Ben Griffin and Germany’s Matti Schmid share the 36-hole lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge after they each posted 7-under-par rounds of 63 on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Griffin and Schmid stand at 11-under 129 through two rounds at Colonial Country Club. They take a two-shot lead into the weekend over John Pak (68), who was the first-round leader.
Chris Gotterup had a bogey-free 65 to move to fourth place at 8 under, and Akshay Bhatia (66) is tied for fifth at 7 under with Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune (67).
Griffin set the early pace by zipping around the course with eight birdies and one bogey, capped by a near-eagle at his final hole, the par-4 ninth. Griffin’s approach shot bounced right over the hole and spun back to 18 inches for his final birdie.
Griffin, 29, is seeking his first individual win on the PGA Tour after he and Andrew Novak captured the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event last month. Griffin is also coming off his first made cut at a major, as he tied for eighth at the PGA Championship.
“I think (my play and my results are) matching up pretty well,” Griffin said. “It was good to get a win a few weeks ago. It was nice to be in the top 10 at the PGA Championship last week. Yeah, I feel like I’ve put in a lot of work, especially in the gym this year training really hard, trying to gain some speed, stay healthy and feel good out there and feel strong.”
Schmid climbed to 11 under later in the day as he turned in a bogey-free card with seven birdies. Schmid has never won on tour.
“I would say it was just a very solid round of golf,” he said. “Started off hot. Had a couple of good breaks on the rough. I gauged the distance right, and I mean, I just played quality golf from there on, I would say.”
Gotterup is known for his driving distance, but he ranks fifth in strokes gained on approach this week and seventh in strokes gained putting. After a slow start to the season, he has finished in the top 20 in four straight starts.
“I’ve kind of been waiting for this,” Gotterup said. “I feel like when I was on Korn Ferry, I was very consistent week in, week out. Obviously this is the PGA Tour, not Korn Ferry, but I feel like I’ve been kind of waiting and grinding to get to this point.”
Rickie Fowler is in the mix after shooting a 64 Friday. Fowler started on the back nine and birdied six holes for a 29 before cooling off on the front.
He’s tied at 6 under with Doug Ghim (65), Brice Garnett (67), J.J. Spaun (68), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66) and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood (67).
“it’s definitely coming around,” Fowler said of his game. “I know it’s been slow last year and slow start to the year. Body is starting to feel better, and the game I feel like it’s been in a good spot and not very far off. It’s a fine line out here. Nice to see things starting to come together a bit.
“It would have been nice to continue on from our front nine, but a solid day on a Friday. We’ll see if we can get after it this weekend.”
Scottie Scheffler (71) is down the leaderboard at 1 under par, and Jordan Spieth (71) made the cut on the number at even par after birdieing his penultimate hole.
Notable names who did not make the weekend included Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (1 over), Aaron Rai of England (1 over), defending champion Davis Riley (2 over), Daniel Berger (2 over) and PGA teaching professional Michael Block (3 over).
–Field Level Media
