There is a tie atop the leaderboard after the second round of the 75th anniversary Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. After another picture perfect day, Heath Slocum and Scott Langley lead the field at -10 after both shot back-to-back rounds of 65. The field was cut to 78 players; those golfers finishing the first 36 holes at two under par or better made the cut and will play the weekend rounds.
Slocum, -10, 130 overall and five strokes higher than Carl Pettersson’s 2008 36-hole tournament record of 125, started the day two strokes off the lead. He birdied six of nine holes beginning on No. 8, including four straight on holes 13-16. The 130 is the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA TOUR career. In 12 rounds played at Sedgefield Country Club, Slocum’s average score is 67.7, with only two rounds above par. He is looking for his first victory since the 2010 McGladrey Classic.
Langley shot 65 for the second straight round as well, with birdies on his last two holes to gain a share of the lead. He is looking for his first victory on TOUR, placing third at the 2014 Valspar Championship and the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii. Langley held a one shot lead after the second round of this year’s Travelers Championship before finishing tied for 11th. He is the first alumnus of The First Tee to earn TOUR membership.
Brian Stuard, Nick Watney, Martin Laird and Andrew Svoboda, -9, 131, stand tied for fourth place, one stroke back. Stuard, who is looking for his first career win, surged to an early lead on the strength of an eagle and three birdies in his first five holes before back-to-back bogeys on holes 12 and 13. He birdied holes 15 and 17 to close a round of -5, 65. Watney posted a second round -6, 64, to stay one stroke back. He birdied six of his first twelve holes on the day.
Laird, who birdied four of his last seven holes, is trying to clinch a berth in the FedExCup Playoffs. He began the tournament 136th in points and is now projected to make the Playoffs. Svoboda birdied five of his last eight holes and was tied for the lead before a bogey on No. 18 to end his round.
Camilo Villegas, the first round leader, finished the day T7 at -8, 132. He posted three birdies and 13 pars through his first 16 holes to share the lead at -10 before bogeys on #17 and #18 dropped him back for a second round of 69. Also tied for seventh place, two back of the leader, are Bo Van Pelt, D.A. Points, Jhonattan Vegas, William McGirt, Ryo Ishikawa and 2008 Champion Carl Pettersson.
DIVOTS:
The second round leader has gone on to win the Wyndham Championship in four of the last six years. The Wyndham Championship victor has also been a PGA TOUR first-time winner in five of the last seven years.
Defending Champion Patrick Reed is -2 overall after a second round of 67. Other former champions’ results: Webb Simpson (2011) -7; Arjun Atwal (2010) +2; Carl Pettersson (2008) -8; Brent Snedeker (2007) -7; Davis Love III (2006, 1992) +1; and Rocco Mediate (2002, 1993) +4.
Continuing with celebration of the 75th Wyndham Championship, former champions Bob Goalby (1958) and Dow Finsterwald (1959) attended the event this afternoon. They signed autographs for the public in Margaritaville at the Wyndham and the Legends Club before participating in a press conference with the media.
The longest drive of the day belongs to Johnson Wagner, who recorded a 378-yarder on Hole #5. Wagner also posted the only eagle on No. 9 today, holing it from 167 yards in the fairway and ending his round without a putter in his hand.
Hole No. 18 proved to be unkind to Bill Haas. After seven birdies and a bogey on his round, Haas teed off on #18 at -8 and two strokes off the lead. But an errant tee shot bounced off a spectator’s foot out of bounds and Haas had to settle for a double bogey and second round 66, standing at -6 overall, four strokes off the pace.
