Ryan Gerard, playing his first Stableford tournament, made seven birdies to move into the lead with 30 points at the halfway mark in the Barracuda Championship. He leads the field in birdies this week (16) and Strokes Gained: Approach The Green (8.769).

“I played really solid all day. I’ve been hitting it great. I think I’ve hit 16 or 17 greens both rounds out here. So feel really comfortable at the altitude getting the distances to the right spot where I want ’em. I had a little bit of a mud on my shirt from hitting it out of the water on 6, but besides that it was relatively stress-free and always nice to hole a few par putts coming down the stretch.

“I’m feeling like I’m hitting my driver really well. I’m hitting my irons and my approaches pretty much right on the number. Which is always hard to do when you’re playing 10 to 12 percent kind of adjustment. So really just making sure that I’m hitting the proper shots to the proper sides and not getting overly aggressive. I know this is a format where guys like to go out and kind of pin their ears back. But just been trying to pick my spots and play to my strengths.”

The American holds his first lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA Tour; his best position prior to this week was T3 at the 2023 Honda Classic where he finished 4th.

Gerard is playing as a Special Temporary Member this season and must earn as many or more points as No. 125 in the final 2022-23 FedExCup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List to earn full status. He currently has 251 points, which would fall between Nos. 129 and 130.

Patrick Rodgers made seven birdies and three bogeys to move into second place with 26 points total.

Swedish rookie Vincent Norrman who defeated Nathan Kimsey in a playoff at last week’s Barbasol Championship, lies in third place with 23 points after firing an eagle at the par-5 12th as well as five birdies and three bogeys.

The last player to earn his first two PGA Tour titles in consecutive tournaments on the schedule was David Duval in 1997 (Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Classic).

American Beau Hossler produced three birdies and a bogey and lies in solo fourth place with 22 points ahead of compatriot Sean Crocker and China’s Zecheng Dou with 21.

Scoring

The Barracuda Championship utilizes the Modified Stableford scoring format, the first PGA Tour event to use the format since The International in 2006. Players are allocated points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole with the goal of achieving the highest overall score.

Albatross +8
Eagle +5
Birdie +2
Par 0
Bogey -1
Double bogey or worse -3

Related: Brian Harman hunting major breakthrough after surging clear / Scores

Harman holds a five-shot lead over local favourite Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage at Royal Liverpool.