by Ireland’s Seamus Power posted his worst round of the day to move within three strokes of the halftime lead at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship in Japan.
Power made eight birdies in a bogey-free 62 at Narashino Country Club to finish in fourth place at nine under and in touch with halfway leader Nico Echavarria.
Echavarria mixed seven birdies with a single bogey to post a second straight 64 and move two ahead, while an eagle on the final hole moved Justin Thomas into second place alongside first-round leader Taylor Moore.
“I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” Echavarria said. “I’ve had it after 54 but never after 36, it’s so good to be in this position. The game feels good. Not much will change and hopefully we can continue like this.”
Rickie Fowler is tied for seventh with Max Greyserman after matching Echavarria’s score with a 6-under 64, while defending champion Collin Morikawa fell eight points to 22nd despite a second-round 67.
World No.2 ended up in 65th place.
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Xander Schauffele attempted to hack out of tree roots on the par-4 ninth several times during his opening round, resulting in an ugly quadruple bogey
How Power broke into PGA Tour competition
Power hit long putts for par on each of his first three holes before starting his birdie run by rolling in from 15 feet on the par-4 fourth green, then chipping in from the par-3 fifth green and landed a 20-footer on the par-4 green on the par-5 sixth.
The two-time PGA Tour winner fired his tee shot at the par-3 seventh tap-in, resulting in a fourth straight birdie that saw him reach the turn in 30, with Power completing a string of pars, by taking advantage of the par-5 14th.
Seamus Power shot a 62 in the second round to advance to the competition in Japan
Power added more birdies on his next two holes and finished his round with another on the par-5 final, his eighth of the day, putting him in fourth place alongside Eric Cole and CT Pan.
“I mean, obviously, when you shoot 62, most things go your way,” Power said. “It was interesting because it was a bit of an unusual start. In the end I had to save a good par on one, two and three.”
“From there it was a lot of good stuff, everything felt pretty good. Yesterday was good – I just didn’t make the putts and today the greens were obviously a lot better.”
Watch the Zozo Championship live all week on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues from 4am on Saturday on Sky Sports Golf or streamed with NOW, with the event forming part of a triple-header of live golf.
