CT Pan and Aaron Rai defied strong winds and gusts to record eight-under-par 63s on Friday and share the lead heading into the weekend at the PGA Tour John Deere Classic in Illinois.
At 14 under par (128), the pair had a one-stroke advantage over England’s Harry Hall, who had five birdies in 66 (five under par) for 129.
Hayden Springer, who shot a spectacular 59 on Thursday, shot an even-par 71 and was among a half-dozen players who shared fourth place at 12-under 130.
Taiwanese Pan, who is warming up for the Paris Olympics where he will be looking to improve on his bronze medal haul from Tokyo, was delighted with a bogey-free round in the challenging conditions, highlighted by his chip-in for eagle at the 14th.
“I’m really impressed with myself,” he said. “It’s pretty tough out there when the wind gets up to 15, 20 mph.
“It’s a totally opposite wind direction as well, so I’m hitting different tee shots, different clubs and I have different numbers for approach shots,” Pan added. “I was able to hit a lot of good iron shots to give me birdie chances there.”
Pan, who earned his only PGA Tour victory to date at the 2019 RBC Heritage, has only one top-10 finish this year — a tie for third at the Mexican Open.
A solid week was exactly what he was hoping for, with the Olympics starting later this month.
“I always want to improve my conditioning, prepare my mental state for the Olympics,” he said. “This is the biggest event for my country and for me as well.
“And it would be really cool to play well in an event that only happens once every four years.”
England’s Rai made eight birdies in his 63, including a long bomb on the 15th — his sixth hole of the day.
“Definitely tougher today,” he said. “I think we had great conditions yesterday, as good as we can get. Today was a lot different. A lot of crosswinds, probably blowing 10 to 15 (mph) all day.
“I played well… I had a lot of opportunities and I also made a lot of shots.”
– Building trust –
Rai held a share of the 54-hole lead last week in Detroit. He fell short of a first PGA Tour victory but said the experience of playing Sunday was valuable.
“I think experiencing that definitely gives you confidence, it creates another layer to your game and it also creates another layer on the mental side,” he said.
With Pan and Rai at the clubhouse, Springer retook the solo lead with his third birdie of the day, chipping out of a bunker on the second hole — his 11th of the day — to reach 15 under par.
But he fell short with consecutive birdies on the third and fourth and a double bogey on the sixth to finish the day tied with Eric Cole, Davis Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Im Sung-jae and amateur Luke Clanton.
“I had a few holes on the last nine, but it was more mental errors and not being able to make those short putts than anything else,” Springer said.
“Overall, I really feel like I played well — I knew there would be a little bit of a contrast. It’s pretty tough to go that low multiple times in a row.”
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