Theegala shoots 67 to lie fifth in Japan

Yokohama (Japan), Oct 10 (PTI) India-origin golfer Sahith Theegala sparkled on the front nine with an eagle and three birdies in a four-hole stretch but was unable to keep the momentum going on the back nine, finishing 4-under 67 in the second round of the Baycurrent Classic.

Theegala, who had a 68 in the first round is now 7-under for two rounds and is lying Tied-fifth as he seeks to turn his form around after losing time due to a neck injury.

He was five shots behind Max Greyserman (67-63), who is trying to win the tournament where he was second last year. He is seeking his first PGA TOUR victory.

Greyserman shot an 8-under 63 on Friday and now he is 12-under 130 for two rounds. He holds a four-shot shot lead over Alex Smalley (65), Xander Schauffele (63) and Alex Noren (65).

This is the only PGA TOUR tournament in Japan.

Theegala started with three pars and then found an eagle with two great shots followed by 13-foot eagle putt. He added birdies on fifth from 21 feet and then holed a 50-footer on the sixth and another 17 footer on the seventh.

But he dropped three shots, two of them from five and six feet. He did make birdies on the 11th and the 18th and played he back nine in 1-over for a total of 4-under 67.

Schauffele shot an even-par 71 on Thursday and was slowed by gusting winds that swept the course. Four other players are five strokes behind the leader, including defending champion Echavarria.

Japan's Kazuki Higa shot a blistering 8-under 28 on his first nine -- he had eight birdies on his first nine holes -- but he couldn’t keep up the pace on his second nine and finished with a 64. He is six strokes off the lead.

Collin Morikawa, who played on the losing U.S. Ryder Cup team with Schauffele, shot a 3-under 68 Friday and is nine strokes behind. PTI Corr AT AT