Friday’s roundup: Gary Woodland shoots 65, leads OHL

Playa del Carmen, Mexico — Gary Woodland birdied three of the final four holes Friday for a 6-under 65 and a one-stroke lead in the PGA Tour’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba.

Woodland played the first 36 holes without a bogey, following an opening 64 to get to 13-under 129 on Mayakoba’s Greg Norman-designed El Camaleon course. He won the latter of his two tour titles in 2013.

“I haven’t been here since my rookie year, so it’s been since 2009,” Woodland said. “The golf course is in great shape. It sets up good for me. I can hit a lot of irons off the tees, lay back a little bit. The whole deal is to keep the ball in the fairway and then attack from there.”

Married last month, Woodland took last week off and worked with instructor Butch Harmon after opening the new season in Malaysia and China.

“It was nice to have an off week last week,” Woodland said. “Went out and spent some time with Butch. After the wedding, kind of got a little rusty. Took some time off, but nice to get back in the swing of things. Very comfortable with where I’m at right now.”

Webb Simpson was second after his second straight 65.

“Today was a lot different from yesterday,” Simpson said. “Today was a bit of a struggle with some distance control. I had to chip a lot more today, so today was about scoring. I was able to score, made some putts when I needed to for par. Yesterday, I don’t remember missing any greens and today I missed quite a few, so very different day, but same score.”

First-round leader Chris Kirk followed his opening 63 with a 70 to drop into a tie for fourth at 9 under with local favorite Abraham Ancer (68), Russell Knox (65), Charles Howell III (64), Ben Martin (64), John Huh (66) and Adam Hadwin (66).

Champions

At Scottsdale, Arizona, Paul Goydos shot an 8-under 62 in windy conditions to take a three-stroke lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

The 52-year-old Goydos holed out from 167 yards for eagle on the par-4 12th and closed with birdies on the par-3 17th and par-5 18th on Desert Mountain Club’s Cochise Course.

Colin Montgomerie, third in Charles Schwab Cup season standings, was second. The Scot birdied the final two holes.

Points leader Bernhard Langer topped the group at 67. The top five in the standings — Richmond winner Scott McCarron is second, followed by Montgomerie, Joe Durant and Miguel Angel Jimenez — can take the season title with a victory Sunday. McCarron holed out from the fairway for eagle on the par-5 15th in a 69. Durant shot 70, and Jimenez had a 74. Goydos entered the week 24th in the standings.

Tom Pernice Jr., the winner of the playoff opener two weeks ago in California, also was at 67 along with Paul Broadhurst and Duffy Waldorf.

LPGA

At Mexico City, Sarah Jane Smith shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead in the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

The Australian birdied four of the first seven holes, dropped a stroke on the par-4 eighth and birdied the par-3 14th. Winless on the LPGA Tour, she had a 9-under 135 total at Club de Golf Mexico.

Mexico’s Gaby Lopez had a 65 on her home course to match South Korea’s Mi Jung Hur (66) and Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe (67) at 7 under in the 30-player event. Lopez eagled the par-5 second hole, hitting to 2 feet from 195 yards.

South Korea’s Chella Choi and France’s Karine Icher each shot their second straight 69 to get to 6 under. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, tied for the lead with Smith after a first-round 67, had a 72 to drop into a tie for seventh with 2008 winner Angela Stanford (68), Austin Ernst (67) and Jing Yan (67).

Michelle Wie was tied for 13th at 3 under after a 71. The 2009 winner in Guadalajara, she’s playing on a sponsor invite after failing to qualify.

Europe

At Sun City, South Africa, Alex Noren shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, putting the Swede in position for his fourth victory since July.

Noren had an 8-under 136 total at Gary Player Country Club.

South Africans Louis Oosthuizen (66), George Coetzee (69) and Jaco van Zyl (69) were tied for second with Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti (68) and England’s Chris Wood (69). Zanotti had a hole-in-one on No. 4.

Denmark’s Lasse Jensen had an albatross, holing out for two on the par-5 14th in a 69 that got him to 3 under.