Hoey ignites front-nine surge with pitch-in eagle to make Colonial cut

MANILA, Philippines — Rico Hoey bounced back from an error-riddled start on the back nine with a blistering frontside 31 — highlighted by a pitch-in eagle — to safely make the weekend cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday (Saturday Manila time).

Though the ICTSI-backed Hoey remained seven strokes behind new leader Jordan Smith of England, his fiery finish could spark a moving-day charge. Currently tied for 47th, the big-hitting Filipino-American shotmaker will need more than just power and momentum to climb into Top 15 contention on the par-70 layout.

After an opening-round 68, Hoey started steady with routine pars from Nos. 10 to 12. However, trouble struck when he missed the green on the par-3 13th and flubbed a three-foot par putt. He missed another green on No. 15, failing to save par from 17 feet, and followed it with another bogey on the par-3 16th to slide down the leaderboard.

But Hoey flashed his trademark power after the turn. He dominated the par-5 No. 1 for a two-putt birdie, then crushed a monster 312-yard drive on the 382-yard, par-4 second before pitching in from 67 yards for a brilliant eagle.

After a pair of steady pars, he drilled a 25-foot birdie putt on the fifth and parred out for a 38-31 round and a two-day total of 137.

Meanwhile, Tom Kim went from awesome to awful. After a fiery opening 64 that put him in a six-way logjam for the lead, Kim wavered with a second-round 72, tumbling 33 spots into a tie for 34th at 136.

Kim opened with a birdie on the first but stumbled with a bogey on No. 5 and never truly recovered. After a string of pars, a double-bogey on the 17th derailed his round, leaving him with a 36-hole aggregate of 136 — six strokes off the lead.

Smith surged ahead to claim the solo lead at 130 after carding an eagle on No. 1 en route to a stellar 65. He led by one over Michael Thorbjornsen (65), Ryan Gerard (67), Hideki Matsuyama (66) and Brian Harman (65), who are all deadlocked at 131.