Dylan Frittelli had a superb back nine on Friday to come through the field in the incomplete second round of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship and move into a share of 11th place as the so-called ‘fifth major’ moves into the weekend.
Frittelli made five birdies on the homeward nine – including one on the notorious 17th at TPC Sawgrass at Pontevedra, Florida – after he turned in level-par 36 with two birdies and two bogeys. His second round of four-under 68 put him at five-under for the tournament, six behind the leader Lee Westwood, who carded 66 to lead by one from fellow-Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick.
After the turn, Frittelli turned on the magic with birdies on 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17. That took him to five-under for the round, but he made bogey on the closing hole after his tee shot leaked into the right rough. He was unable to reach the green with his second, and then didn’t get up and down to save his par.
Ahead of him, Westwood, fresh from his duel with Bryson DeChambeau the week before, recorded a bogey-free six-under-par 66. It was the second-best round in the field, with American Chris Kirk recording a seven-under 65 to race up the leaderboard into a share of third with first-round leader Sergio Garcia.
Louis Oosthuizen carded a three-under 69 to move to two-under at the halfway mark, putting him in a share of 22nd. Also on two-under after his second-round 72 was Christiaan Bezuidenhout who had two birdies and two bogeys on his card.
Projected to miss the cut were Branden Grace, who went one-over in his second round and was three-over for the tournament, and Charl Schwartzel, whose three-over took him to eight-over for 36 holes.
They were in good company: Rory McIlroy will miss the weekend’s action after reaching 10-over for the tournament with his second-round of three-over 75.