Going into Day 3 of the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, here are 5 quick thoughts on round number two.
1. Jason Day
On a tough day, Jason Day grinded out a 1-under 69 to go to 4-under for the event and take a one shot lead into the weekend over David Lingmerth. The World No. 1 is seeking his fourth win of the season and his third career WGC Title. Day has had the 36-hole lead a total of 10 times in his career. The last four times he’s had that, he’s gone on to win three times, including this year’s Players Championship.
2. Justin Thomas
The 16th at Firestone is a monstrous Par-5 which plays to 667 yards. Justin Thomas bombed away a 413 yard drive and had a 5-iron to the green. He eventually chipped in for eagle from the rough thereby making the 3rd eagle on that hole in tournament history.
3. Low Rounds
On an extremely tough day, David Lingmerth and Kim Kyung-tae both shot 3-under 67s to get the low round of the day honors. Lingmerth, the 2015 Memorial champion, had a total of five birdies and two bogeys. On a day when he found only six greens in regulation, he needed only 21 putts to complete his round. Meanwhile, Kim had six birdies to go against his three bogeys. The 29 year-old South Korean is a 13 time winner on the Japanese Tour.
4. Scoring Average
On a day when the wind was all over the place, the field struggled to get in some decent scores. Round 1 leader William McGirt shot a 4-over 74 to fall into a tie for 3rd place. The field averaged 2.23 strokes over par on day two with just 12 players shooting under par. Holes 9 and 18 played the toughest on the day with an average score of 4.36.
5. Tough Firestone
Firestone is playing every bit as tough as the two majors held already this year.
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