A couple of weeks ago, Nico Echavarría (-12) and Max Greyserman (-12) starred, alongside Justin Thomas, in an exciting final battle for victory in Japan, at the ZOZO Championship. This Friday, more than 10,000 kilometres away, both have shone again, leading the leaderboard at the World Wide Technology Championship being held at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos.
The Colombian signed his second career victory at the Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, his first in a high-level tournament, after previously winning the Puerto Rico Open. This time, he seeks a triple after carding a sensational round of 63 strokes, nine under par, on a day when the wind that usually lashes the spectacular Mexican course designed by Tiger Woods blew with less force.
Birdie, birdie, eagle 🦅@nicolas_ech is off to the races @WWTChampionship. pic.twitter.com/rcbA7Uje4p
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 8, 2024
“It was a very good round,” said Echavarría. “Obviously, everyone knew the scores would be lower with less wind.” Nico played a stretch of five holes on the first half of his round in six under, with an eagle and four birdies. He added three more birdies on the back nine. “I birdied the 4th and 5th and then eagled the 6th. But the par on the 3rd I think was more important. I left it close, made some long putts, a shot from the bunker… When luck is on your side, you have to ride the momentum,” he concluded.
Greyserman, who started one stroke ahead of the Colombian, shot 64 strokes, closing his round with an eagle on the 18th. “There was much less wind than yesterday, sometimes minimal. You could play well and make a lot of birdies,” he noted. The American tied for second place in Japan behind Nico and will try this weekend to get rid of the thorn in search of his first victory on the PGA Tour. “Here we go again,” he concluded.
An eagle to grab a share of the lead! 🦅@maxgreyserman finishes his Friday with a 2 @WWTChampionship. pic.twitter.com/3TRfN0r8RC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 9, 2024
To do so, he will have to overcome Echavarría and prevent players like Carson Young (-11), who achieved the best result of his career this Friday with 61 strokes, with 12 birdies and a bogey, or Dylan Wu (-10), among others, from getting into the fight. Whitney (-8), Streelman (-7), and Hoey (-7), who shared the lead after the first 18 holes, saw their birdie production slow down, although they are still within a recoverable distance. The defending champion, Van Rooyen (-5), has yet to get going, and young Mexican amateur Omar Morales (+1) could not achieve his goal of making the cut for the first time on the tour. He fell three strokes short.
