Gainey struggles in second round of Puerto Rico Open, loses lead

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RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) - A day after shooting a 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open, Bishopville native Tommy Gainey struggled in the second round..

The 45-year-old Gainey shot a 4-over 76 on Friday and stands at 3-under. He is eight strokes behind Brandon Wu, who birdied the final two holes for a 5-under 67.

Wu played the back nine in 4 under at windy Grand Reserve. He birdied the par-4 12th, par-5 15th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th to reach 11-under 133.

Gainey, who won his lone PGA Tour title in 2012, had a one-stroke lead over local favorite Rafael Campos, Robert Garrigus, Taylor Pendrith, Lee Hodges, Greg Chalmers, Fabian Gomez and Wu.

"It's windy. It's Puerto Rico," Gainey said after the first round. "I'm just glad that it's 80 degrees outside, because back in South Carolina, all it is, is 40 degrees and raining. So, I'm just glad to be in some hot weather. Wind, I can deal with. But I just hit it really good today."

The tournament is being played opposite the World Golf Championship event in Florida. The winner will get into the PGA Championship in May but not the Masters in April.

Gainey rebounded from a three-putt bogey on the par-3 11th with birdies on the par-4 12th and 13th, par-5 15th, par-4 17th and par-5 18th.

"Hit it 12 feet on No. 11 and then three-whacked it," Gainey said. "So I'm not happy about that, but really happy at bouncing back with a birdie on 12. Just showing a little resilience and confidence to come back from a bogey, because when you three-putt from 12 feet, come on, let's be honest, that's bad."

He also started fast, birdieing the opening two holes and three of the first four.

Wu, the 24-year-old former Stanford player got into the field through the Korn Ferry Tour points list. He won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in August, and tied for 14th last week in Florida in the first Korn Ferry event since early October.

"It was kind of a grind," Wu said. "I missed a short putt kind of early on in the round, made a bogey I think on my fourth hole. I kind of just had to keep my head down and play well on the back.

"I think my game is in a good place," Wu said. "It was good to see kind of the things I worked on during the offseason paying off. I did well last week, so that definitely gave me some confidence coming into this week."