Contingent of Canadians chase leader Wright at Bayview Place DCBank Open

Second-Round Leaderboard

Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist

Full leaderboard: https://www.pgatour.com/canada/en_us/leaderboard.html

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada—Despite heavy rainfall making for a damp Friday afternoon, Zach Wright continued to impress at the second round of the Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist at Uplands Golf Club.

With three Canadians from the morning wave, Wes Heffernan, Jared Du Toit, and Aaron Cockerill, leapfrogging Wright as he prepared for his second round, the overnight leader kept his nose to the grindstone, making birdie on his first hole of the day to set the stage for a seven-birdie, three-bogey 66.

“I had to battle out there, that’s for sure,” said Wright, who watched the players teeing off in the morning coming in dry as he was getting a rain suit prepped for the afternoon. “Towards the end, [the greens] were getting softer, but early on they were just skipping because they were so wet but still firm.”

Being on the wrong side of the draw didn’t appear to inhibit the Louisiana State University alumni’s game. The second-place finisher of last week’s Freedom 55 Financial Open hit 15 greens Friday, and he takes a two-stroke lead over Aaron Cockerill and Sam Fidone into the weekend.

“When you’ve been in the hunt recently, it helps when you’re in the hunt again the next week because you’re more familiar with it. So you can just play your game,” said Wright. “There’s always a little bit of nerves, but I’ve been handling it very well so I’m going to just keep playing my golf game.”

Going into Saturday’s action, Wright doesn’t intend to change anything and will continue to rely on the game that has him two ahead.

“I’m going to just keep playing golf. There’s not really a secret formula to it,” said Wright. “Sometimes you have it going on and you just have to play golf, and it happens.”

Key Information

• Ten Canadians made the cut, with three inside the top five. All three are within three shots of Zach Wright’s lead.
• Aaron Cockerill, who finished 37th on the 2017 Order of Merit, shot 1-over on his opening nine of the day, equaling his worst nine-hole score of the year. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native would significantly improve that number on his back nine, making birdie on five of his last seven holes to shoot 30, equaling his lowest nine-hole score of the season.
• Jack Newman made the biggest jump up the leaderboard Friday, shooting 64, including a 29 on the back nine, to pass 93 players. The Des Moines, Iowa, native made an eagle on the 12^th and three consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-18 to close his round.
• Paul McConnell has quietly played splendid golf this season, with four consecutive sub-60 rounds dating to the third round of the Freedom 55 Financial Classic. McConnell hasn’t made a bogey in 61 holes as he heads into the third round tied for sixth after a second-round 67.
• Despite playing in just two events last season, Calgary’s Wes Heffernan managed to finish the season 36^th on the money list, thanks to a runner-up finish at the ATB Financial Classic. Heffernan is quickly taking advantage of what he says will be another shortened season, following Thursday’s 65 with a 66 to sit in a tie for fourth heading into the weekend.
• With family in the area, Jared Du Toit showed off his acclimation for island golf in the second round, shooting the second-lowest round of the day at Uplands Golf Club—a bogey-free 64. Following a massive drive, Du Toit eagled the par -5 seventh after sticking a 7-iron to five feet.
• The lowest round of the day came from Matthew Picanso. Following an opening-round 70, the Phoenix, Arizona, native made seven birdies to shoot 63.
• Sam Fidone credited his time on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica for helping him navigate his way through the Uplands downpour early in his second round. The Lufkin, Texas, native offset one bogey with five birdies to shoot 66. He is tied for second.
• Zach Wright’s seven birdies in the second round gives him 40 on the season, the most of any Mackenzie Tour player only six rounds into the season.

Quotable

“Ever since my first year I’ve been making a lot of birdies. I just have to keep the bogeys off the card. I play safe enough where I don’t usually have a lot of bogeys, that’s kind of my game plan, to try and make as many birdies as I can. It’s kind of a shootout out here, I mean, everybody’s under par.” – Zach Wright

“This is my favorite event, city, golf course, everything. I had a feeling I was going to play pretty good here. It’s been good so far, so just two more days of more of the same.” –  Aaron Cockerill

“This is my fourth year here, and every year I’ve had a higher finish. I love this golf course; the greens are perfect, you have to hit it in the fairway, which suits my game. You don’t have to hit it 340 yards, which is good for me, and you just got to be smart and take what it gives you.” – Aaron Cockerill

“Three Canadian flags at the top. I haven’t seen that in a while, so that’s good to see. I played with Jared (Du Toit) in the third round last year, and he’s one of my best buddies.  I’ll be in one of the later groups on Saturday, and that’s what we play for out here.” – Aaron Cockerill

“There are a ton of different ways to play this golf course. If you’re feeling good with the driver, you’re going to have a lot of wedges in your hands, and that’s why you’ll see a lot of low scores. If you’re not feeling great with it, you can hit iron off the tee and make birdie the hard way. It’s cool. There is lots of strategy, and the greens are some of the best we play all year.”  – Jared Du Toit

“This is the first course I’ve played two times as a pro, so having eight or nine rounds logged is good and definitely doesn’t hurt. I definitely feel comfortable out here. There’s a lot of support among spectators, so it’s awesome.” – Jared Du Toit

“Coming from the (PGA TOUR Latinoamerica), I’m used to weather and bad luck in wave draws. There are 78 other guys that have to deal with the same weather that I do, so if that’s what I have to do, it’s what I have to do.” – Sam Fidone

“I’ll be somewhat nervous [Saturday]. I was nervous before today’s round and yesterday’s round and last week’s round. It’ll be the same thing. I’ve just got to stick to my game plan and focus on every shot.” –– Sam Fidone

“Because I’m only playing a few events, I’m enjoying it a lot. This is one of my favorite courses in Canada. Putting isn’t necessarily the strongest part of my game, but when you get on these greens, the ball rolls so well that you start to get some confidence going.” – Wes Heffernan

Second-Round Weather: Rainy and cool. High of 12. Wind 9 KM/h.