Nick Taylor equals course record before grabbing share of lead at Phoenix Open

Nick Taylor at the Phoenix Open

Canada’s Nick Taylor matched the TPC Scottsdale Stadium course record at the Phoenix Open to head into the weekend tied for the lead with America’s Andrew Novak.

Taylor finished his first round with an 11-under 60 on Friday, thanks to weather delays that saw the first round spill over into the tournament’s second day.

Returning to the course later on Friday to start his second round, Taylor began on shaky ground before pulling it together with two birdies on the back nine to card a one-under 70.

That puts him equal with Novak at the top of the leaderboard on 12-under, although Taylor admitted to being a bit disappointed with his second round after his first-round heroics.

“It’s weird feeling disappointed after a 70, but this morning was pretty hard to follow up,” he said. “Didn’t hit it great off the tee this afternoon, so I was grinding a little bit early on, but held it together, made some kind of key up-and-downs early on, and it was nice to finish the round under par.

“But this morning was obviously pretty special to make all those putts and shoot 60.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler, who is chasing a third straight Phoenix Open title, shot a five-under round of 66 to headline a group on eight under that includes Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.

Novak is chasing a first PGA Tour win and is playing the tournament for the first time.

“Definitely been feeding off the fans,” he said. “I’m pretty tired right now — 27 (holes) was a lot, especially in the mud. It’s pretty sloppy walking around out there.”

Due to inclement weather, more than half of the field still needs to finish the second round on Saturday, although more rain is forecast.