Billy Hurley III waves to the crowd after playing his approach shot on the 17th hole at the Quicken Loans National golf tournament at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Maryland on June 26, 2016. File photo by Pete Marovich/UPI |
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Wind and rain wreaked havoc with the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship on Friday in Wilmington, N.C, leaving Billy Hurley III and Seamus Power of Ireland as the co-leaders among the players who managed to finish play.
Hurley shot a 3-under-par 69 and Power posted a 71 for a 36-hole total of 5-under 139 at Eagle Point Golf Club.
Hurley closed with four birdies on his last seven holes.
"It was more difficult with the wind," Hurley said. "Thankfully, with the rain it was softer. It we didn't have this rain, and then we had this wind, it would have been pretty brutal."
John Peterson and first-round leader Francesco Molinari of Italy also are at 5 under through 12 and 11 holes, respectively, before play was suspended because of darkness after overnight and early-morning storms delayed the start of the round by three hours.
One shot behind the leaders in the clubhouse are Vaughn Taylor, who carded a second-round 69; Jon Rahm and Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain; and Brian Harman and Grayson Murray. Rahm and Cabrera Bello had 71s, Harman a 69 and Murray a 73.
Others at 4 under but with unfinished rounds were Smylie Kaufman and Ben Martin, who each were through 15 holes.
Power said the wind made it difficult to judge how to hit the ball.
"It's unusual. It messes with your eyes because you're uncomfortable hitting that shot knowing that if the wind dies, you might watch a ball sail into the water around the greens," Power said. "You've just got to pick a number and you've got to go with and just try to get through those."
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson returned to the PGA Tour this week after his accident before the Masters and was at 2 over for the day and five behind the leaders through 13 holes.
Phil Mickelson, who has never won a tournament in North Carolina, finished with an even-par 72 after closing with a double bogey that put him four behind Hurley and Power.
"It's not a good way to finish," Mickelson said. "To not have a bogey for 17 holes and finish with a double is disappointing. I didn't take advantage of the par 5s, I didn't birdie any of them. That's the thing you have to take advantage of in this wind to have a good round."
The round was suspended at 7:55 p.m. ET with 68 players unable to complete play. They'll be back on the course at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to finish before beginning the third round.