Irishman Padraig Harrington and Ken Tanigawa shot matching 7-under 65s on Saturday to grab a share of the lead after two rounds of action at the Dick’s Open in Endicott, N.Y.
At 11-under 133 for the tournament, Harrington and Tanigawa sit atop the leaderboard alongside Canada’s Stephen Ames, who was in sole possession of first after the first round at En-Joie Golf Club. Ames fired a 3-under 69 on Saturday.
Harrington was steady throughout the second round, playing bogey-free golf while racking up seven birdies. He finished with a bang, going birdie-birdie-birdie at Nos. 16-18 to become a co-leader.
“I was a little frustrated probably through nine holes today,” Harrington said. “My playing partners were going so low, I wasn’t holing the putts. Then I don’t know if I was patient or things happened to go my way, but it was really nice to come home in 5 under.”
WATCH: Ames co-leader at Dick’s Open:
Calgary’s Stephen Ames sits in a 3-way tie for the lead at 11-under and fellow Canadian Mike Weir sits two strokes back at 9-under at the Dick’s Open after the second round of play in Endicott. N.Y.
Meanwhile, Tanigawa got off to a sizzling start, posting four birdies and an eagle on the front nine. He then eagled the par-5 12th and birdied the par-4 13th before getting tripped up at the next two holes, settling for bogey and double bogey at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively.
Tanigawa recovered with a birdie at the par-4 16th before ending his round with a pair of pars.
“I started out great, I got it to 9 under and just hit a lot of good shots, made the putts to capitalize on those good shots,” Tanigawa said. “Overall, very happy, very good round for myself.”
Ames finished with five birdies against two bogeys, and he said that battling the heat has been a struggle.
“I’m just barely hanging in there,” Ames said. “The hardest thing for me right now is to try to keep my hands dry because I’m actually a no-glove guy. I’ve been doing a lot of wiping down and actually cooling my hands off in the ice buckets, so it’s been helpful.”
Bob Estes carded the low round of the day with an 8-under 64 to move 24 spots up the leaderboard and into a tie for fourth with Paul Stankowski (67 on Saturday) and Steve Allan of Australia (69). All three golfers are one shot off the lead.
Ken Duke (66), Canadian Mike Weir (67) and Australia’s David Bransdon (67) are tied for seventh at 9-under 135 ahead of a four-way tie for 10th.
Harrington is the defending champion of the event.
Cameron Young shoots rare 59
Cameron Young made a par putt from just inside 10 feet for an 11-under 59 on Saturday in the Travelers Championship, the first sub-60 round on the PGA Tour in nearly four years.
Young made two eagles on par 4s, holing out with wedge from 142 yards on the third hole and driving the 280-yard 15th hole within 4 feet.
It was the 13th sub-60 round since Al Geiberger first shot golf’s “magic number” at the 1977 Memphis Classic. Scottie Scheffler had been the most recent at the TPC Boston in 2020 at The Northern Trust.
“I can’t say I was expecting it,” Young said. “I’ve been playing better than the results have shown. Waking up this morning, I wasn’t really thinking I’m going to be 5 under through four. It was a lot of fun to do.”
This didn’t even get Young the distinction of owning the course record at the TPC River Highlands. Jim Furyk shot a 58 in 2016 at the Travelers Championship, the lowest round in PGA Tour history.
Young still moved from a tie for 43rd to a tie for 10th, five shots out of the lead.
Jordan Spieth became a footnote in history as the only PGA Tour player to twice play with someone who shot 59. Spieth also was in the group with Justin Thomas when he shot 59 in the opening round of the 2017 Sony Open.
Young was able to lift, clean and place his golf ball in the short grass because of soggy course conditions and the potential of more rain.
He could have gone even lower. After his eagle on the 15th hole, Young hit his tee shot to 7 feet on the par-3 16th and missed the short birdie putt. On the closing hole, needing birdie to tie Furyk’s record, his drive settled on the steep face of a fairway bunker and Young was unable to get it on the green.
He still made par for the seventh round of 59 or lower this year on tours around the world.
“To have a day like today where things start going in, and it feels like you’re reward for good shots, it leaves me with a good taste in my mouth,” Young said.
He finished at 13-under par and was tied with Tom Kim, who was watching some of Young’s round on a video screen at the practice range as Kim was getting ready for the start of his third round. Kim shot a 65 and led by one over Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia.
The other six rounds at 59 or lower this year include Joaquin Niemann on LIV Golf and a record-tying 57 by Cristobal del Solar on the Korn Ferry Tour in Bogota, Colombia.
Taylor Pendrith is the current leader among Canadians as he sits in 17th place at -11. Adam Hadwin is tied for 24th at -8, Corey Conners stands tied for 30th with a -7, Mackenzie Hughes rounds out the Canadians tied for 45th at -4.
