AFP, Los Angeles :
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann and England’s Tom Lewis fired three-under par 69s on Friday to share the halfway lead in the US PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan. At 10-under 134, Niemann and Lewis topped a crowded leaderboard, with Americans Troy Merritt, Chris Kirk and Max Homa a shot back on 135.
Another eight players were two strokes off the lead, a group that included overnight leader Davis Thompson, who followed his first-round 63 with a one-over par 73.
Niemann was among the handful of players who returned to complete the first round on Friday morning.
He launched his second round with seven pars before a two-foot birdie at the eighth. He birdied the par-five 14th and drained a seven-footer at 17 for his third birdie of the day. “Right now everything is pretty good,” said Niemann, who became the first Chilean to win on the PGA Tour with a win at the Greenbrier two years ago.
Lewis, a two-time winner on the European Tour, is seeking a first US PGA Tour title, but acknowledged he had plenty of work to do to make that happen on Sunday.
