Justin Seo carded a 6-under 66 with seven birdies and one bogey to take a one-stroke lead over second-place Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) at 7-under 137 after the second day of play at Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72) in Dublin, Ohio, USA, on Wednesday.
Justin Seo, who birdied the third, fifth and eighth holes to drop three strokes in the first half, birdied the 11th and then followed with back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th to take the lead. He then bogeyed the 16th (par-3) after hitting his tee shot into a bunker, but bounced back with a birdie on the 18th (par-4) after hitting his second shot from 174 yards out to within three meters of the pin to take a one-stroke lead into the third round.
Born in 1997, Justin Seo was the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world in 2018-19 and burst onto the scene last year when he won the Confederation Tour Championship. Justin Seo, the reigning Confederation Tour Player of the Year, has been playing as a rookie on the PGA Tour this season. 메이저놀이터
He played in the “Big Four” of Colin Morikawa (USA), Victor Hovland (NOR), and Matthew Wolfe (USA) in college, but a wrist injury delayed his arrival on the PGA Tour. Justin Suh also played in the Honda Classic in February, holding a one-stroke lead going into the second round before finishing tied for fifth.
Matsuyama, the 2014 winner, was one shot back in second place with a clean round of seven birdies without a bogey. Behind him, Patrick Cantlay (USA), who dropped five strokes on the day, is tied for third with David Lipsky (USA) at 6-under par 138.
Sony Open winner Si Woo Kim, 28, shot a 4-under 68 with five birdies and one bogey for a 5-under 139 total and is tied for fifth with Mark Hubbard (USA). It is the highest finish by a South Korean player.
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who lost ground after a triple bogey the day before, shot a 4-under 68 for a 4-under 140 total and is tied for seventh with Jon Rahm (Spain) and Rickie Fowler (USA).
Ahn Byung-hoon, 32, is tied for 22nd with a 1-under-par 143 total, but after a 2-under-par first day, Lim Sung-jae, 25, made seven bogeys on the day and lost four strokes to finish at 2-over-par 146, tied for 53rd with Kim Sung-hyun, 25. Lee Kyung-hoon (32), Kim Joo-hyung (21) and Choi Kyung-ju (53) missed the cut.