By Micheal Odewale
On another low-scoring day in Nicholasville, Kentucky, on Friday, Pierceson Coody recorded a five-under-par 67 to maintain a two-shot lead in the US PGA Tour ISCO Championship tournament.
Coody, who held a three-shot lead following a fantastic 61 on Thursday, posted five under 67 at Keene Trace Golf Club, with six birdies and a bogey.
His 16-under total of 128 took him two strokes ahead of Belgian Matthis Besard, American veteran Chez Reavie, and Filipino Rico Hoey.
Before Coody ever took a shot, a plethora of early starters were in the clubhouse on 13-under.
Having teed off on 10, he took back the lead when he made his third birdie of the day, rolling in a 21-footer from the fringe. At the 17th, he made his third birdie of the day, rolling in a 21-footer from the fringe to reclaim the single lead. He had teed off on 10.
However, he missed the ball on the subsequent putt due to an incorrect tee shot.
Coody, a three-time winner on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour looking for his first PGA Tour triumph, recovered a share of the lead with a birdie at the fifth and then pulled away with an eight-foot birdie at the seventh and a five-foot birdie at the eight.
“It wasn’t quite 61, but 67 is still a really nice score,” said Coody, who noted that keeping the damage to 18 was critical.
At the 17th, he made his third birdie of the day, rolling in a 21-footer from the fringe to reclaim the single lead. He had teed off on 10.
However, he missed the ball on the subsequent putt due to an incorrect tee shot.
Coody, a three-time winner on the developmental Korn Ferry Tour looking for his first PGA Tour triumph, recovered a share of the lead with a birdie at the fifth and then pulled away with an eight-foot birdie at the seventh and a five-foot birdie at the eight.
“It wasn’t quite 61, but 67 is still a really nice score,” said Coody, who noted that keeping the damage to 18 was critical.
It’s huge knowing that the scores are low, knowing that I needed to go get three, four, five birdies on the back nine to kind of get myself in the position I want to be – out in front in the golf tournament,” he stated.
Besard, who qualified for the DP World Tour this season after playing collegiate golf in America, shot nine-under-63 with nine birdies.
He started the round with back-to-back birdies, referring to his improbable 32-foot birdie at the second as the round’s high point.
Reavie, who teed off on 10 and blasted in an 18-foot birdie on the 13th to start a run of six birdies in seven holes, joined Besard on 14-under. Starting on the 15th, that comprised five consecutive. Additionally, he made a five-foot eagle putt at the eighteenth hole following birdies at the sixth and seventh.
Hoey, who had a bogey-free 66, joined them on 130.
Reavie, a 42-year-old in his 17th season on tour, won the last of his three tournaments in 2022. However, he claimed that he is having fun playing with the powerful newcomers to the tour.
He declared, “I adore it.” “I really enjoy playing with young men. It seems to keep me somewhat youthful.”
On the PGA Tour, which has maintained records since 1970, the halfway cutline of eight-under set a record in relation to par in an individual stroke-play competition.
At the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open, seven under was the previous low cutline.