World No. 1 Jordan Spieth delivered a putting masterclass on the way to a flawless nine-under-par 64 that took him four shots clear at the halfway stage of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions Friday. Spieth, who would match Tiger Woods with a seventh PGA win before the age of 23 should he finish top of the leaderboard Sunday, putted brilliantly on greens he said were the slowest he had ever encountered on the PGA Tour. Boosted by a 35-foot chip-in eagle at the par-five ninth, the Texan added seven birdies to post a 16-under 130 halfway total, with first round leader Patrick Reed (69), Kevin Kisner (65) and Fabian Gomez (66) tied for second on 12-under. Spieth is also on track to beat the tournament record of 31-under set by Ernie Els in 2003, though he said the South African's mark was probably safe. "I guess it's possible but that's asking a lot," Spieth told reporters at the Kapalua Plantation course on Maui. "(Another) 16-under will be difficult to duplicate. Should he lift the trophy Sunday it would be 22-year-old's seventh victory on the PGA Tour, matching the number achieved by Woods before turning 23. Only Horton Smith, who won 14 times from 1928-30, piled up more victories by that age. Posting his second straight bogey-free round, Spieth plundered the par-fives, playing them in a total of five-under, and on the few occasions he was in danger of dropping a shot his flawless cross-handed putting came to the rescue. He sank testing par-savers on the 16th and 17th holes and then finished his round in style, coaxing in a 13-foot birdie at the par-five 18th where his ball teetered on the edge of the cup before dropping in. Spieth's putting impressed former Tour player Notah Begay, who told the Goldf Channel: "He's putting as well as anybody ever has in the history of the game." Brooks leads SA Open England's Daniel Brooks grabbed a one-shot lead at the BMW SA Open in Johannesburg Saturday as the field completed a second round held over from Friday due to bad weather. In all, 78 players had to return to the course to finish their first 36 holes. Brooks' only previous European Tour title came at the 2014 Madeira Islands Open in a tournament which was reduced to just 36 holes because of the weather. And he again showed he likes the going to be tough as he claimed six birdies in 11 holes upon the resumption to fire a 67 and move to nine under 135, one shot clear of South African Keith Horne who completed a 69 Friday. Branden Grace was a further shot back after a bogey-bogey finish in his resumed round alongside Jbe Kruger who completed a 70 on Friday as South African golfers dominated the leaderboard. Grace had been impressive form Friday and held a share of the lead when he resumed on the 12th at five under for his round. He birdied the 14th to move ahead on his own, but bogeys on the 17th and 18th saw him drop back. Former US Open champion Retief Goosen was in the group on 140, but defending champion Andy Sullivan missed the cut with rounds of 75 and 72. Also packing his bags was tournament host Ernie Els who fired rounds of 73-74. — Agencies
