Camille Naredo

Rico Hoey of Philippines plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of The American Express 2025 at Nicklaus Tournament Course on January 17, 2025 in La Quinta, California. Joe Scarnici, Getty Images via PGA Tour

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 17: Rico Hoey of Philippines plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of The American Express 2025 at Nicklaus Tournament Course on January 17, 2025 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

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The American Express 2025 - Round Two

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<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1737168109333Rico Hoey. Credit Getty Images.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Rico Hoey of Philippines plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of The American Express 2025 at Nicklaus Tournament Course on January 17, 2025 in La Quinta, California. Joe Scarnici, Getty Images via PGA Tour"/>Rico Hoey of Philippines plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of The American Express 2025 at Nicklaus Tournament Course on January 17, 2025 in La Quinta, California. Joe Scarnici, Getty Images via PGA Tour</div>Filipino-American golfer Rico Hoey hit a career-best 10 birdies to grab the joint lead in the second round of The American Express, Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, California.The 29-year-old Hoey, who is playing in his second season on TOUR, fired a 9-under 63 to earn his first 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR on 16-under alongside four-time winner, Charley Hoffman (63).Japanese rookie Rikuya Hoshino carded a second successive 67 for a share of 20th place, six off the lead to be the next best placed Asian in the US$8.8 million event. Players will play one round in three different courses this week before the cut is made after 54 holes.&quot;I was kind of just keeping it in front of me. I had a great group. I play a lot of practice rounds with J.J. Spaun, so he&#x27;s been playing well, and I&#x27;m just trying to hop on his train and keep playing well like he is,&quot; said Hoey.The Fil-Am golfer missed only two fairways and two greens en route to shooting his career low score for the third time.Hoey is feeling at home at La Quinta, which is about a two-hour drive from his hometown of Rancho Cucamonga where he lived after moving from the Philippines at a young age. <div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/11/8/rico-hoey-soars-into-joint-lead-at-world-wide-technology-championship-1251">READ: Filipino golfer Rico Hoey soars into joint lead at World Wide Technology Championship</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/4/10/fil-am-rico-hoey-notches-top-15-pga-finish-916">READ: Fil-Am Rico Hoey notches top 15 PGA Finish</a></div>&quot;I remember growing up and when I was five and six, like there was a tour called the Coachella Valley Tour, I played those one-day events. The desert has been great to a lot of junior golfers, hosting a lot of tournament play, so coming back as a pro now and reminiscing on some of the old days that I used to do,&quot; he said.&quot;I wish we were playing like four rounds out here (on Nicklaus Course). I just like Nicklaus, I played a lot of junior events out here, so just feels like I&#x27;m home and it&#x27;s great. Weather&#x27;s awesome, so we don&#x27;t really have too many tough conditions with the wind and whatnot. Made it a lot easier to score,&quot; he added.With the likes of Jason Day (T6), Justin Thomas (T8), Rickie Fowler (T8) and Patrick Cantlay (T11) featuring on the leaderboard, Hoey intends to remain in the title chase by taking the proverbial one-shot-at-time approach.&quot;For me, this is my second year on TOUR, so I&#x27;m still kind of starstruck with a lot of those guys, Hoffman, Cantlay, Rickie, and whatnot. For me it&#x27;s really cool just to put my name out there and just keeping up with them, so that&#x27;s all I&#x27;m trying to do. I just want to keep getting better, so that&#x27;s the goal every day,&quot; said Hoey, who changed his nationality from U.S. to Philippines at the start of last year.&quot;You can never predict how you&#x27;re going to play. Tomorrow. I&#x27;m just going to do what I can, warm-up, and just hit the best shot that I can possibly do. I&#x27;m just going to let it flow and let it happen,&quot; said Hoey, who will tee up on the challenging PGA West Stadium Course on Saturday.

Filipino-American golfer Rico Hoey hit a career-best 10 birdies to grab the joint lead in the second round of The American Express, Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, California.

Filipino-American golfer Rico Hoey hit a career-best 10 birdies to grab the joint lead in the second round of The American Express, Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, California.

Golf: Fil-Am Rico Hoey in joint lead at The American Express

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Golf: Fil-Am Rico Hoey in joint lead at The American Express

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Published Jan 18, 2025 10:42 AM PHT

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