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Rio Grande - Chris Tidland fired nine birdies in his nine-under par 63 on Friday to seize a share of the halfway lead in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open.
Tidland climbed into the lead alongside fellow Americans James Driscoll and Troy Matteson.
Matteson had six birdies and one bogey in his five-under 67 on the Trump International course. Driscoll followed up an opening 63 with a one-under 71 that included a double-bogey seven at the par-five 15th.
Tidland's 63 matched the course record set by Derek Lamely en route to victory here last year and equalled by Driscoll on Thursday.
Canadian Stephen Ames and American George McNeill both shot 66 for 135, where they were joined by American Hunter Haas (68).
Tidland, who teed off on 10, had two bursts of three straight birdies -- from the 15th and again from the sixth. He got going with a birdie at the par-three 11th, and also birdied holes one and two.
"Everything, obviously, went pretty well," said Tidland, a two-time winner on the developmental Nationwide Tour.
"I got off to a nice start. I hit a 6-iron on the second hole, No. 11. I hit it to a foot, and that kind of started me off.
"I made some nice putts for par and then I just kept hitting some fairways and some greens.
"And I had a lot of great looks, from 3 to 12 feet, and I made a lot of them today."
Although he didn't score as well as he did on Thursday, Driscoll said his game hadn't changed for the worse. In fact, just the opposite.
"At times, I hit it a lot better than yesterday," Driscoll said. "Yesterday, seemed like a lot of the good shots just went right next to the hole. Today, added up 20 feet a lot of times.
"But still feel pretty good about everything. Ball-striking's pretty good. The putter isn't quite totally dialed in, but you know, it's something to work on and I'm looking forward to the next couple days."
Matteson, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, said he's less concerned with adding to that total at this point than with continuing to play well.
"I just want to put a solid weekend on the board, more than anything," he said. "If I hit it the way I did these first two days, I should be in good shape to do that. And I haven't played well this year, so I'm just happy that I got off to a good start this week."
The tournament, played opposite the elite World Golf Championships event this week in Miami, is a chance for big names who have slid down the world rankings to spring back or for lesser-known players to capture a title.
After Michael Bradley (68) and Ben Martin (66) on 136, a group at 137 included former major champions Stewart Cink (68) and Angel Cabrera (71).
Cink is playing the event for the first time after failing to qualify for Doral.
"I love playing this course," he said. "I think it's fun to play. It's a good course for the wind. You know, there's a lot of interesting, kind of challenging shots."
Scores on Friday after the second round of the $3.5 million US PGA Puerto Rico Open (USA unless noted, par-72):
134 - Chris Tidland 71-63, James Driscoll 63-71, Troy Matteson 67-67
135 - Stephen Ames (CAN) 69-66, Hunter Haas 67-68, George McNeil 69-66
136 - Michael Bradley 68-68, Ben Martin 70-66
137 - Stewart Cink 69-68, Chris DiMarco 68-69, Michael Thompson 68-69, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 66-71, Fabian Gomez (ARG) 67-70, Justin Hicks 68-69
138 - Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 69-69, Will MacKenzie 65-73, John Merrick 68-70, Jim Herman 71-67, David Hearn (CAN) 68-70, Keegan Bradley 71-67
Notable others:
139 - Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 71-68
140 - Rod Pampling (AUS) 71-69, Aron Price (AUS) 67-73
141 - Bi-o Kim (KOR) 73-68
142 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 75-67
143 - Cameron Percy (AUS) 74-69, Mark Hensby (AUS) 69-74, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 74-69, Julian Etulain (ARG) 73-70
Failed to qualify:
144 - John Daly 70-74
145 - Matt McQuillan (CAN) 71-74, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 73-72, Oliver Wilson (GBR) 72-73
146 - Carlos Franco (PAR) 70-76, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 71-75, Diego Velasquez (COL) 74-72, Manuel Villegas (COL) 73-73
147 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 75-72, Jason Roets (RSA) 76-71
148 - Daniel Chopra (SWE) 74-74, Rafael Campos (PUR) 75-73
149 - Frederico Cabrera (ARG) 75-74
150 - Miguel Suarez (PUR) 75-75
151 - George Riley (DOM) 75-76
153 - Javier Cordova (PUR) 78-75
154 - Chris Baryla (CAN) 77-77
157 - Max Alverio (PUR) 77-80
162 - Mike Norman (PAN) 78-84
Tidland climbed into the lead alongside fellow Americans James Driscoll and Troy Matteson.
