South Korea’s Joohyung Kim fired a 6-under-par 64 and grabbed a share of the lead with Brandon Wu and Ryan Moore after the second round was mostly completed Friday at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C.
A 90-minute weather delay late in the afternoon interrupted the proceedings. All but four players managed to complete their rounds, though notables Webb Simpson and Kevin Kisner withdrew during the suspension of play, as they were unlikely to rally and make the projected cut of 2 under.
Moore shot a 66 and Wu signed for a 67 Friday to join Kim at 9 under through two rounds. They lead Russell Henley (65), John Huh (71) and South Korea’s Sungjae Im (69) by one shot.
Kim, 20, would be leading the pack by four had he not opened Thursday’s first round with a quadruple-bogey 8. He recovered from that dubious hole to shoot a 67 before returning to Sedgefield Country Club on Friday and tying for the low round of the day.
“All I did was laugh,” Kim said of the quadruple bogey. “I didn’t really take it — it’s just one bad hole. Told myself, you know what, I’ve got plenty of holes to bring it back if I just play well on my next 35 holes, and that’s exactly what I did. I played better than I thought I was going to, so it’s a bonus.”
Kim started Friday on the back nine and made his only bogey of the day at the par-3 12th before draining three birdies. He added four more on the front nine, including three straight at Nos. 6-8.
Already ranked No. 34 in the world, Kim is playing on a special temporary membership and is in line to earn his full PGA Tour card for next season.
Other players competing at the regular-season finale are vying to keep their cards by ensuring they qualify for the field of 125 players who’ll play the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs next week.
Moore entered the week No. 183 in the points standings. He’s projected to leap to 68th thanks to his position at the Wyndham thus far.
“I’m so far out of it, it doesn’t even matter at this point,” Moore said despite a round of five birdies and one bogey. “I’m trying to do whatever I can this week. I’m just trying to gain some confidence going into next season, to be honest.”
Wu had four birdies and one bogey on his card Friday. He saved bogey at the par-4 11th, making a 28-foot putt to avoid further damage.
“I was kind of in my mind already writing down a double there, so nice to pick up a shot there,” Wu said.
Among those tied for seventh at 7 under is Brian Stuard, who shot a 68 Friday. Stuard is projected to slide into the top 125 as things stand; he’d move up from No. 137 to 124 in points if the tournament ended Friday.
Stuard is tied with Davis Riley (66) and India’s Anirban Lahiri (67) two back of the leaders.
Austin Smotherman entered the week in possession of the 125th and final spot in the points standings. As luck would have it, Smotherman is one of four players who need to finish their round Saturday morning. Smotherman is 1 under — one off the projected cut line — and must finish the par-4 eighth and play the par-4 ninth to wrap up.
At even through two rounds, Rickie Fowler will miss the cut and is currently projected to drop out of the FedEx Cup Playoffs field, from 123rd place to 127th.
Australia’s Jason Day withdrew prior to the start of the second round, citing an illness.
–Field Level Media