Don't you worry, we will not forget about the golf stateside! The ISCO is through 36 holes and the leaderboard is wide open. On a golf course like Keene Trace, you can make up ground in a hurry. Although it is not the shortest golf course in the world, the landing areas off the tee are very straightforward and the greens are extremely receptive. It is no surprise we are seeing the scores that we are seeing out there since we do every single year!
Pierceson Coody leads the way at after opening up with a casual 11 under round of 61. There are a host of chasers behind him who are ready to make birdies in bunches over the weekend in Kentucky.
- Pierceson Coody -16 (+260)
- Matthis Besard -14 (+2000)
- Chez Reavie -14 (+1600)
- Rico Hoey -14 (+600)
- Alex Smalley -13 (+1400)
- Garrick Higgo -13 (+1600)
- Angel Hidadlo Portillo -13 (+2200)
- Johannes Veerman -13 (+1800)
- Hayden Springer -13 (+900)
- Andy Sullivan -13 (+2500)
Callum Tarren Top 20 +300
Callum Tarren is comfortably through the cut line at -9. He spotted the field a few strokes throughout the way by making some really ugly bogeys. Even though this course is easy, bogeys will always happen but Tarren can easily clean those six bogeys up.
Although you cannot count that out, it was great to see him settle the nerves and play some really solid golf along the way. Flirting with the cut line is never a fun thing. There are two paths to find success around Keene Trace Golf Club and the bomb and gouge is one of them. On nearly every golf course Tarren plays, that is his path. Believe it or not, he is one of the longer golfers on the PGA Tour and is using that to his advantage this week. The putter has been alright but there is still room for improvement. I am hoping Tarren can find the flat stick over the next 36 holes because he has the blueprint to find success around this golf course.
Henrik Norlander Top 10 +400
Norlander is a PGA Tour veteran who makes his hay on the easiest of golf courses. That is exactly what we have here and that is exactly what he is doing thus far. Norlander's path to success is hitting iron shots close and making a ton of 10-15 foot putts. Through 36 holes, he is gaining strokes with the irons and putter. He has the ability to really spike with those clubs for a round and I am banking on that fact he will. Even if Norlander does not spike for a +5 approach round, which is elite… I still believe he is hitting it well enough to get within this number.
Neal Shipley Top 10 +160
If you are the low amateur at both The Masters and The US Open, you are good at golf. Shipley is back and he is -12 through 36 holes of The ISCO championship. Ship has proven to be able to finish inside the top 10 in easy scoring conditions. In his first start on The PGA Tour Americas, Shipley finished inside the top 10.
When we take a deeper look at his stats this week, he is gaining over three strokes on approach this week and another 1.3 strokes putting. That is a baseline to make birdies on any golf course and Ship is showing us what his build is. Outside of that, he is gaining strokes both off the tee and around the greens. It is impressive to be that complete at such a young age.
