Englishman Todd Clements birdied four of his final six holes Friday to shoot 6-under-par 66 and build a two-shot lead at the Corales Puntacana Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
Clements played the back nine first at Puntacana Resort and Club, and after birdieing Nos. 10 and 12 he converted nine pars in a row. He sank consecutive 7-footers for birdie at Nos. 4 and 5, tapped in another at the par-5 seventh and finished with a flourish at the par-3 ninth, holing a 21-foot putt from the back of the green.
At 13-under 131, Clements has a slight edge over Ben James (66), Gordon Sargent (67) and Johannes Veerman (67). Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey (68) is alone in fifth at 10 under.
“This game’s crazy,” said Clements, who was a co-leader after 18 holes. “I feel like my short game’s been up and down this year. I kind of have some good weeks — good days and bad days and I felt yesterday wasn’t such a good day around the green. Then just worked on a couple bits, spoke to my coach and yeah, kind of figured a little bit out and hit some much better shots today.”
Clements said his usual caddie was injured, so he had to hire a local caddie just an hour before his second-round tee time. He did not specify what kind of injury his caddie sustained.
“That kind of changed the routine of things, but out there taking ownership of everything I do kind of paid off today,” Clements said.
The 29-year-old normally plays on the DP World Tour in Europe and is in position for his first PGA Tour victory at the alternate event being played opposite the Open Championship.
He’ll have to fend off a couple of 23-year-olds who are among the top players at their age. James turned pro this summer and Sargent did so last year following decorated college careers.
James is making his fifth start as a professional and has made the cut every time. In his pro debut, he led the RBC Canadian Open after 36 holes, shooting a second-round 63 before posting a 78 on Saturday and finishing tied for 54th.
James said he didn’t foresee such good results so early.
“But as I played, you know, I had the lead the first week and after three (more starts), now I’m coming out here to win, but we’ll see,” James said. “I’ve been playing nice and that’s just all I want to do is play two more nice rounds.”
Both he and Sargent posted bogey-free second rounds.
“Trying to make it as simple as possible, honestly,” Sargent said. I think it’s easy to try and do too much out here. Yeah, just going to play golf. You have so many opportunities this year playing 20-something events, so it’s like not putting too much pressure on yourself and just execute the shots you can.”
