Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo says the secret to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Japan is the weather.
“If it’s good weather,” he said, “I enjoy playing out here.”
Well, the sun was shining again in the Land of the Rising Sun but Mother Nature drew up tricky conditions on Friday that were no treat. Grillo and many of the players in the 78-man field were left blowing in the wind.
“The last nine, 10 holes, I just had to grind really hard,” said Grillo, who was pleased to shoot 1-over 71.
Blustery conditions made it the type of the day that separates the men from the boys during the second round of the Zozo Championship in Arazai, 25 minutes northeast of Tokyo in the Chiba Prefecture.
“That was one of the windiest rounds of golf I’ve had all year, for sure. That was tough,” said Cam Davis. “I hit my shortest drive of the year probably by 40 yards on the last hole. I can remember the last time I hit driver, driver on a par-4 and still came up short of the green.”
Former Tour pro Graham DeLaet, who is serving as Golf Channel’s lead analyst this week, said, “You know it’s windy when your chips are being affected by it. Those are the days if you’re playing your home golf course you just take the day off.”
Only 13 players in the field managed to break par and Ben Taylor signed for 84 lifting the Round 2 scoring average to 72.45, or almost three strokes higher than Round 1. But the wind didn’t seem to bother American Beau Hossler, who shot the low round of the day, a 65, to improve to 7-under 133 and grab a one-stroke lead at the midway point.
“Playing in whatever, easily 20- to 30-mile an hour winds today was certainly a challenge,” Hossler said. “I’d say anything under par was a really quality score, so to shoot 5 under par was incredible.”
“It just kind of kept on gusting,” added Justin Suh, who was a stroke behind Hossler after 36 holes. “You’d get one every five minutes that would come like 40 miles an hour and it was pretty insane.”
With a forecast for high winds, the PGA Tour staff didn’t cut the greens between rounds in hopes of slowing the speed and for good reason.
“It was very necessary,” Suh said.
Three converted par 5s into par 4s – Nos. 4, 9 and 12 – played into a southwest wind direction meaning all of them played dead into the wind, making par a good score. “I tried to take the attitude that a four was like a birdie on those holes,” Hossler said.
But the conditions got the better of Hideki Matsuyama, who made consecutive double bogeys and ballooned to 76, and first-round leader Collin Morikawa who shot 3-over 73.
“It was definitely a grind,” Suh said.
Here are four more things to know about the second round of the Zozo Championship.
The Beau Show — Japan edition
Beau Hossler shot the low round of the day, a 65, that had players showering him with praise.
“I wouldn’t have said 5 under was out there, but obviously these guys are pretty damn good,” Cam Davis said. “I mean, you always expect someone to have a day where things go their way and obviously Beau has just played super great golf. Hats off to him.”
Hossler, a 28-year-old Southern California native who is still seeking his first PGA Tour title, entered the week at 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and held the 18-hole lead at the Shriners Children’s Open last week in Las Vegas before finishing T-7. His 65 marks his 17th consecutive round of par or better on Tour dating back to the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Asked about the carryover from last week and how long his hot streak might last, he said, “Hopefully, every tournament the rest of my life, but I have no idea. All I know is I feel good right now.”
Hossler made a big par putt at No. 2, his 11th of the day, and rolled in another birdie at the par-3 third, one of three birdies on the par-3s on the day. That also was the first of four birdies in a five-hole stretch for Hossler, who holds the 36-hole lead or co-lead for the fifth time in his career. He drove into a divot at No. 9, his final hole of the day, and made bogey, but it did little to take the shine off an all-around great day.
“Did I think I could score low? Yes,” Hossler said. “There’s a lot of difficult holes, but there’s plenty of holes with scoring opportunities assuming that you don’t have winds like this.”
66 for Suh
Justin Suh also survived the wind better than most.
“I thought I was able to hit those low shots really well with my irons. Drove it pretty good, kept it in play. Didn’t have any big misses, made some putts, so that kind of sums up my round,” he said.
The 26-year-old Northern California native posted 4-under 66 and trails Hossler by one stroke. He, too, is seeking his first PGA Tour title.
Suh credited a 12-foot-par putt at the fourth for keeping his round going and it gave him momentum as he reeled off three straight birdies beginning at the sixth.
“If you can just kind of keep it in play, not hit into the trees, I think the course is pretty receptive,” he said. “But today, even if you’re in the middle of the fairway, it’s still tough.”
Defending champ lurking
The defending champion is hanging tough.
Keegan Bradley, 37, who is making his first start since the Tour Championship in late August, carded four birdies and four bogeys to shoot even-par 70. Bradley is the only player in the field that has finished in the top 10 the last two years at the Zozo Championship (T-7/2021, Win/2022).
“This golf course reminds me a lot of the courses that I grew up on, tree-lined, have to hit the fairways, bentgrass greens. It’s just a great golf course, small little greens. I love playing this course,” he said. “You have to have a lot of imagination and work the ball into a lot of these flags, so it’s a great course.”
And it would be great to defend his title this week.
“I feel like when I come here to this course I have a good chance every time I tee it up,” Bradley said. “I would love to come back out here and win this tournament again, it would mean a lot to me.”
A par save and a bow 🙇♂️ pic.twitter.com/8m1jahmiWD
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 20, 2023
Kodaira leads Japanese contingent
Satoshi Kodaira shot 2-under 68 and is alone in third (-5) at the midway point of the Zozo Championship to give the best hope for a Japanese champion this week.
Kodaira, 34, has missed four of his last five cuts on the PGA Tour and entered the week ranked No. 185 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. But so far, so good. Kodaira has posted 67-68.
“I want to take this opportunity and do the best I can,” Kodaira said. “I want to gain as many points as I can and hopefully that will help me for the next season.”
Yuki Inamori fired a 67 to improve to 4-under and Ryo Ishikawa, who has spent some time on the PGA Tour in the past, signed for 3-under 137 after a 69 and is T-8 along with Mikumu Horikawa (72). That means among the 14 Japanese players in the field, four are inside the top-10 through two rounds. Hideki Matsuyama, who won this event in 2021, shot 76 and plummeted to T-61 (+5).
“I just want to stick to my game, not be too greedy and try and make all of the opportunities that I have left for the next two days,” Inamori said.
