LOS ANGELES (AP) - A move down the California coast hasn’t changed a thing for Fredrik Jacobson.
One week after his best finish in more than a year, Jacobson birdied the two toughest holes at Riviera on his way to a 6-under 65 on Friday and a share of the lead with Sang-Moon Bae going into the weekend at the Northern Trust Open.
The Swede did just about everything well, from his tee shots to his iron play, just what it takes to get around the classic design of Riviera. And it helps to get a little luck, such as a 55-foot birdie putt from just off the green at No. 9 that bumped along until disappearing for an unlikely birdie.
Bae played in the morning and began with four straight birdies, all of them from tap-in range until holing a 25-foot putt on the 13th. He wound up making birdies on half of his holes in his round of 65.
They were at 9-under 133, one shot clear of John Merrick (66) and John Rollins (65).
Still very much in the picture was Luke Donald, who chipped in twice for birdie and worked his short-game magic around the course for a 66. Playing for the first time in two months, Donald didn’t look as if he had much rust. He was two shots behind.
Lee Westwood birdied the last hole for a 68 to join the group at 6-under 136 that includes a pair of major champions, Charl Schwartzel (67) and Webb Simpson (66).
Phil Mickelson was lurking, despite a sloppy double bogey on the 10th hole. Mickelson still managed a 67 and was five shots back.
WOMEN’S AUSTRALIAN OPEN
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe shot a 6-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over 15-year-old amateur star Lydia Ko and South Korea’s Jiyai Shin after the second round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Women’s Australian Open.
Uribe had a 15-under 131 total at Royal Canberra. Two-time British Open-winner Shin had a 67, and Ko followed her opening 63 with a 69.
Ko won the New Zealand Women’s Open on Sunday for her third victory in a professional tournament. Last year, the South Korean-born New Zealander won the New South Wales Open to become the youngest player to win a pro tour event and the Canadian Open to become the youngest LPGA Tour winner. She also won the U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer.
Michelle Wie, playing alongside Ko and top-ranked Yani Tseng, missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 73. Tseng was 7 under after a 71.
ACE GROUP CLASSIC
NAPLES, Fla. (AP) _ Bernhard Langer holed a 9-iron shot from 141 yards for an eagle on the par-4 10th and finished with a 10-under 62 on Friday to take a three-stroke in the Champions Tour’s rainy ACE Group Classic.
Langer had three birdies on the front nine on TwinEagles’ Talon Course, then played the back nine in 7-under 29 with the eagle and five birdies _ including four in a row on Nos. 13-16.
The 55-year-old German star, a 16-time winner on the 50-and-over tour, won the event in 2011 at The Quarry.
Bob Tway was second after a 65, and Tom Pernice Jr., Jay Don Blake and John Huston shot 66.
AFRICA OPEN
EAST LONDON, South Africa (AP) _ Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva opened a three-stroke lead in the Africa Open, completing a 10-under 62 in the wind-delayed first round and shooting a 68 in the second.
The 41-year-old Da Silva had a 14-under 130 total on the East London course in the event sanctioned by the European and South Africans tours. South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl was second after a 67.
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