SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Spencer Levin took one last drag on his cigarette, stamped it out in the rough and climbed into the bunker behind the 17th green. He set up quickly, took a quick glance at the hole and splashed out.
The ball landed about 10 feet from the hole, bounced twice and rolled into the cup for an eagle-2 that pushed him to 14-under par Friday in the second round of the Phoenix Open. A few minutes — and another cigarette — later, he parred the 18th for an 8-under 63 and a three-stroke lead.
“Hopefully, I can just keep trying to believe in myself and just keep trying to make my swing, and we’ll see what happens,” Levin said. “I’m going to give it my best shot. It should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”
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Kyle Stanley (Clemson) was 7-under after a 66 as he tries to rebound from a devastating loss last week. And Bill Haas (Greenville) has been quietly playing some good golf, with a 69-68—137, tied for 12th.
Harrison Frazar was 6-under for the round and 11-under overall with three holes left at TPC Scottsdale when play was suspended because of darkness.
“There toward the end it was getting kind of tough to control the ball and to see it,” said Frazar, the St. Jude Classic winner last year. “The temperature dropped, so the ball flies a little differently.”
Webb Simpson, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 6, was third at 8-under along with tour rookie John Huh. Simpson shot a 69 in the last group to finish play on No. 18, and Huh had a 66.
“That was probably the darkest I’ve ever played,” Simpson said. “I couldn’t really see anything.”
The 27-year-old Levin, remembered for a hole-in-one and 13th-place tie in the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock while still in school at New Mexico, is winless on the PGA Tour.
High winds delay Qatar Masters
At Doha, Qatar, European Tour officials reduced the Qatar Masters to 54 holes when they called off play after strong winds moved golf balls and blowing sand reduced visibility on several holes.
First-round leader Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano dropped two shots on his first five holes to fall to 4-under through seven.
John Daly, who had yet to start his second round, was the clubhouse leader after his 5-under 67 on Thursday. A stroke behind were Fernandez-Castano, Jason Day (par through 6 holes) and K.J. Choi, who had yet to start.
Ryu fires 61
At Gold Coast, Australia, U.S. Open champion So Yeon Ryu shot an 11-under 61 to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the Australian Ladies Masters.
Ryu, who had 12 birdies and a bogey at Royal Pines, had a two-round total of 17-under 127 after an opening 66.
The South Korean’s score would have tied the course record held by seven-time Masters champion Karrie Webb, but it will not go in the books due to the lift, clean and place rule in effect on the fairways because of the wet course due to recent rain.
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