Tom McKibbin is flying the flag for Legion XIII as the 23-year-old finds himself near the top of the leaderboard thanks to a birdie-blitz second round at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey.
It was a hot start for the Holywood man who started on the third and birdied three of his first six holes. McKibbin’s only mishap came at the par-4 11th where a poor chip and then a missed short putt resulted in a double.
He quickly put that behind him as the Belfast native made four more birdies closing out his second round to post a five-under-par 66 to sit T4 at six-under, seven strokes back from high flying Jaoquin Niemann who leads.
McKibbin seems to be the only member of the Legion XIII who is pulling their weight as his closest teammate is Jon Rahm who sits at one-over. Tyrrell Hatton’s struggles have hindered his team as he sits +7 after two rounds. Legion XIII have fallen to sixth in the teamed leaderboard at five-over.
Graeme McDowell remains at the bottom of the leaderboard but has seriously improved on his first round score. G-Mac posted a three-over-par second round to sit at +12.
Red hot Joaquin Niemann holds a heavy lead into the third round as the Chilean sits five strokes clear at 13-under. The 27-year-old posted a six-under-par second round and is yet to make a bogey. The Torque GC captain is seeking his second win in his last four league starts.
“Obviously I’ve been in this situation before, but like I say, I feel like every situation is different to the other ones,” Niemann said.
“There’s just experience that you can learn from. I’m just excited to go out there for the weekend and see what I can learn. I feel like there’s so much golf to play. There are so many shots to hit. I’m just excited to have the opportunity to go and see my shots, try to deliver the best I can, and go from there,” he added.
Niemann’s closest pursuer is 53-year-old Majesticks GC captain Lee Westwood who posted a six-under-par second round to get to eight-under. Westwood knows that he’ll need a stumble from Neimann if he is to have a chance this weekend.
“Joaco (Niemann) is obviously a world-class player. For me, he’s top 20 in the world,” Westwood said. “When he’s on his game, he can run away with a tournament. But everybody is human, and everybody makes mistakes, and everybody feels pressure. So, we’ll just see what happens,” said Westwood.
Sergio Garcia sits one back from Westwood at seven-under. The Spanish great also posted a six-under-par second round.
Ian Poulter dropped to T10 after a five-under-par first round saw him amongst the top three. The 50-year-old couldn’t back that up on Friday as he posted a one-over-par 72.
Jon Rahm is 36-holes away from clinching his third consecutive individual season-long title. The only player who can catch Rahm is Bryson DeChambeau but that looks very unlikely as DeChambeau sits way back at +8.
Niemann’s Torque GC lead the teamed event but five strokes at nine-under, followed by HyFlyers GC at four-under, and Cam Smith’s Ripper GC in third at two-under.
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