Walker among leaders as play halted at Byron Nelson
Irving, TX - Jimmy Walker shot a 3-under 66 in Friday's second round and he shared the lead with Jon Curran (63) and first-round leader Steven Bowditch (68) when play was suspended due to darkness at the Byron Nelson Championship.
The start of the second round was delayed three hours due to 4.5 inches of rain overnight. TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas was shortened to a par-69 as flooding in the fairway of the par-4 14th forced officials to turn it into a 104-yard par-3. Second-round play will continue at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday.
The trio of leaders finished 36 holes tied at 9-under-par 130. Walker is seeking his third victory of the season and sixth overall. Bowditch has one PGA Tour win at the Texas Open last season, while Curran is seeking his first win.
Cameron Percy (64) and Ryan Palmer (66) are both one shot back and tied for fourth at 8-under 131.
Jonathan Randolph (63), Jerry Kelly (64), Hunter Mahan (64), Nick Watney (65) and Tony Finau are one shot further back and tied for sixth at minus-7. Finau is through 16 holes of his second round.
Masters champion and world No. 2 Jordan Spieth shot a 64, putting him in a tie for 11th at 6-under with six others.
Playing the back nine first, Spieth used birdies on 14 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 15 to make the turn at minus-1.
A huge back nine put Spieth right in the mix as he made five birdies, including three in a row to end his round, on the closing nine. He also tripped to a bogey on six.
"At least I got it to where I have a chance to make some noise," Spieth said. "Going to need a round like today the next two days, I think, in order to be able to win, but got myself into contention. We'll see what happens."
Walker started off by making eight pars and a birdie on No. 7 on his front nine. A birdie on 11 had Walker up to minus-2, but he gave that shot back with a bogey on 12.
Back-to-back gains on 13 and the short 14th had Walker back on track before he traded a bogey on 15 for a birdie on 16. Up to minus-9 for the day, Walker finished up with a pair of pars.
"I was actually surprised. It was a lot drier than I thought it was going to be," Walker said. "I thought it was going to be really bad. It held up good ... Nice to get in for sure but no, it's always great to be right there at the top, have a chance on the weekend. That's why we're here."
Curran shared the best round of the day with five others as he opened up on the back nine with five birdies over his first seven holes from No. 10.
As he made the turn, Curran made bogey on No. 1 and later sandwiched a bogey on six in between birdies on five and seven. A gain on nine pushed Curran into the outright lead at the time before Walker and Bowditch caught him.
Bowditch was very up and down on his opening nine, which began on No. 10. The Australian did not make a par until No. 18 as he made four birdies and four bogeys over his first eight holes.
Still at even-par for the day, Bowditch dropped to 2-over with bogeys on three and four. A strong finish helped keep him atop the leaderboard, however, as Bowditch drained a trio of birdies from five before closing with two pars.
NOTES: Walker won the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Texas Open earlier this season ... Tom Hoge is the furthest from finishing as he is through 12 holes. The last full groups are through 13 ... The current projected cut sits at 1- under, which would get 83 players to the weekend if scores held ... Defending champion Brendon Todd shot a 1-under 68, but he is tied for 99th at 1-over 140 and will miss the cut ... Angel Cabrera, Scott Piercy and Retief Goosen all withdrew on Friday.