NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Lucas Glover extended his streak of rounds in the 60s to 10 and his lead in the Barbasol Championship to two shots, shooting a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round at Keene Trace.
Glover was at 13-under 131, with Adam Long, Vincent Norrman and Daniel Brown his closest pursuers.
The 43-year-old Glover switched to a long putter two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and it paid off immediately as he began his run of sub-70 rounds. He tied for fourth that week in Detroit and tied for sixth last week at the John Deere Classic.
Glover didn’t make as many putts as he did in Thursday’s opening 63 but was 3 under through 14 holes before making his only bogey of the day on the par-4 sixth. He then closed with birdies on his final two holes.
The four-time PGA Tour winner said his ball-striking, not his putting, held him back.
“It was a bit of a struggle today, especially compared to yesterday,” Glover said. “Uncharacteristically drove it very poorly. I just didn’t hit enough fairways to hit the ball close and take it low again. Happy the way I finished and happy the way I rolled it, just not many of them were very close today.”
Long and Norrman had similar scorecards. Each began on the back nine and made three birdies and two bogeys to turn in 1-under 35, then played bogey-free with four birdies on the front nine to shoot 67.
Long is battling a neck injury as he seeks his second PGA Tour win.
“It was kind of more of a dull pain that I can play through, but it wasn’t the sharp pain that I had yesterday,” Long said. “A few mistakes here and there, but made a lot of birdies.”
Brown shot 68. The Englishman plays on the European tour and would earn a PGA Tour card with a victory in this co-sanctioned event.
“I’ll try and stay as calm as I can until back nine Sunday hopefully and we’ve got a chance, fingers crossed,” Brown said.
Four players were three shots back: Ryan Moore (70) and European tour players Jayden Schaper (66), Adrien Saddier (66) and Louis de Jager (65).
