Jordan Smith posted a second-round 65, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 1st hole as well as four birdies and one bogey to reach 10-under and take a one-stroke lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He leads the field in Driving Accuracy (24 of 28).

“I’m obviously very, very happy,” said Smith. “Going into the weekend in a good position. The putter’s been hot the last two days, which is nice to see. Swing still hasn’t felt a hundred percent, but we’ve been hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, which is key out here. So, yeah, just going to take the chances when we get them.

“When we have missed the green, the majority of the time we missed it in the right places and left ourself easier chip shots. But, yeah, it’s a strength of my game out here, sort of hit a lot of fairways and greens. So we’re going to try and do the same over the weekend, go with the same game plan and attack those pins when we can.”

The English rookie holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead for the first time on the PGA Tour (previous best 36-hole position: T4/2022 Genesis Scottish Open/finished T24). This marks his best position after any round on Tour (previous: 3rd/2026 Valspar Championship/R3).

Smith has had four top-25 finishes in 14 starts this season with a solo-third finish at the 2026 Valspar Championship his career-best finish on Tour.

He earned his PGA Tour card for the 2026 season by finishing inside the top 10 of the 2025 DP World Tour Eligibility Ranking. He had won twice on the DP World Tour, at the 2017 Porsche European Open and the 2022 Portugal Masters.

“Obviously my first year out here and we’ve played a lot, we had to play a lot,” he added. “Just keeping our card this year was our goal. We’ve got off to a really good start, which is really nice to see. So, yeah, just going to try and push on from that and try and get on to some of the playoff events and see what happens.”

American Michael Thorbjornsen made six birdies and one bogey for a 65 to sit one shot off the lead. T2 matches his best position after 36 holes on Tour,  at the 2025 Corales Puntacana Championship where he finished T2 and the 2025 RSM Classic Classic where he finished T7. He withdrew during round one in 2025 in his only previous start at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Tied alongside him is compatriot Ryan Gerard who held a share of the overnight lead and posted a 3-under 67 having made five birdies and a double bogey at the par-4 3rd. He has finished runner-up twice this season (Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express).

Also sharing second place are fellow American Brian Harman and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama who both made five birdies and one bogey for 66s.

Making his first start since finishing T2 at the PGA Championship and currently T6 at 8-under, American Alex Smalley is the only player in the field still bogey-free after 36 holes. He entered the week with top-25 finishes in his last six starts on Tour.

Defending champion Ben Griffin fired four birdies and two bogeys for a 68 and trails by six strokes in T36 in his bid to join Ben Hogan (1946-47, 1952-53) as the only back-to-back winners of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Related: Grade “A” Architecture – Mayakoba

The Greg Norman course combines beautiful natural elements with interesting design inclusions.