded as McIlroy drove the ball beautifully on Friday. He hit 11/14 fairways and ranked fifth in the field of strokes obtained from the tee.
“I was a little down a bit below that and a bit too many side bends came down.
“So I was really thinking about just trying to keep the right side a little higher and try to cover a little more.”
McIlroy had five birdies on the front nine and held the lead share at one point, but he cooled his back in 1 over 37.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
