MANILA, Philippines -- Rico Hoey slowed down with a two-under 70 at Pete Dye’s Stadium course and slipped from joint third to a share of 26th halfway through the American Express now controlled by American Sam Burns in La Quinta, California Thursday (Friday Manila time).
Hoey bristled with confidence coming off a solid 63 at the Nicklaus tournament layout Thursday that put him in the early conversation in the $8.4-million championship but came up short on the par-4 No. 1 green and missed a nine-footer for par.
After muffing another nine-footer for birdie bid on the second hole and two-putting from 30 feet for par on the next, he recovered the stroke with a 10-foot birdie on the par-3 No. 3 and tapped in for another birdie on the next.
He rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 11 and picked up another stroke on the next from four feet. But he drove to the right rough on the par-4 No. 15 and missed a 13-foot for par.
The Philippine-born University of Southern California product, who missed the cut in the Sony Open in Hawaii last week, also flubbed a six-footer for birdie on the last long hole (No. 16) to settle for a pair of 35s a.
While he made it to the weekend play with an 11-under 133, the PGA Tour rookie fell six strokes off the pace as Burns took charge with a 127 with a fiery, bogey-free 61 at the Nicklaus course he accentuated with two eagles.
But a slew of others stood just a stroke or two behind, guaranteeing a fierce chase in the last 36 holes of the second event on the PGA Tour calendar.
Michael Kim, also of the US, shot a 63, also at Nicklaus, to gain solo second at 128 while Korean KH Lee and American amateur Nick Dunlap matched 129s after a 64 and 65 at Nicklaus and Pete Dye Stadium courses, respectively.
Multi-titled Patrick Cantlay likewise kept the frontrunners within sight as he assembled a 130 after a 66at Nicklaus, putting himself in contention with a four-birdie spree at the front, the backside of his game Friday.