Emiliano Grillo, a golfer from Argentina, says that the weather is the key to Accordia Narashino Country club in Japan.
He said that if the weather is good, he enjoys playing outside.
The sun shone again in the Land of the Rising Sun, but Mother Nature created some tricky conditions that made Friday a challenge. Grillo, and many other players on the 78-man team were left in the wind.
Grillo was happy to have shot a 1-over-par 71.
The second round of Zozo Championship took place in Arazai in Chiba Prefecture, just 25 minutes north of Tokyo.
“That was the windiest round of golf I played all year.” Cam Davis said, “That was tough.” I hit my shortest shot of the year on the last green, probably by about 40 yards. “I can recall the last time I drove driver and driver on a Par-4 and came up short of a green.”
Graham DeLaet is the lead Golf Channel analyst this week. He said: “You can tell it’s windy if your chips are affected by it.” When you play your home course, you can take the day off.
Ben Taylor scored 84. Only 13 players broke par in the field. Beau Hossler of the United States didn’t seem bothered by the wind. He shot the lowest round of the day – a 65 – to improve to 7 under 133, and take a one stroke lead at midway.
Hossler stated that playing in winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour was a challenge. “I would say that anything below par is a quality score. So to shoot five under par, was amazing.”
Justin Suh said, “It kept gusting,” who was one stroke behind Hossler at the end of 36 holes. “You would get one every 5 minutes that would come at 40 miles per hour. It was insane.”
The PGA Tour staff did not cut the greens in between rounds because of the forecasted high winds. They did this to slow down the pace and it was a good decision.
Suh stated that it was “very necessary”.
Three par 5s were converted into par 4s, namely Nos. The wind was blowing from the southwest, so holes 4, 9, and 12 were all played with their backs to the wind. This made par a great score. Hossler explained that she tried to think of a par as a birdie.
Hideki Morikawa, the first-round leader, shot 3-over 73, but the conditions were too much for him. He made two consecutive double bogeys, ballooning to 76.
Suh stated, “It was a real grind.”
Four more things you need to know about the second Zozo Championship round.
