Nico Echavarria shot a second consecutive round of 64 and will enter the weekend at the ZOZO Championship with a two-shot lead over Justin Thomas and Taylor Moore.
Echavarria finished his second day at Narashino Country Club with 10 pars, one bogey and seven birdies, highlighted by three in a row on Nos. 4, 5 and 6, en route to a 12-under par halftime score.
“Yeah, it’s good. I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” said Echavarria. “I’ve had it after 54, but never after 36, so good to be in this position.
“Game feels good. Not much is going to change and hopefully we can keep putting it like that.”
He added, “My strategy hasn’t changed, but I think it does free up. I haven’t had the chance of playing many tournaments without a cut, I think Kapalua was my only one this year. So yes, I think it does free up.”
Thomas (64) signed for a bogey-free card which included four birdies and an eagle on the 18th to secure joint-second on 10 under.
“Yeah. It generally is a 3-wood off the tee,” said Thomas, when asked to describe his eagle. “I generally don’t like working the ball right to left off the tee, but I’ve done it nicely these last two days so I was comfortable there.
“I mean, it was kind of a mist of a rain, not much, but it was enough to make me feel like I couldn’t cover that bunker with 3-wood off the tee comfortably. Just kind of stepped up and just hit the same tee shot with the driver I’ve been hitting a lot today and couldn’t have walked it out there any better. 214 in, just took a little bit off of a 5-iron, just kind of cut it off the left center of the green.
“That’s what I’m trying to get on the green. I think hitting it in there four feet is a bonus, but that’s the advantage of soft greens and hitting a
good shot.
Moore, the overnight leader, got off to a strong start with four birdies on his first eight holes, but finished with nine pars and a bogey over his final 10 holes to join Thomas on 10 under.
“Solid day overall, yeah,” said Moore. “I got off to a good start, opening 4 under on the opening nine. Struggled a little bit hitting fairways on the back, but overall a really good day.
“In a good position for the weekend.”
Seamus Power posted a low-round 62 to join C.T. Pan (66) and Eric Cole (67) on 9 under.
Rickie Fowler (64) and Max Greyserman (68) were one further back on 8 under.
2024 ZOZO Championship
Top-10 Leaderboard: Round 2
Pos-Player-Score (Rd 2)
1. Nico Echavarria -12 (-6)
2. Justin Thomas -10 (-6)
2. Taylor Moore -10 (-3)
4. Seamus Power -9 (-7)
4. C.T. Pan -9 (-4)
4. Eric Cole -9 (-3)
7. Rickie Fowler -8 (-6)
7. Max Greyserman -8 (-2)
9. Andrew Novak -7 (-5)
9. Taisei Shimizu -7 (-3)
9. Jhonattan Vegas -7 (-3)
9. Kevin Yu -7 (-2)
PGA Tour media press release and post-round notes used to compile recap.
