Will Gordon hits a putt Friday on the 13th green at El Cardonal in Diamante.
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Will Gordon would leave.
Then he jumped again.
Then he jumped again.
Then he jumped again. He found the free way.
When his 15th hole in the El Cardonal in Diamante ended on friday, Gordon had suffered three penalty strokes after making three-straight bogeys, and he carded an 11th on the 462-yard par-4. Three holes later, he signed for a six-over 78 after the PGA Tour’s second round. World Championship of Technologyputting him in a tie for 102nd, a drop of 90 spots from where he sat (tied for 12th) after shooting a 69 during the first round.
It was not immediately clear where Gordon’s shots ended up – online tournament leaderboard just marked “from the tee box” and “penalty”. On his fourth shot, and seventh overall, he found the fairway, then hit eight and nine from the fairway, the 10th on the green and the 11th holed out. It was all part of a difficult day of scoring for the 28-year-old pro – he bookended his 11th with a pair of birdies and had five total, but he also had two bogeys and a double bogey.
Notably, Gordon was one of 23 players whose second-round score was higher than their first-round score as conditions improved, mainly the wind. (In total, Thursday’s scoring average was 72.396 and Friday’s scoring average was 69.623.) The cut was set for players who were two under or better, and Gordon finished at three-over.
After playing in the second round, the players interviewed noticed that the conditions change.
said Austin Eckroat: “Yeah, you kind of get used to having the wind as a table, but then coming out here today and having nothing when we started is definitely more comfortable.”
said Maverick McNealy: “Yes, it was a completely different golf course. We joked that yesterday I hit a 3-wood off the tee on 18, it was between a 6- and 7-iron, and today it was a driver, 3-wood on the front edge. So a completely different course. You are seeing different bunkers and different landing areas. Even the greens play completely differently. Like 15 with the wind off right yesterday was a small target and today it felt like you could hit a bowl 30 feet wide and it would end up in the same spot.”
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Said Carson Young: “Yeah, the weather definitely helps. Less wind from a slightly different direction made the course a bit easier. He was able to hit some par-5s or get closer to them.”
said Max Greyserman: “Yes, much less wind. Sometimes it’s pretty minimal. It was good there, a lot of birdies to be had and if you play well and execute, you can go very low. I saw someone shoot 61, so that’s not surprising. You have to do a lot of birding here. It’s a pretty easy course if you put it into practice. I’m sure at the same time, hit a bad drive and be out or miss a shot, but it’s out there.”
