Jon Rahm & Henrik Stenson lead in Bahamas as Tiger Woods avoids penalty
- Published
Rahm had five birdies on the back nine in a bogey-free round
Hero World Challenge second-round leaderboard |
|---|
-10 J Rahm (Spa), H Stenson (Swe); -9 D Johnson (USA), P Cantlay (USA); -8 T Finau (USA); -6 G Woodland (USA), A Noren (Swe); -5 R Fowler (USA) |
-4 K Bradley (USA), J Rose (Eng), J Thomas (USA); -3 X Schauffele (USA), B DeChambeau (USA); -2 T Woods (USA), H Matsuyama (Jpn), B Watson (USA), P Reed (USA); -1 J Day (Aus) |
Spaniard Jon Rahm fired a nine-under 63 to share the halfway lead at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
The 24-year-old world number eight was joined at 10 under by Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who posted a 66.
Englishman Justin Rose, seeking a joint-second finish to return to world number one, had seven birdies in a 70 and is six shots off the lead.
Tournament host Tiger Woods avoided penalty after a controversial scoop out of a bush and finished two under.
Woods was five under for his round when his tee shot at the last finished under a palmetto bush and he attempted an escape while kneeling in the sand.
Replays showed the ball stayed on the clubface during the shot, but after lengthy discussions, rules officials decided against giving a penalty.
"I didn't feel like I violated any rules," said Woods, who finished up with a double bogey. "I was trying to play a shot but the rules committee said they may have been a violation. I didn't feel like I hit it twice but under super slow-mo you could see I made contact twice."
The PGA Tour's vice president of rules and competitions, Mark Russell, said: "We had to look at high-speed, slow-motion video to determine that the ball probably did stay on the clubface a little too long. But there was no way he could've known that."
Explaining the rules under, Russell added: "Basically, if the player didn't know he did that [hit it twice] and the only way you can tell is by using this type of slow-motion technology, he's exempt from the rules, so there's no penalty there."
From 1 January players will not be penalised for an accidental double-hit.
There is no cut in the elite 18-man field, which features 14 of the world's top 20 and nine major winners.
One of those, world number three Dustin Johnson, is only one off the lead after five birdies in six holes on the back nine in a round of 67.
Woods was barely able to make a backswing in the palmetto bush