Australian golfer Marc Leishman has stormed up the leaderboard to be in a tie for fifth with a second-round 64 at the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii, but Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth have missed the cut.
After shooting 67 on Thursday, Leishman fired a six-under-par 64 (131) on Saturday to be alongside American Ted Potter, five strokes behind Matt Kuchar, who dazzled with back-to-back 63s for a 14-under-par two-round total of 126.
Fellow Australian Cameron Smith returned a two-under 68 to sit six under (134) in an eight-way tie for 12th.
Kuchar ran off four birdies in five holes for another seven-under 63 to give him a one-shot lead over fellow American Andrew Putnam.
"To shoot seven under back-to-back is unexpected, but awfully excited," Kuchar said.
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Kuchar matched the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA Tour career. He also had a 126 in Las Vegas a decade ago and wound up as runner-up.
Chez Reavie, after consecutive 65s, and Stewart Cink (62, with nine birdies) are joint third at 10-under 130, four shots adrift.
Former world No.1 Adam Scott at seven over (72 and 75) and countryman Cameron Davis (+5) have missed the cut.
Matt Jones survives at four under, tied 35th, after rounds of 67 and 69.
The strangest round belonged to Reavie, who made more eagles than birdies in his round of 65. He holed out from the fairway three times for eagle, all on par 4s to create golfing history.
"Apparently, I need to go buy a lottery ticket today," Reavie said.
The PGA Tour only began keeping hole-by-hole records in 1983, and no one had made three eagles in one round on par-4s since.
Adam Svensson, the Canadian rookie who opened with a 61, followed with a 74 to fall nine shots behind.
Spieth had a 66 and missed the cut by just one shot. He carded one under overall after rounds of 73 and a much-improved 66 in his first event of 2019.
It was a short week for Spieth after a long break. Needing to birdie the last four holes to qualify for the weekend, Spieth ran off two birdies, missed a 10-foot birdie putt and then narrowly missed chipping in for eagle.
"I loved the fight," Spieth said. "I feel like I was trying to win the tournament trying to make the cut, which is not something I want to get used to."
He returns in two weeks at Torrey Pines.
AAP
