James Driscoll birdied the closing hole and finished shooting a nine-under 63 to tie the Puerto Rico Open tournament record and will take a one shot lead over Chesson Hadley and two over Eric Axley heading into the weekend.
The 36-year-old Boston native, managed to have a bogey-free round that included an eagle and seven birdies. He sits now at 12-under 132 at the halfway mark on the Trump International Championship Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Driscoll already owned a share of the 18-hole course record with a round one 63 at the 2011 edition. The record was first set by Derek Lamely in 2010, the tied by Driscoll and Chris Tidland in 2011 and then Scott Brown en route to his win last year.
Should he win, would be just the third first-time winner on TOUR this season joining Jimmy Walker (Frys.com Open) and Kevin Stadler (2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open).
When asked about if he had any expectations for tomorrow, Driscoll said: “No, not really. I mean we're only halfway there, so I'm going to just keep trying to do what I'm doing, maybe hole some putts and keep trying to hit it solid.”
Hadley, who won the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship last year and finished third on that Tour, shot a seven-under 65 on Friday and is 11-under 133. He started on the back-nine, where he had his two bogeys of the day at the 16th and 17th holes. He played the front-nine perfectly at five-under, including and eagle at the Par-5 second hole.
Axley, a one-time winner on tour (2006 Valero Texas Open), started on the front-nine and birdied holes four thru six to get started. His only blemish, a bogey, came on the Par-4 13th. But he birdied 15th and the closing 18th and set at the time the clubhouse lead at 10-under 134.
Tied for fourth at nine-under 135 are Ben Martin (67), Wes Roach (66), Jonathan Byrd (66) and Danny Lee (68).
David Toms, the 2001 PGA Championship winner, had the low round of the day at eight-under before Driscoll overtaking him. He started on the back-nine and was at nine-under when he bogeyed the eight hole (his 17th), but made up for it with a birdie on his closing hole.
He is in a crowded eight-way tie for eighth-place at eight-under. On that group are 2012 winner Geroge McNeill (67), Ricky Barnes (68), Jerry Kelly (67), Jason Gore (69), Bud Cauley (67), Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello (67) and England’s Greg Owen (67).
First round leader, Brian Stuard, shot a one-under 71 and is T-16th at seven-under 137, along with fellow American Richard Lee, Sweden’s Carl Pettersson and South African Tyrone Van Aswegen.
Brooks Koepka, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 70 in the Official World Golf Rankings, shot a five-under and stands at T33 entering the weekend.
Defending champion Scott Brown shot a one-over 73 and is T-68th and made cut the cut hitting the cut-line at one-under. Rafael Campos was the lone Puerto Rican to make the cut, managing to shoot a three-under 69 and is also T-68th at one-under.
The action continues Saturday with the first groups taking the first and 10th tees at 9:45 am ET. Golf Channel has the TV coverage from 2:30-5:00 am ET and 6:30-9:00 pm.