Defending Champ Thomas Fires 6-Under Surge... Shofley Leads by 3 Strokes

CJ Cup Day 2 Tied 8th, Hatton 2nd, McIlroy and Koepka Tied 26th, Kim Han-byeol and Kim Si-woo Tied 33rd

Justin Thomas is teeing off on the 6th hole on the second day of The CJ Cup. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Photo by Getty Images/Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the resilience of defending champion Justin Thomas (USA).

On the 17th (Korean time), at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (par 72, 7,634 yards), during the second day of the PGA Tour The CJ Cup (total prize money $9.75 million), he surged with a 6-under-par round to climb to a tie for 8th place (6-under-par 138 strokes). Xander Schauffele (USA) leads with 14-under-par 130 strokes, Tyrrell Hatton (England) is 2nd with 11-under-par 133 strokes, Russell Henley is 3rd with 10-under-par 134 strokes, and Taylor Gooch (all USA) is 4th with 9-under-par 135 strokes.

Starting from a tie for 32nd place, 7 strokes behind, Thomas made six birdies. In the front nine, he only reduced one stroke at the 16th hole (par 5), but in the back nine, he finished the round pleasantly with a birdie at the 1st hole (par 4), consecutive birdies at the 3rd and 4th holes, and again consecutive birdies at the 8th and 9th holes. His powerful long drives averaging 318 yards and his 'piercing iron shots' with a green hit rate of 88.89% stood out. He is 8 strokes behind the leader, and with two days remaining, a comeback is still possible.

Thomas is the only player to have won this tournament twice, including being the inaugural champion in 2017. Schauffele posted the daily best of 8-under-par to quickly take the top spot on the leaderboard. He is ranked 8th in the world with a total of 4 PGA Tour wins. World No. 2 Jon Rahm (Spain) is tied for 15th place (4-under-par 140 strokes), and 2018 champion Brooks Koepka (USA) and 'Number 4' Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) are tied for 26th place (2-under-par 142 strokes).

Kim Hanbyul is teeing off at the 13th hole on the second day of the CJ Cup. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Photo by Getty Images/Multibits

From Korea, Kim Han-byeol (24, Golfzon), the 'Korean Tour money list leader,' shot 3-under-par to leap to a tie for 33rd place (1-under-par 143 strokes). Kim Si-woo (25) is tied for 33rd, Kang Sung-hoon (33) tied for 45th (even par 144 strokes), Kim Joo-hyung (18) and Ahn Byung-hoon (29) tied for 52nd (2-over-par 146 strokes), Im Sung-jae (22, both CJ Logistics) and Kim Sung-hyun (22) tied for 57th (3-over-par 147 strokes), Lee Tae-hee (36) and Ham Jung-woo (26) tied for 68th (6-over-par 150 strokes), Lee Kyung-hoon (29) 73rd (7-over-par 151 strokes), and Lee Jae-kyung (21) tied for 77th (9-over-par 153 strokes).