4 takeaways from Day 2 of the CIMB Classic

While most golf fans in North America were sleeping, Pat Perez took control at the CIMB Classic with a second-round 65. Perez leads Xander Schauffele by one stroke, while Sung Kang, Cameron Smith, and Thomas Pieters are four shots off the pace at 9-under par.

Here are four takeaways from Day 2 in Malaysia:

When you're hot, you're hot

Xander Schauffele is handling himself quite well in his first trip to Malaysia, posting a second-round 67 to go along with his bogey-free 65 on Thursday. The PGA Tour Rookie of the Year is just one shot behind Perez heading into the weekend, and has now fired eight straight rounds in the 60s, dating back to his third round at the BMW Championship. Schauffele, who won his last start at the Tour Championship, has registered just one bogey in 36 holes, while hitting 82 percent of the fairways and 89 percent of the greens in regulation.

"Everything's kind of coming easy," Schauffele told pagtour.com. "Today was one of those weird days where (I had) all the breaks. I had some squirrelly tee shots and a couple of weird drops. But they all kind of went my way."

3-peat looking bleak

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Justin Thomas arrived this week eyeing a third consecutive win at the CIMB Classic, but it's been a battle through 36 holes. Thomas played poorly in the second round, recording five birdies, two bogeys, and a double-bogey en route to a 71. The defending champion found 57 percent off the fairways off the tee, and hit only eleven greens in the round. Thomas is 10 shots back of Perez on a golf course yielding a lot of low scores, making it difficult to jump the 32 players ahead of him on the leaderboard.

Same guys, different results

Paul Casey and Graham DeLaet were awful Thursday at TPC Kuala Lumpur, each firing 5-over-par 77s. Both, however, rebounded on Day 2, with Casey posting the day's lowest round with a 9-under 63, while DeLaet shot a 5-under 67. Meanwhile, Hudson Swafford was 10 shots higher Friday, going 68-78.

A tough 3-hole stretch

The three most difficult holes this week are grouped together on the back nine at TPC Kuala Lumpur, with Nos. 11 to 13 producing some high numbers on the scorecards.