Russell Henley followed up an opening-round 62 with a 6-under 64 and will enter the weekend at the Wyndham Championship with a four-shot lead.
The 32-year-old Georgia native finished his second day in Greensboro with one bogey offset by seven birdies, highlighted by four straight on his first-nine, to reach 14 under par.
“Came out of the gates a little tentative on my first two swings and made a great putt to start the day off with a nice par, so that was really huge,” said Henley.
“Then just started feeling good with the putter, I feel like I hit it a little better today.
“Just a little more of a boring round and had a really nice save on my 16th hole, No. 7, good up-and-down for par. All in all, just kind of boring round, made some putts and had some good saves.”
Rory Sabatini (64), Scott Piercy (66) and Webb Simpson (65) were tied for second at 10-under par.
One further back at T5 on 9 under was a trio headlined by Justin Rose, who shot a second-round 65.
The Englishman needs a top-10 finish to qualify for the playoff but after two spectacular rounds, he was no longer limiting himself to just that goal.
“Yeah, I mean, so far, so good for sure,” said Rose, who sits 141st place in the FedExCup standings. “Objective number one is to make it to the Playoffs, but two, if you’re playing well this week, I know I need to finish top-10, but at the same time there’s no point limiting yourself to that kind of thinking at this point.
“You know, winning would go a long way to kind of feel like you can compete in the Playoffs.
“Listen, that’s all way ahead of me, but tomorrow just kind of keep doing what I’m doing. I think this golf course suits good strategy and good patience, so those are some of the things I’m going to try to continue with over the weekend.”
Rose, along with Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood and Rickie Fowler were four of the marquee names on the playoff bubble entering Greensboro. Rose (-9, T5), Fleetwood (-6, T23) and Scott (-4, T43) all made the cut to keep their season alive (for now). Fowler (+3, T138), however, struggled again to find his once bullet proof form.
Wyndham Championship Leaderboard
Round-2: Top 10
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 2)
1. Russell Henley -14 (-6)
2. Rory Sabatini -10 (-6)
2. Webb Simpson -10 (-5)
2. Scott Piercy -10 (-4)
5. Tyler Duncan -9 (-8)
5. Justin Rose -9 (-5)
5. Brian Stuard -9 (-4)
8. Kevin Streelman -8 (-4)
8. Alex Smalley -8 (-6)
8. Tyler McCumber -8 (-3)
8. Kevin Na -8 (-6)
8. John Augenstein -8 (-6)
Notables Making Cut
13. Chris Kirk -7 (-1)
13. Kevin Kisner -7 (-2)
13. Matt Kuchar -7 (-3)
13. Jhonattan Vegas -7 (-2)
23. Tommy Fleetwood -6 (-2)
23. Sungjae Im -6 (-2)
23. Si Woo Kim -6 (-2)
32. Branden Grace -5 (-1)
42. Aaron Wise -4 (E)
42. Bubba Watson -4 (-1)
42. Adam Scott -4 (E)
42. Will Zalatoris -4 (-2)
Notables Missing Cut
75. Gary Woodland -2 (-2)
75. Hideki Matsuyama -2 (-1)
75. Ryan Moore -2 (E)
91. Brian Harman -1 (E)
91. Matthew Wolff -1 (E)
108. Francesco Molinari E (+3)
108. Zach Johnson E (+1)
132. Padraig Harrington +2 (+6)
138. Rickie Fowler +3 (+2)
141. Brandt Snedeker +4 (+5)
