WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Golf is literally in Parker Coody’s blood. His grandfather, Charles, won the 1971 Masters, two additional PGA TOUR titles and was a five-time PGA TOUR Champions winner. Parker’s father, Kyle, competed on the Korn Ferry Tour in the 1990s and played professional golf all over the world. In addition, Parker’s identical twin brother, Pierceson, his former University of Texas teammate is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, having already won this season (Live and Work in Maine Open in June).
Parker seems poised to do what Pierceson has already accomplished.
The PGA TOUR Canada rookie, who was an integral part of the Longhorns’ NCAA team championship two months ago, has forged a commanding lead at the halfway point of the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open. Coody fired a 10-under, 62 in Saturday’s second round. He’s 17-under after 36 holes and holds a five-stroke advantage over Derek Oland.
After finishing with a 65 in the weather-delayed first round, Coody was confident good things would continue to go well if he could maintain the same mindset and rhythm.
Better conditions and better greens on the sun-splashed day at Southwood Golf and Country Club, he added, also worked into the equation.
The formula is working, but the rookie isn’t taking anything for granted, even though Sunday’s finale will be a marathon 36 holes and not 18 to make up for Thursday’s first-round postponement following heavy rainfall.
“Keep going. There’s no point in stopping,” Coody said of his Sunday strategy. “All I can worry about is the first tee shot [Sunday], and after that we’ll see what happens.”
Coody had quite a round Saturday. He had 31s on both the front and back nines, with an eagle, eight birdies and no bogeys. He had a four-hole, 5-under stretch, starting on the 13th hole, his fourth hole of the day. He made his eagle there, followed by consecutive birdies. After a par on his seventh hole, he rolled in another birdie at the par-3 17th. His five final-nine birdies came at Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9.
“It was really smooth sailing all day,” said Coody, who is seeking his first professional victory in what is his sixth PGA TOUR Canada start.
First-round leader Oland is the closest pursuer, at 12-under, firing a 4-under 68 to go with his opening 64. Despite trailing Coody by a relatively wide margin, he’s optimistic about the last day.
“It’s golf. Anything can happen,” Oland said. “[Sunday] will be a long day.”
China’s Woecheng Ye is in third, at 11-under, the only non-American in the top 10. Andrew Dorn, Gavin Hall, Eric Lilleboe, Brad Reeves, Brian Richey and Benjamin Shipp are tied for fourth, at 10-under.
Did you know current leader Parker Coody missed the cut in the three tournaments leading up to the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open? Prior to that, he tied for for 15th in Edmonton and tied 52nd in Prince Edward Island.
How the Canadians fared
Of the 36 Canadians who teed it up this week, 11 made the cut, at 5-under. Leading that group are a trio of players—Wil Bateman, Joey Savoie and Noah Steele—all tied for 13th, at 8-under. Here are their results through 36 holes.
| Pos. | Player | Score |
| T13 | Wil Bateman | 67-69—136 (8-under) |
| T13 | Joey Savoie | 66-70—136 (8-under) |
| T13 | Noah Steele | 69-67—136 (8-under) |
| T24 | Cougar Collins | 69-68—137 (7-under) |
| T24 | Sudarshan Yellamaraju | 68-69—137 (7-under) |
| T37 | Lawren Rowe | 72-66—138 (6-under) |
| T37 | Roman Timmerman | 70-68—138 (6-under) |
| T47 | Jared du Toit | 68-71—139 (5-under) |
| T47 | Etienne Papineau | 71-68—139 (5-under) |
| T47 | Max Sekulic | 70-69—139 (5-under) |
| T47 | Chris R. Wilson | 74-65—139 (5-under) |
Fortinet Cup Standings
(Through Quebec Open)
| Rank | Player | Points | Second-Round Tournament Pos. |
| 1 | Danny Walker (U.S.) | 720 | Missed Cut |
| 2 | Wil Bateman (Canada) | 679 | T13 |
| 3 | Brian Carlson (U.S.) | 663 | Missed Cut |
| 4 | Ryan Gerard (U.S.) | 575 | T47 |
| 5 | Scott Stevens (U.S.) | 551 | T37 |
| 6 | Noah Goodwin (U.S.) | 520 | Missed Cut |
| 7 | Jake Knapp (U.S.) | 514 | Missed Cut |
| 8 | Thomas Walsh (U.S.) | 508 | Missed Cut |
| 9 | Cooper Dossey (U.S.) | 431 | Missed Cut |
| 10 | Cooper Musselman (U.S.) | 418 | T47 |
The cut was at 5-under, with 63 players advancing to the third round.
