Ted Potter opened with an eagle on his way to firing a three-under par 67 on Friday to share the lead with fellow American Brandt Snedeker after the second round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Snedeker, a runner-up the past two weeks, and Potter stood on eight-under 134 after 36 holes at the $US6.5 million ($A6.4 million) US PGA event, which is played over three different northern California courses near the Pacific Ocean.
Potter, a 29-year-old who won his first PGA title last year at the Greenbrier Classic, fired a five-under 67 on Thursday at par-72 Pebble Beach and then backed it up with a solid round Friday at the par-70 Monterrey Peninsula Shore course.
A quartet of players were at seven under, while Australians Nick O’Hern, who bounced back from a tough opening day with a four-under 66, and Jason Day were a shot back at six under.
Starting on the back nine, Potter eagled the par-5 10th hole but took back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th.
He answered with two sets of back-to-back birdies, the first brace at the second and third and the other at the par-5 sixth and par-3 seventh. He closed with a bogey at nine.
Snedeker opened with a 66 at the Shore on Thursday and followed with a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Friday at par-72 Spyglass Hill.
Also starting on the 10th tee, Snedeker birdied the par-3 12th and par-5 14th then added back-to-back birdies at the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth.
“I didn’t make a lot of putts today but look forward to going into the weekend, confidence is very high, and after last week, feel like my game is where I want it to be and two good days to go, should be a lot of fun,” Snedeker said.
Snedeker’s two runner-up finishes in the past two weeks came behind Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines and Phil Mickelson at the Phoenix Open.
“I take nothing but positives away from the way I’ve played the weekend the last couple events,” Snedeker said.
“That’s how you win out here – you keep putting yourself in position, and the more times you do that the more success you’re going to have.”