Trying to qualify for the Tour Championship, Craig Parry of Australia matched the lowest round of his PGA Tour career and tied Tim Herron for the lead midway through the Buick Challenge.
Parry began his round on the back nine at Callaway Gardens and played his first 11 holes in eight-under before parring the final seven for a bogey-free eight-under 64. His fifth 64 in 240 PGA Tour events gave him a 36-hole total of 13-under 131.
"For the guys I was playing with, it was pretty embarrassing," Parry said. "It was going in from everywhere."
Parry began the week 40th on the money list with $1.3million, over 400,000 dollars behind Brad Faxon for the 30th and final berth in next week's Tour Championship. Parry needs to win the 666,000-dollar top prize to make it to East Lake Golf Club next week.
Herron has no chance of qualifying for the marquee event, but he kept a share of the lead he built Thursday with a four-under 68 that included five birdies in his first seven holes.
Nicknamed "Lumpy," Herron is 71st on the money list, nearly 900,000 dollars behind Faxon. He never placed worse than 65th in earnings during his first six PGA Tour seasons.
"I played well last week, so I felt like I could play well this week," said Herron. "That's kind of why I'm playing well, I guess. If you knew, you would win every week."
Phil Mickelson had a typical roller-coaster round, offsetting a bogey and double-bogey in a three-hole stretch of the back nine - his front - with a six-under 30 over his final nine holes. He is second at 12-under 132.
"I feel like I was patient, even though I was two-over, and I turned it around," the world's second-ranked player said.
David Toms, Chris Riley, J.L. Lewis and Chad Campbell share fifth at 10-under 134, a stroke better than a group of six players that includes Vijay Singh of Fiji.
AFP