Matteson had six birdies and one bogey in his five-under 67 on the Trump International course. Driscoll followed up an opening 63 with a one-under 71 that included a double-bogey seven at the par-five 15th.
Tidland's 63 matched the course record set by Derek Lamely en route to victory here last year and equalled by Driscoll on Thursday.
Canadian Stephen Ames and American George McNeill both shot 66 for 135, where they were joined by American Hunter Haas (68).
Tidland, who teed off on 10, had two bursts of three straight birdies -- from the 15th and again from the sixth. He got going with a birdie at the par-three 11th, and also birdied holes one and two.
"Everything, obviously, went pretty well," said Tidland, a two-time winner on the developmental Nationwide Tour.
"I got off to a nice start. I hit a 6-iron on the second hole, No. 11. I hit it to a foot, and that kind of started me off.
"I made some nice putts for par and then I just kept hitting some fairways and some greens.
"And I had a lot of great looks, from 3 to 12 feet, and I made a lot of them today."
Although he didn't score as well as he did on Thursday, Driscoll said his game hadn't changed for the worse. In fact, just the opposite.
"At times, I hit it a lot better than yesterday," Driscoll said. "Yesterday, seemed like a lot of the good shots just went right next to the hole. Today, added up 20 feet a lot of times.
"But still feel pretty good about everything. Ball-striking's pretty good. The putter isn't quite totally dialed in, but you know, it's something to work on and I'm looking forward to the next couple days."
Matteson, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, said he's less concerned with adding to that total at this point than with continuing to play well.
"I just want to put a solid weekend on the board, more than anything," he said. "If I hit it the way I did these first two days, I should be in good shape to do that. And I haven't played well this year, so I'm just happy that I got off to a good start this week."
The tournament, played opposite the elite World Golf Championships event this week in Miami, is a chance for big names who have slid down the world rankings to spring back or for lesser-known players to capture a title.
After Michael Bradley (68) and Ben Martin (66) on 136, a group at 137 included former major champions Stewart Cink (68) and Angel Cabrera (71).
Cink is playing the event for the first time after failing to qualify for Doral.
"I love playing this course," he said. "I think it's fun to play. It's a good course for the wind. You know, there's a lot of interesting, kind of challenging shots."
Scores on Friday after the second round of the $3.5 million US PGA Puerto Rico Open (USA unless noted, par-72):
134 - Chris Tidland 71-63, James Driscoll 63-71, Troy Matteson 67-67
135 - Stephen Ames (CAN) 69-66, Hunter Haas 67-68, George McNeil 69-66
136 - Michael Bradley 68-68, Ben Martin 70-66
137 - Stewart Cink 69-68, Chris DiMarco 68-69, Michael Thompson 68-69, Angel Cabrera (ARG) 66-71, Fabian Gomez (ARG) 67-70, Justin Hicks 68-69
138 - Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 69-69, Will MacKenzie 65-73, John Merrick 68-70, Jim Herman 71-67, David Hearn (CAN) 68-70, Keegan Bradley 71-67
Notable others:
139 - Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 71-68
140 - Rod Pampling (AUS) 71-69, Aron Price (AUS) 67-73
141 - Bi-o Kim (KOR) 73-68
142 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 75-67
143 - Cameron Percy (AUS) 74-69, Mark Hensby (AUS) 69-74, Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 74-69, Julian Etulain (ARG) 73-70
Failed to qualify:
144 - John Daly 70-74
145 - Matt McQuillan (CAN) 71-74, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 73-72, Oliver Wilson (GBR) 72-73
146 - Carlos Franco (PAR) 70-76, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 71-75, Diego Velasquez (COL) 74-72, Manuel Villegas (COL) 73-73
147 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 75-72, Jason Roets (RSA) 76-71
148 - Daniel Chopra (SWE) 74-74, Rafael Campos (PUR) 75-73
149 - Frederico Cabrera (ARG) 75-74
150 - Miguel Suarez (PUR) 75-75
151 - George Riley (DOM) 75-76
153 - Javier Cordova (PUR) 78-75
154 - Chris Baryla (CAN) 77-77
157 - Max Alverio (PUR) 77-80
162 - Mike Norman (PAN) 78-84
