Five birdies lift Roh seven spots; trails leaders by 5 strokes

Roh Seung-yul in action [AFP]
Roh Seung-yul in action [AFP]

Roh Seung-yul climbed to tied for 23rd after the second round of the PGA Tour's Butterfield Bermuda Championship, which carries a $6 million purse.

Playing Saturday (Korean Standard Time) at Port Royal Golf Course (par 71) in Southampton, Bermuda, Roh carded five birdies and one bogey for a 4-under-par 67. The round lifted him to a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, moving him seven spots up from his tied-30th position on Friday and safely through the cut. He sits five strokes behind the co-leaders.

Starting on the 10th hole, Roh dropped a shot with a bogey on the front nine but bounced back on the back nine. He made back-to-back birdies on the par-5 2nd and par-3 3rd holes, then strung together three consecutive birdies on holes 5 through 7 to climb the leaderboard.

Kensei Hirata of Japan and Chandler Blanchet of the United States share the lead at 13-under 129. Hirata fired a 7-under 64 on the day, while Blanchet posted a 4-under 67.

Seamus Power of Ireland, Corey Conners of Canada and Erik Cole of the United States are tied for third at 12-under 130. The cut fell at 5-under par.

Roh entered the week ranked 189th in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to climb the rankings to secure his PGA Tour card for next year. He has spent most of this year on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour, making 11 cuts in 20 events and finishing runner-up at the Argentina Open.

According to official PGA Tour projections, Roh's projected FedEx Cup ranking stood at 179th after the second round, a gain of 10 spots from before the tournament. His final standing will depend on how the remaining rounds unfold.


yjc@heraldcorp.com