Lakewood Ranch, Florida, United States: Back-to-back seven-under 64s put China’s Marty Dou Zecheng atop the leaderboard at the half-way stage of the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Korean An Byeong-hun, who lost his PGA Tour card last season, stayed in contention with a tidy 66. Chasing his maiden Korn Ferry Tour win, An is among 10 players tied for third at 11-under, three shots off the pace.
Play was suspended due to darkness with one player still finishing the second round, but Dou secured a two-stroke lead over Davis Thompson.
The round of the day was carded by LECOM ambassador Callum Tarren, who broke the 18-hole tournament scoring record and course record with a 10-under 61 on Lakewood National Golf Club’s Commander Course.
Dou, a former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship participant, opened his second round with a birdie on the par-five 10th, and picked up further shots at 13 and 18. On his back nine, Dou made five birdies against one bogey.
“Solid tee shots and my iron shots are great,” Dou said of his play this week. “I made some good putts. One three-putt today, one-three putt yesterday, but it was just those mistakes that you would have leaving yourself a couple of 50-footers. But I’ve been playing really consistent.”
A two-time past champion on the Korn Ferry Tour, Dou has fully exempt status for a third consecutive season after he finished 33rd in the 2020-21 Regular Season Points Standings.
In four starts this season, Dou already has two top-fives, including a solo second at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, where he held the outright 54-hole lead but played the final three holes of regulation at two-over par and ultimately lost to Brandon Harkins on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off.
“It was a good experience,” Dou said. “Getting into a play-off is a good week. You finish solo second, it’s not like something bad came up. From the beginning, if you know you’re going to finish second alone, you’re going to be happy.”
Dou bounced back and secured a tied fifth finish the following week at The Panama Championship. The hot streak cooled off a few days later as Dou missed the cut at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, but he took advantage of the unexpected extra time off.
“I flew back right after I missed the cut on Saturday,” Dou said. “It was going to be a really tough flight after you’ve played four rounds in Bogota, and I was going to be taking the redeye on Monday. I changed it to Saturday and got in [to Lakewood Ranch] really early. I’m staying at my friend’s place this week right by number nine green. I feel really comfortable here. I know it’s the fifth week, but after those couple of days it feels like I’m back to the start.”
A comfortable Dou found his sixth round of 64 or better across 284 career Korn Ferry Tour rounds. Three of the four previous tournaments where Dou shot a 64 or better, he finished top-10, including his first win at the 2017 Digital Ally Open. The win propelled Dou to a top-25 finish in the regular season standings, enabling him and Zhang Xinjun to become the first mainland Chinese golfers to earn PGA Tour cards.
Dou’s second victory came at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay in 2019. At the end of that season, however, Dou found himself outside the top-25 after 15 missed cuts in his other 23 starts.
Hoping to find a third win this weekend, Dou feels confidence in his game. “This year has been a little different for me. I come out here and feel like I’m really confident in my game,” Dou said. “In past years, I’d have one good finish then stay off for a couple of weeks and then another good finish. It was like bumping back and forth. This year, I just feel like my game is ready to go. Every week has been the same for me and good golf is coming out. I just want to keep it that way.
“Heading into the weekend, I’ll be more relaxed and comfortable ... nothing much on the mind, just play like usual and hopefully they’ll be some good scores coming out.”
A member of the 2019 International Team at the Presidents Cup, An was delighted with his round. He said: “The ball was a bit wet and it was hard to judge the distances but overall, I’m pretty happy. I still have to compete against 140 players out there, and have to beat those guys and win out here. The level of competition is pretty high. I played decent in Bahamas and Panama and still missed the cut, so I need to play decent to finish top-10 or top-five.”