The plan Sunday is to have groups of three tee off on both Nos. 1 and 10, beginning at 7 a.m. Following the completion of the third round, at what is anticipated to be around noon, officials will not regroup the threesomes by scores and send the players back out on the course—again using two tees—for their final rounds.
Fortinet Cup leader Danny Walker missed the cut, as did No. 3 Brian Carlson, leaving Canadian Wil Bateman poised to take over the Fortinet Cup top spot with a good finish Sunday. Bateman began the week in the second position, 41 points behind Walker. Besides Walker, winner of the Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates, two other PGA TOUR Canada winners this season failed to make the cut. Carlson (Prince Edward Island Open presented by IMP Solutions) finished three strokes off the cutline, while Noah Goodwin (Sotheby’s International Realty Canada Ontario Open) finished at 1-under.
PGA TOUR Canada sponsor exemption, two-time NHL All-Star Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets, missed the cut, finishing at 18-over during his two days’ work.
Three of the eight Monday qualifiers, Sarosh Adi (9-under, tied for 10th), Daniel Hudson (8-under, tied for 13th) and Roman Timmerman (6-under, tied for 37th), made the cut.
Saturday’s top climber was Travis Trace, who shot a 64—the second-best score of the day behind Parker Coody’s 62—and moved up 75 positions. He’s 8-under and tied for 13th. Other big movers included Chris R. Wilson (nine strokes better, with his second round 65) and Lawren Rowe (a six-stroke improvement, shooting a 66). They jumped up 74 and 50 spots, respectively.
Thursday’s postponement proved to be a good thing for Wocheng Ye of China. Had the tournament been played as scheduled he likely would have had to withdraw because of illness. “It gave me another day to rest,” Ye said. “So, I rested for four or five days when I got here. The former University of Florida star went to a doctor and is under medication for a sore throat. Ye is 11-under after two rounds. This is the second time this season he has strung together back-to-back sub-70 rounds. After missing four consecutive cuts, starting at the ATB Classic presented by Volvo Edmonton, Ye made the cut two weeks ago at the Quebec Open. He tied for 24th outside Montreal after an even-par 72 start, followed by a 69-70-70 close. Ye is working on a streak of five consecutive under-par rounds and six at par or better.
University of Arizona alum Brad Reeves began his round with an impressive five-hole stretch that began with an eagle and was followed by four birdies. “Just about everything was working for me,” Reeves said. “I was feeling really good at that point.” Reeves added that he was “cooking for that stretch.” Unfortunately, his day didn’t end so well. Reeves finished with a double bogey on his final hole and went to the clubhouse at 10-under. “Obviously it leaves a sour taste in the mouth with the way I finished,” Reeves said. “But you’ve just got to move on and get over it.”
Former Texas Longhorn standout Parker Coody shot a 62 on Saturday, becoming the first player on PGA TOUR Canada to do so this season on a par-72 course. Eric Lilleboe and Danny Walker had 62s in previous tournaments but not on par-72s.
The 18-hole record in a PGA TOUR Canada tournament at Southwood Golf and Country Club came courtesy of Will Gordon in 2019. In the second round that year, Gordon fired an 11-under 61 and eventually went on to tie for fourth. Gordon is currently playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, coming off back-to-back ties for fifth on that circuit. He finished the Regular Season 33rd on the Points List. He is currently tied for 13th in the Albertsons Boise Open, the first event of the Korn Ferry Tour Playoffs after opening 67-66-67.
After winning the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament in San Jacinto, California, in early April, gaining Tour membership for the first time, Jake Vincent has found the professional golf path a bit bumpy. In the first six tournaments this season, he missed every cut and broke 70 only twice in his 12 rounds. This week, things changed. The former Southern Utah University golfer, by way of his native Bermuda Dunes, California, opened with scores of 69-70 at Southwood Golf and Country Club to sit at 5-under. He’s tied for 47th, his first made cut of the season. Vincent has only made one bogey through 36 holes.
The Players Pitch in…
“I knew if I could capture the same feeling I had [Friday]— same rhythm, all that stuff—that I was able to do it today because the conditions were a lot better.” — Parker Coody
“I’m hoping to tighten things up [Sunday] and get going.” — Derek Oland
“We’ve got 36 holes [Sunday] and plenty of time to catch up to wherever I need to be.” — Brad Reeves
“I’m feeling pretty good. I didn’t expect it because my body was feeling sick.” — Wocheng Ye on the upper respiratory issues he has experienced since Wednesday
“It will obviously be a grind. But making the cut and playing 36 [Sunday] is a good thing. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to it.” — Derek Oland
Second-Round Weather: Mostly sunny and warm. High of 28. Wind SSW at 3-5 kph.
