Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (SportsNetwork.com) – Billy Hurley posted his second 67
in as many days on Friday and he grabbed a 2-shot lead at the halfway point of
the CIMB Classic.
Hurley finished 36 holes at 10-under-par 134. He is searching for his first
PGA Tour title.
“If I can keep hitting it in the fairway and keep putting it like I have and
hitting a lot of good putts, then I’ll be right there on Sunday,” stated
Hurley.
Kevin Streelman carded his second straight 68 and he climbed into second place
at minus-8.
Defending champion Ryan Moore shot 3-under 69 to get to 7-under-par 137. He
was joined in third place by Sergio Garcia (68), Lee Westwood (65), Kevin Na
(68), Jeff Overton (69), Seung-Yul Noh (69) and Kevin Chappell (68).
Chappell had finished the round tied for second, but he called a penalty on
himself. The first two rounds have been played under preferred lies rules. He
picked up his golf ball to clean it on the 16th, but he didn’t mark his ball
first. That penalty changed his par into a bogey.
First-round leader Rikard Karlberg tripped to a 4-over 76 at Kuala Lumpur Golf
& Country Club. He tumbled into a share of 24th place at 3-under 141.
Hurley, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, got off to a fast start as he birdied
the 10th and 11th, his first two holes in round two. He moved to 8-under with
a birdie at the 13th.
After a pair of pars from the 14th, Hurley poured in three consecutive birdies
from the 16th to move to 11-under. He was three clear of the field at that
point.
Around the turn, Hurley stumbled to a double-bogey at the par-4 second to trim
his lead to one. He ran off four pars in a row from the third. Hurley rolled
in a 12-foot birdie putt at the seventh. He closed with a pair of pars to end
there.
“After the bad swing, it could have unraveled there on two and three, but I
drew on some of the experience I had from last year and was able to hold it
together coming in. The cameras, more people watching the last group, couple
of groups. It’s the atmosphere of it, and you learn a little bit from that,”
explained Hurley.
Streelman also played the back nine first, and he started with birdies at 10
and 12. He parred eight straight holes from the 13th.
At the par-5 third, Streelman converted a birdie try. He also birdied the
par-5 fifth to inch within two of Hurley. Streelman parred the last four holes
to end alone in second.
Noh birdied the 14th to get within one of Hurley, but he dropped three back
after making a bogey at the 15th paired with Hurley’s birdie at 18.
NOTES: Hurley had the 36-hole lead for the second time on the PGA Tour …
That other time he was in that position, Hurley finished fourth, which tied
his best career performance on the PGA Tour … For the second straight day,
there was a near two-hour weather delay due to lightning in the area … Lee
Westwood had a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th.
