Reno - Andres Gonzales vaulted into a share of the lead with fellow American Brendan Steele after a 21-point second round at the PGA Barracuda Championship on Friday.
Gonzales rolled in 11 birdies and had a bogey and matched Steele's 26 points after 36 holes in the unique tournament, which features a Modified Stableford scoring system assigning point values to shots rather than registering a score relative to par.
Steele's round at the Montreux Golf and Country Club included an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey. His eagle came at the par-five second hole when his bunker shot found the cup.
Steele has one PGA Tour win, at the 2011 Texas Open. Gonzales has two top-10 finishes this year but is still seeking his first win on the Tour.
Former winner J.J. Henry and Swede Jonas Blixt were two points behind the leaders. Blixt totaled 12 points in the second round and Henry had 11.
Leading finishers after Friday's second round of the PGA Tour Barracuda Championship, which uses a Modified Stableford scoring system that awards points rather than measuring scores relative to par (USA unless noted):
26 - Brendan Steele, Andres Gonzales
24 - J.J. Henry, Jonas Blixt (SWE)
23 - Kyle Reifers
22 - David Toms
21 - Tom Hoge, Zack Sucher, Jason Allred, Chris Smith, Robert Garrigus, Patrick Rodgers, Will Wilcox
20 - Andres Romero (ARG), Roberto Castro, Ricky Barnes