Austin Smotherman increased his lead to three strokes after the second round despite two early bogeys at the Cognizant Classic golf championships in the Palm Beaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smotherman shot a 2-under 69 on the Champion course after recovering with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, including a 55-footer on the demanding 17th<\/sup>\u00a0hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeking his first PGA Tour title, he has expanded his lead from one to three shots over Taylor Moore at 11-under 131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 31-year-old Californian had missed the cut in his lone previous appearance at the Cognizant Classic four years ago and in four starts this season, recorded three missed cuts and a tied-8th finish at the The American Express.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moore enters the the weekend three shots back after carding back-to-back 67s. In his third start of the season, Moore is looking a his first top-25 finish after a T49 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T56 finish at the The American Express this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canadian rookie A.J. Ewart and Nico Echavaria are a further stroke behind with 135 totals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ewart carded a 7-under 64 to vault 49 spots into third place. Ewart made five consecutive birdies on his front nine (holes 12-though-16) and had a birdie hat trick on his back nine (6, 7 and 8). His only blemish was a double bogey on the difficult 17th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Echavarria fired in two birdies against three bogeys for a second-round 72 and is seeking a third title on the Tour, having won the 2023 Puerto Rico Open and 2024 Baycurrent Classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel Dahmen carded back-to-back 68s to trail by a further stoke behind while Jimmy Stanger is hot on the heels of the front pack, after carding eagles on he par-4 sixth and par-4 14th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following a first-round 74, nine-time PGA Tour winner Brooks Koepka posted a 5-under 66, his lowest score in eight rounds this season to move up to T27 on two-under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is tied with 26th ranked Ryan Gerard, the highest-ranked player in the field, who carded a 67 round. Max Homa (T18\/-3) and Mackenzie Hughes (T27\/-2) join Gerard as the only three players bogey free on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among those missing the cut at even-par 142 were former major champions Gary Woodland, Danny Willett and Webb Simpson, former tournament champions Matt Kuchar, Camillo Villegas and Chris Kirk and rising star Luke Clanton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Defending champion Joe Highsmith birdied the 18th<\/sup> hole to make the cut on the number. Last year, he also made the cut on the number and shot a pair of 64s for his first PGA Tour win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second-Round Leaderboard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Austin Smotherman increased his lead to three strokes after the second round despite two early bogeys at the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-9948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-golf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tPos.<\/strong><\/td> Player<\/strong><\/td> R1<\/strong><\/td> R2<\/strong><\/td> Total<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 1<\/td> Austin Smotherman<\/td> 62<\/td> 69<\/td> 131 (-11)<\/td><\/tr> 2<\/td> Taylor Moore<\/td> 67<\/td> 67<\/td> 134 (-8)<\/td><\/tr> T3<\/td> A.J. Ewart<\/td> 71<\/td> 64<\/td> 135 (-7)<\/td><\/tr> T3<\/td> Nico Echavarria<\/td> 63<\/td> 72<\/td> 135 (-7)<\/td><\/tr> 5<\/td> Joel Dahmen<\/td> 68<\/td> 68<\/td> 136 (-6)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"