Russell Henley carded a 4-under-par 66 and held on to a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Wyndham Championship on Friday in Greensboro, N.C.
After opening the tournament Thursday with a 62, Henley got to 12-under 128 by midday Friday. That was just enough for sole possession of the lead after Billy Horschel’s career-low round of 62 propelled him into second at 11 under at Sedgefield Country Club.
Brendon Todd (63), Lucas Glover (64), Adam Svensson of Canada (67) and Byeong Hun An of South Korea (67) are tied for third at 10 under. Swedish up-and-comer Ludvig Aberg is in seventh place at 8 under after shooting his second consecutive 66.
Henley finished strongly after going out with a 1-under 34 on the back nine. He birdied three of his last five holes — Nos. 5, 8 and 9 — to wrap his 66.
“I think my putting’s been really solid,” Henley said. “I haven’t looked at the stats. My putting’s been good and I feel like my approach game when I’m in the fairway has been pretty good. I’ve made a lot of good par saves and made a decent amount of 10-, 15-footers, too.”
Horschel holed out for eagle at the par-4 eighth hole and made seven birdies and a single bogey.
It’s a welcome spot for Horschel, who, until tying for 13th at the 3M Open last week, had not finished better than T40 at a non-team, stroke-play event since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February.
“We’ve talked about this enough and it’s been well-documented, this year’s been a real struggle for me,” Horschel said. “But since that 84 at Memorial, since that media session afterwards, the game’s actually been heading in the right direction.
“The results haven’t shown that until last week and so far this week, but there’s been a lot of positive stuff coming, a lot more confidence in my ability to strike the golf ball, which has been the biggest issue all year.”
The PGA Tour’s regular-season finale is the last chance for players to climb into the top 70 in FedEx Cup points before the start of the playoffs. Horschel’s 62 was crucial, as he entered the week just 116th in the FedEx Cup standings but is now projected to move up to 65th.
“Listen, I know I have to win or finish solo second,” Horschel said. “I realized that I think Sunday night when I got here. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Justin Thomas was on the brink of missing the cut — and the FedEx Cup Playoffs — after an opening-round 70 left him buried down the leaderboard. But Thomas posted a 65 Friday to move up to a tie for 21st at 5 under. He entered the week at No. 79 in points and would only be No. 75 were these results final.
“I’m just going to go do the best I can and just give it everything I have this weekend because I don’t have much to lose,” Thomas said.
Notable names to miss the cut of 2 under par included K.H. Lee of South Korea (even par; outside top 70 in FedEx Cup standings), former Masters winner Danny Willett of England (2 over; outside top 70), Canada’s Adam Hadwin (2 over; inside top 70) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (5 over; inside top 70).
–Field Level Media
