A week after finishing T2 at the World Wide Technology Championship, Justin Lower opened with back-to-back 6-under 65s to take a two-shot lead at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
“It felt good most of the day, pretty solid for the most part, a little unlucky at times. I had a bad break on 6 and 9. To not get the par-5s when they’re all kind of reachable other than No. 2 just being into the wind, that part kind of sucks. It would have been nice to get one of those last two putts to go in on 17, 18, but still, no, still a great round and I’m happy where I’m at.
He needed 21 putts to complete his round, his fewest in a single round on the PGA Tour. The American tied the fewest number of putts in a round at this event (Stewart Cink, Scott Stallings, Chase Seiffert).
Lower started the week at No. 74 in the FedExCup Fall standings and seeks to earn access into the first two Signature Events (outside of The Sentry) next season via the Aon Next 10.
Robby Shelton made five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 17th for a bogey-free 7-under 64, one stroke shy of his season’s lowest, for a share of second place at 10-under. He came into the week No. 157 in the FedExCup.
Ryan Moore signed for a second-round 6-under 65 for his share of second place. His lone top-10 among 11 made cuts in 24 starts this season was T5 at the Valspar Championship. He came into the week No. 152 in the FedExCup and seeks a sixth career win on Tour and first since the 2016 John Deere Classic.
Sam Ryder lies in a share of fourth place at 9-under having made 10 birdies and a single bogey at the par-4 18th to tie his career-low score of 9-under 62 (2019 Shriners Open/R4). 10 birdies ties his single-round record for most on Tour (2023 Sanderson Farms Championship/R1). He started the week No. 135 in the FedExCup and has finished each of his previous six seasons on Tour inside the top 125.
“I woke up feeling good honestly,” said Ryder. “It was an early morning but body felt good, slept well, got — had a good warmup and got out of the gates solid. Birdies right away, kick-in on my second hole, 2, and felt like I could have birdied every hole the first six or so. Just kind of stayed patient and was able to turn in 5 and kind of kept it going on the back. Gave one back on the last, but all in all it was a really solid, steady day.
“We had milder conditions today, not a lot of wind, so you kind of felt like receptive greens, let’s take advantage. I was able to give myself a lot of looks from the fairway and yeah, rolled some putts in.”
Completing the all-American top-5, Kevin Kisner shares fourth place after closing with a 66 featuring an eagle at the par-5 17th. He came into the week after four consecutive missed cuts and is vying for his fifth career win on Tour and first since the 2021 Wyndham Championship.
Round two was suspended due to darkness at 5:20 p.m. local time with 11 players yet to finish. The second round will resume at 7 a.m. Saturday.
