Justin Suh in good form, sits just two shots back

Justin Suh kept it rolling Friday.

The college star backed up an opening 67 with a matching score Friday at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. He’s T2 heading into the weekend in the Domincan Republic.

Suh had the pedigree to make the PGA TOUR leap like his contemporaries (and now TOUR winners) Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, and Collin Morikawa. But he battled a wrist injury after beginning his professional golf journey and has just now settled into a solid routine.

It paid off in spades on Friday.

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“Today, I would say I give myself an ‘A,’” said Suh. “Coming down the stretch, it got windy and the wind was just straight into almost every hole coming down the stretch, but yeah, I give myself an ‘A.’ I committed to each shot and stayed in the moment.”

Suh had four top-10 finishes on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica last season in just five events. His best result on the PGA TOUR is a T21 at the Barracuda Championship last summer.

While prepping for this week in the Domincan Republic he took down Morikawa in an 18-hole match. He also has seen his confidence buoyed by finishing inside the top-10 in three of his last four starts in the LOCALiQ Series (which consists of Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, and PGA TOUR China members).

He was rounding into form at a good time and said to be in this position heading into the weekend means a lot – considering all he’s gone through in the last 12 months.

He recently got back to work with his former college coach, Chris Zambri. They put in the same kind of effort that saw Suh win eight times while at USC.

“I put in a lot of work, especially working with Coach Zambri and the stuff that we do in college, just kind of got back to my roots,” said Suh. “It means a lot just because it's showing. It's very satisfying when hard work shows on the golf course.”

Another amateur standout and 2019 Walker Cup team member, Alex Smalley, matched Suh’s 67 Friday. The Duke University alum and past winner of the Sunnehanna Amateur is T15 heading into the weekend.

One of the pre-tournament favorites – after his T6 at the U.S. Open – Will Zalatoris (who played in the 2017 Walker Cup) followed his 2-under 70 on Thursday with a 1-under 71 Friday and made the cut on the number.

Smalley’s 2019 Walker Cup teammate, 18-year-old Akshay Bhatia, was 1-over Friday and missed the cut.