Second-Round Notes – Friday, September 22, 2023

Weather: Mostly sunny throughout the day with a high of 81. E/NE winds 6-12 mph, with gusts up to 18 mph.

Second-Round Leaderboard

Jacob Bridgeman            65-69 – 134 (-8)

Norman Xiong                69-67 – 136 (-6)

Max Greyserman           68-69 – 137 (-5)

Chris Petefish                 67-70 – 137 (-5)

Two players tied            138 (-4)

Things to Know

• 18-hole leader Jacob Bridgeman maintains outright lead entering the weekend and becomes the 12th player this season to be declared #TOURBound
• Norman Xiong ties the low round of the day with a 4-under 67 and climbs to solo second
• Behind a field-high 11 birdies through 36 holes, Max Greyserman sits T3, three shots off the lead
• The 36-hole cut was made at 3-over par and 74 professionals advanced to the weekend
• The 3-over par cutline is tied for the highest this season (The Panama Championship/+3)
• Following Sunday’s final round, the top 75 players on the Points List will advance to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance
• Third-round pairings will run from 7:20 a.m. through 1:40 p.m. local time off of the first tee

Second-Round Lead Notes

5            Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (David Lingmerth/2022; Curtis Luck/2020; Robert Streb/2018; S.Y. Noh/2013; Daniel Summerhays/2007)

4            Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (David Skinns/Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club; Paul Barjon/Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS; Nicholas Lindheim/The Ascendant presented by Blue; Chan Kim/Albertson Boise Open)

Charting the Leader (stats entering the week)

Jacob Bridgeman (Leader/-8)

• With a made cut Friday, Bridgeman became the 12th player this season to be declared #TOURBound, signaling he is assured of finishing in the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List and earning PGA TOUR membership for the 2024 season
• Entered the day as the solo 18-hole leader and maintained the outright lead with a second-round 2-under 69
  • Tallied three birdies Friday at Nos. 1, 3 and 13, against just one bogey at the par-3 fifth
• Marks the second 36-hole lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career and the first since last month’s Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna (finished 4th)
• Opened the week with a first-round bogey-free 6-under 65 to earn his first 18-hole lead on the Tour
• Sits inside the top 10 after two rounds for the sixth time this season, and the third time in his last five starts
  • In each of the previous five instances this year, Bridgeman went on to finish T8 or better four times
• Second-year member who entered the week ranked 12th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• In 22 starts this season, has logged six top-10 finishes and 12 inside the top 25
  • Best finish of the year is a solo-fourth at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna
• Has finished inside the top five in two of his last four starts:
  • Solo-fourth – Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna
  • T4 – Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron
• Originally earned Korn Ferry Tour membership last year after finishing No. 2 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022, only behind Texas’ Pierceson Coody
  • In eight starts during the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season, logged one top-25 finish which came in his second career start on the Tour (T5/BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX)
• Also made two starts on the PGA TOUR during the 2022-23 season via sponsor exemptions at the Fortinet Championship (finished T55) and The RSM Classic (finished T54)
• Played collegiately for four seasons at Clemson University (2018-22), winning five times individually, with the crown jewel being medalist honors at the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship en route to 2022 ACC Player of the Year honors
• 23-year-old who plays from Inman, South Carolina

Quotables

Jacob Bridgeman on being declared #TOURBound… “It’s been a lifelong goal so far. Pretty much ever since I’ve been little, it’s been the goal to get to the PGA TOUR, so to finally have it solidified. Like you said, I’ve sort of thought for a while that I was okay the last couple weeks, but now to have it solidified for sure, it’s awesome.”

Bridgeman on his play this week… “I hit it very, very good yesterday and not as good today. But I scored a lot better today. Got a lot out of my round. I thought it played a little more difficult. The wind was blowing, pins were a little bit more tricky and I didn’t hit it all that great, but I got the ball in the hole really well and I’m pretty proud of that.”

Bridgeman on holding the 36-hole lead… “I haven’t done anything outstanding, which is kind of weird to say because I’m leading, but I haven’t done anything really great. I’ve just played a lot of really solid golf, made some putts when I needed to, got out of spots when I was in bad ones, but yeah, it’s just been overall very good.”

Notes

• Norman Xiong (2nd/-6) carded a 4-under 67 Friday, tied for the low round of the day, via five birdies and an eagle on the 435-yard par-4 first against three bogeys to move into solo-second after 36 holes
  • Xiong entered the tournament No. 59 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, highlighted by four top-25 finishes and a tie for runner-up at the Visit Knoxville Open
  • In this event last year, Xiong was 5-under par after two rounds and went on to finish T14
• Chris Petefish (T3/-5) turned in a 1-under 70 Friday after logging three birdies, four bogeys and an eagle on the 473-yard par-4 14th
  • Petefish sits inside the top five after 36 holes for the second time this season; he was T1 through two rounds at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, where he finished runner-up
• Max Greyserman (T3/-5) – who was declared #TOURBound this week, signaling he is assured of PGA TOUR membership for the 2024 season – sits in the top 10 after 36 holes for the eighth time this season
• Pontus Nyholm (T5/-4), who entered the week No. 66 on the Points List, rolled in a birdie on the final hole of the day for his second consecutive 2-under 69
  • Nyholm is coming off a season-high finish of T5 at last week’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, where he was the outright leader after 36 holes
• Three players with at least one win during the 2023 season sit inside the top 10 after 36 holes:
  • Chandler Phillips (T5/-4) – won the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay
  • Trace Crowe (T7/-3) – won the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank
  • Pierceson Coody (T7/-3) – won The Panama Championship and the Price Cutter Charity Championship
• Zach Bauchou (T59/+3), No. 80 on the Points List, carded a second-round 3-under 68 to make the cut, bidding to climb inside the top 75 on the Points List
  • After entering the season with no Korn Ferry Tour status, Bauchou has made seven starts this season and tallied four top-25 finishes, including two inside the top 10
• Three players tied for the low round of the day with 4-under 67s: Xiong, Joe Highsmith (T7/-3) and David Skinns (T30/E)
  • Highsmith sits inside the top 10 after 36 holes for the fifth time this season
  • Skinns climbed 67 spots on the leaderboard Friday, the most of any player in the field, making five birdies and one eagle against three bogeys
• Ties the highest cutline this season and the fourth over-par cutline this season:
  • The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay (+1)
  • The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (+1)
  • The Panama Championship (+3)
  • Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (+3)

COURTESY KORN FERRY TOUR COMMUNICATIONS