Jon Rahm chips onto the 15th green at Albany Golf Club in Nassau, Bahamas, during Thursday's first round of the Hero World Challenge. Rahm shot a 9-under-par 63 in Friday's second round and shared the 36-hole lead with Henrik Stenson at 10-under 134 overall.NASSAU, Bahamas - In his first trip to the Hero World Challenge, it didn't take Jon Rahm long to figure out how to score.
Being aggressive starts with keeping the ball in play. And with five par 5s and a pair of reachable par 4s at Albany Golf Club, plenty of birdies should be available. That was the case Friday, when Rahm made birdies on half of his holes for a 9-under-par 63 to share the lead with Henrik Stenson (66) at 10-under 134.
"I hit it so solid off the tee, I was always in the fairway with a short club in," said Rahm, a 24-year-old Spaniard who is No. 8 in the World Golf Ranking. "I think the best way to describe it, having five par 5s and two relatively short par 4s, out of those seven holes, I got six birdies. So I capitalized on the easier holes today. Didn't seem like much could go wrong."
Only the end went wrong for tournament host Tiger Woods, and it could have been worse.
Woods was 5 under for his round and trying to stay in the thick of his holiday event when he drove into a palm bush on the 18th hole. He dropped to one knee to pop the ball back to the grass, came up just short of the green, chipped weakly and made double bogey for a 69.
But questions arose about his shot out of the bush. After extensive video review, it was determined he hit the ball more than once. However, because of an 18-month-old rules decision that limits the use of video evidence, Woods was spared the additional penalty because he didn't think he made contact twice and it couldn't be determined by the naked eye, only the use of high-resolution TV played in super-slow motion.
Even so, Woods remained eight shots behind in his first 72-hole event since ending his remarkable comeback year with a victory in the Tour Championship. He was tied for 14th, along with Patrick Reed, who shot 40 on the front nine on his way to a 77.
Patrick Cantlay, who shared the 18-hole lead with Reed, had a 70 and was one shot out of the lead along with Dustin Johnson (67). Tony Finau (64) was two shots behind, and everyone in the 18-golfer field was under par going into the weekend, with Jason Day bringing up the rear at 1-under 143.
Aussies lead the way
GOLD COAST, Australia - Cameron Smith held a one-stroke lead over Marc Leishman and Jake McLeod after the second round of the Australian PGA Championship.
Smith shot a 7-under 65 and was at 9-under 135 overall at Royal Pines Resort. Leishman, Smith's teammate last weekend at the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, had his second consecutive 68. McLeod, a co-leader with Matt Jager after the first round, shot a 70.
Smith, who is trying to repeat as the tournament's champion, led the way as Australians occupied the top six spots on the leaderboard halfway through. Jager (71), Dimitrios Papadatos (70) and Christopher Wood were tied for fourth at 137.
Another stroke back and alone in sixth after a second-round 69 was American Harold Varner III, who won the tournament in 2016.
American is on top
BEAU CHAMP, Mauritius - Kurt Kitayama shot a 7-under 65 for the second straight day and took a two-shot lead halfway through the Mauritius Open.
Kitayama, a 25-year-old American who came through qualifying school to join the European Tour for the 2018-19 season, was at 14-under 135. He made nine birdies in Friday's second round, when his only slip was a double-bogey seven on No. 2 at the Ernie Els-designed Four Seasons Golf Course. He followed that with four straight birdies.
India's S. Chikkarangappa (68) was alone in second after sharing the first-round lead with Victor Perez (69), who dropped into a tie for third with fellow Frenchman Matthieu Pavon (66) at 11 under in the tournament co-sanctioned by the European, Asian and South African tours.