Editorial cartoon

Christian W. Sorge

First Posted: 1/17/2014 LA QUINTA, Calif. &#8212; Patrick Reed found La Quinta Country Club to his liking, too, leaving everyone else behind again in the Humana Challenge.
A day after shooting a 9-under 63 at PGA West&#8217;s Arnold Palmer Private Course to take the lead, Reed had another 9-under 63 down the road Friday at tree-lined La Quinta to stretch his advantage to two strokes over Brendon Todd.
&#8220;It&#8217;s great to have that feeling that you can go out and shoot 63,&#8221; said Reed, the Wyndham Championship winner in August. &#8220;And to actually do it two times in a row shows that what we have done during the offseason and what we&#8217;re doing now is working.
&#8220;The good thing is even though we&#8217;re playing great, I feel like there&#8217;s still room for improvement out there while I was playing. Today, I felt like there was three shots out there, yesterday, I thought there was one or two out there.&#8221;
Todd had a 63 on the Palmer course. He&#8217;s the only player in the field without a bogey.
&#8220;Obviously, both days were really solid,&#8221; Todd said. &#8220;Bogey-free was huge. &#8230; Before I knew it, I was at 7- or 8-under with a few to play, feeling like I should birdie every hole. &#8230; The weather&#8217;s been so good, I&#8217;m not surprised to see what Patrick did.&#8221;
The temperature climbed into the 80s and it was so calm the ponds looked like glass, the water as still as the plastic swans PGA West uses to scare away geese.
The 23-year-old Reed eagled the par-5 fifth hole, hitting a high 5-iron approach that landed softly on the left side of the green and rolled to 4 feet. He also had eight birdies and his lone bogey in 36 holes.
Ryan Palmer was third, three strokes back at 15-under, after a 65 at La Quinta. He also made a short eagle putt on the fifth hole.
Charley Hoffman, the 2007 winner, was 14-under after a 66 on PGA West&#8217;s Jack Nicklaus Private Course. He had five straight birdies on the front nine.
Bill Haas and James Driscoll were 13-under. Haas, the 2010 winner, had a 66 on the Nicklaus course, and Driscoll shot 63 at La Quinta.
Charlie Beljan was another stroke back, shooting 64 on the Nicklaus course.
Matt Every and playing partner Will MacKenzie were 11-under in a group that included Kapalua winner Zach Johnson, 2005 winner Justin Leonard and Harris English.
Every settled for a 68 on the Palmer course after playing an early five-hole stretch in 6-under with four birdies and an eagle. MacKenzie had a 66.

Reed shoots another 63 to stretch lead