INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) 鈥� Nico Echavarria shot a 6-under 64 on Friday 鈥� matching his 64 on Thursday 鈥� to lead by two shots over Taylor Moore and Justin Thomas after the second round of the Zozo Championship in Japan.
Thomas shot 64 and Moore carded 67 with three others just three shots off the lead including Seamus Power, who had the day's low round of 62 at the Narashino Country Club.
Thomas has twice won the PGA Championship but is winless in two years on the PGA Tour.
Eric Cole (67) and C.T. Pan (66) were also three behind heading to Saturday.
Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian at 5-under and tied for 16th.
Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., is two shots back of Taylor and tied for 31st.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had a lead after 36 holes,鈥� said Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas. His lone PGA win was last year in Puerto Rico.
He had a two-round total of 12-under 128.
"I鈥檝e had it after 54, but never after 36, so it's good to be in this position. There's got to be some pressure,鈥� he added. 鈥淗opefully a good round tomorrow can keep me in the lead or around the lead. And how I said yesterday 鈥� the goal is to be close with nine holes to go.鈥�
Rickie Fowler, a crowd favorite in Japan because of his connections to the country, shot 64 to go with an opening 68 and was four shots back going into the weekend. Max Greyserman was also four behind after a 68.
鈥淚t would be amazing to win here,鈥� said Fowler, whose mother has Japanese roots. 鈥淐ame close a few years ago.鈥�
Fowler tied for second in 2022
Fowler described his roots as "pretty far removed for Japan, but I'm sure I have relatives here, but I don't know anyone. Japanese culture鈥檚 always been a fairly big part of life growing up. I always love being over here.鈥�
Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama shot his second 71 and was 14 shots off the lead.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 67 and pulled within eight shot of the lead, and Xander Schauffele 鈥� British Open and PGA winner this season 鈥� shot 65 and was 10 behind after a 73 on Thursday.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e got a good game plan out here,鈥� Morikawa said, another player with Japanese connections. 鈥淚 just have to execute shots a little better.鈥�
鈥淚 am the defending champ, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I鈥檓 immediately going to play better just because I won here,鈥� he added. "It鈥檚 a brand new week, it鈥檚 a year later. I feel like my golf game is still in a good spot. I just haven鈥檛 executed my shots. When that doesn鈥檛 happen it makes golf a little tougher.鈥�
Schauffele turned 31 on Friday and said he was serenaded before his opening tee shot. He also has ties to Japan. His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in the Tokyo area.
鈥淣ice way to spend my 31st birthday,鈥� he said.
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AP golf:
Stephen Wade, The Associated Press
