Yellamaraju in top-20
Akshay Bhatia dropped a double bogey on his closing hole and slipped to tied 26th at the Cadillac Championship after two rounds, while Sudarshan Yellamaraju (66) was tied 16th after looking good for a top-5 placement.
Yellamaraju was 9-under through 16 holes and dropped three shots, including a double bogey on the 17th.
Sahith Theegala also dropped a double on the eighth and bogeys on the third, ninth and the 18th for a 76 and was T-48th. It was a day when the closing holes were tough, particularly the 18th. Overall Theegala had just one birdie against three bogeys and a double bogey.
Bhatia, who like Theegala, is supported by Hero, had a roller coaster of a round with six birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey in his even par 72. Yellamaraju was 9-under for the round through 16 holes before dropping three shots on his final two holes and finishing with a 66. He is now at 4 under for the week. Yellamaraju was in the first group of the day and made good use of the calm conditions till he ran into trouble at the finish.
Cameron Young finally made his first bogey of the week but it barely affected his lead going into the weekend. Young shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to get to 13 under and take a five-shot lead at the midway point of the USD 20 million Signature Event at Trump National Doral.
Young’s lone blemish was a bogey at the par-4 14th, where his chip from an awkward sidehill lie didn’t reach the putting surface. Other than that, he was flawless — just as he had a bogey-free 64 a day earlier to grab the lead.
Young played with Scottie Scheffler; the world’s No. 1 player had a bogey-free 67 but ended the day exactly where he started it –seven shots off the lead and in tied sixth place.
Nick Taylor (70), Alex Smalley (71) and Jordan Spieth (71) were tied for second. Gary Woodland (69) was alone in fifth at 7 under and Scheffler was in a logjam of players — Alex Fitzpatrick among them — at 6 under.
Spieth rolled in a birdie at the par-4 18th, an absolute rarity through the first two rounds at Doral.
The 18th on the Blue Monster course is a serious test, with water lining the left and seriously narrowing the fairway for all but the biggest hitters. Spieth’s birdie was the sixth on the 18th through the tournament’s first two days.
