Los Angeles (AFP)

American Brendon Todd took the helm of the WGC St. Jude Invitational tournament, counting for the PGA Tour, after a difficult second round for Brooks Koepka, who was brilliant the day before, and catastrophic for world number 1 Jon Rahm, in Memphis.

Ambushed in 2nd place after Koepka's demonstration on Thursday, Todd showed solidity on Friday, unlike his compatriot. A card of 65, or five under par resulting from five birdies, allowed him to take the lead (-11).

"I had to do it several times at the start of the course ... So far I can putt well," he said.

The 35-year-old golfer, looking for a third success this season after the Mayakoba Classic and the Bermuda Championship, is followed two strokes by Ricky Fowler with whom he shared 2nd place the day before.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka finds himself in 3rd, four strokes behind the leader, along with South Korean An Byeong-hun and another American, Chez Reavie. He returned a card of 71 (+1), after committing two bogeys and a double bogey between the 2nd and 7th holes.

As for Jon Rahm, who releases his brand new status of world number 1, acquired two weeks ago with his victory at the Memorial, his tournament is going from bad to worse.

After his neutral card returned the day before, he finished with four strokes over the par this Friday, notably weighed down by three double bogeys which brought him down to 62nd place.

Classification after the 2nd round (par 70):

1. Brendon Todd (USA) -11 (64-65)

2. Rickie Fowler (USA) -9 (64-67)

3. An Byeong-hun (KOR) -7 (68-65)

. Brooks Koepka (USA) -7 (62-71)

. Chez Reavie (USA) -7 (66-67)

6. Kang Sung-hoon (KOR) -6 (65-69)

. Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) -6 (70-64)

8. Jason Day (AUS) -5 (68-67)

. Im Sung-jae (KOR) -5 (67-68)

. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) -5 (68-67)

. Webb Simpson (USA) -5 (69-66)

...

12. Kevin Na (USA) -4 (72-64)

. Justin Thomas (USA) -4 (66-70)

15. Dustin Johnson (USA) -3 (69-68)

. Phil Mickelson (USA) -3 (67-70)

21. Bubba Watson (USA) -2 (68-70)

. Tony Finau (USA) -2 (70-68)

62. Jon Rahm (ESP) +4 (70-74)

© 2020 AFP