Sung Kang: Just missed shooting 59 on Friday

Justin Rose also played at Monterey and is nine under after a 68.

Kang and Iwata were at 11-under 132.

Kang picked up further shots at the second and third and reeled off three in a row from the sixth, but he failed to find the birdie he needed to break 60 when he missed the green at the ninth, although he did well to pitch to 10 feet and hole the putt for par. It was his best-ever score and the best ever shot at MPCC’s Shore Course, topping Charlie Wi’s 61 in the 2012 AT&T when the course was set up as a par 70.

But, playing the back nine first, it was a 29-31 – 60, from nine birdies and an eagle for a round of 11 under par, on the 6,867-yard course. Kang made numerous putts between 10 and 15 feet, including one to save par on his final hole (No. 9). Bubba Watson, playing the AT&T for the first time in nine years, shot 1-over 73 and was derailed primarily by a pair of double bogeys.

The 18-year-old Ko has a 36-hole total of 8-under 136 at Clearwater Golf Club in the 54-hole tournament co-sanctioned by the European Ladies Tour and Australian Ladies PGA.

Mickelson took a mere 11 putts on the front nine at Monterey Peninsula.

Asked if Romano knew him, Kang smiled and said, “I think he’ll remember me after today”. His ball striking was handsome, but the slower poa annua greens gave Spieth fits.

“It can be challenging for guys if they’re not used to it”, Mickelson said of poa annua.

The two disagreed Friday on some putting reads, Kang said, but otherwise worked like they’d been partners for years. Then Friday, he was brilliant. “One of my buddies came up and said, ‘You’re paired with Ray – he’s very famous, ‘ and I said, ‘Oh, really?’ I had to do some research on him, so I just Googled him”. “Nobody’s going to hate me”.

Other times he brought in the experience of his caddie, Mike “Fluff” Cowan, who is working for Kang while Jim Furyk recovers from wrist surgery.

Romano did a pre-tournament interview on San Francisco’s KNBR and said he didn’t know Sung Kang, and actually corrected the interviewer, saying his name was “Sung Yang”. “I didn’t expect to play 1 over coming in”. We’ve seen Murray throw clubs and even dance partners around the course, but MSN’s Gossip Cop reports Murray threw fans’ cell phones off a restaurant rooftop on Thursday night.

Jordan Spieth struggled with his short game – typically a strength – and opened with a 71 at Spyglass Hill. Friday, he was not at all dismayed with the 2-under at Monterey, even poking fun at himself. “I like the view and it’s ideal weather”.

“It’s pretty much there”, he said. He drove the ball beautifully, and hit his irons where he was looking. I just couldn’t get it in the hole. They’re the hardest greens to putt in my opinion because they are the softest.