Bae Sang-moon struggles in 2nd round, Spieth shoots 62 at RBC

April 17, 2015
Bae Sang-moon, of South Korea, waves after making a birdie on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament in Hilton Head Island, S.C., Friday, April 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Bae Sang-moon, of South Korea, waves after making a birdie on the ninth hole during the second round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament in Hilton Head Island, S.C., Friday, April 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

By Brian Han

Bae Sang-moon’s name slid down the leaderboard Friday negating his solid first round showing at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C. taking him from tied-for-2nd to tied-for-36th.

The South Korean golfer said Thursday that the course was playing difficult and it showed as he bogeyed the 11th, 15th and the 17th in a birdie-less back nine.

It wasn’t all so bad for the 28-year-old golfer. He managed to nab a few birdies on the front to card a 2-over 73 bringing his total to 2-under for the tournament.

2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth showed resolve by coming back and shooting a bogey-free 9-under 62 after struggling on the first day. He admitted Thursday he was dealing with exhaustion but that he would come back strong for the second round.

Just a day before, Spieth shot over par for the first time in 16 rounds on the PGA Tour. Almost tying the course record of 61 seemed like an easy task for him.

“I went back to posture, ball position, hand position and tempo,” he said. “And I struck that ball quite a bit better.”

Arizona native Troy Merritt ended up tying the course record to top the leaderboard at the halfway point.

The 29-year-old shot an astounding 7-under 28 on the back nine and finished with a 10-under 61.

Merritt earned his card in 2009 and has yet to win a tournament on the PGA Tour.