Three share 36-hole lead at Northeast Pennsylvania Classic

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MOSCOW, Pa. -- Fortunately for Greg Chalmers, he's not much on predictions. After posting a 1-under-par 69 Friday in the second round of the Xerox Classic, the 34-year-old Australian figured the rest of the field would leave him in the dust by day's end.

Co-leader Brad Fritsch needs a good result to improve his prospcects for 2009. (Martin/Getty Images)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score T1. Greg Chalmers 132 -8 T1. Brad Fritsch 132 -8 T1. D.A. Points 132 -8 T4. David Branshaw 133 -7 T4. Dustin Bray 133 -7 T6. Scott Piercy 134 -6 T6. Rick Price 134 -6 T6. Cameron Percy 134 -6 T6. Chris Kirk 134 -6 T6. Won Joon Lee 134 -6 T6. Jeff Curl 134 -6

"I'm going to have spike marks on my back this afternoon," said Chalmers after posting an 8-under 132 total in the morning wave. "I see no reason why the guys who are at 4 and 5 under won't shoot a low score today."

When it was all said and done, though, nobody had gone past the Aussie lefty. Instead, Chalmers was part of a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard with Canada's Brad Fritsch and 2004 champion D.A. Points.

The trio shares first place at the halfway point in the $525,000 Nationwide Tour event, which moved to Elmhurst Country Club this year after spending the first eight at Glenmaura National Golf Club in Scranton. Fritsch carded a 5-under 65 while Points tacked up the second-lowest number of the day, a 6-under 64.

David Branshaw (66) and Dustin Bray (67) share fourth place, one back of the leaders. A half-dozen others are within two of the lead, including Jeff Curl, whose 63 was the best of the best on the tournament's second straight day of nearly perfect weather.

Part of the reason a lot of people didn't go racing past Chalmers, despite sunny skies, no wind and temperatures in the upper 70s was the difficult conditions at Elmhurst, which measures out to just 6,810 yards. Thick rough and firm greens are keeping the scores from dipping too far under par.

Chalmers shared the first-day lead with Chris Tidland (72) and looked like he'd run away from the field after turning the front nine at 3 under and getting to minus-10.

"I really played nicely the first nine holes," said this year's Henrico County Open winner, who then stumbled home with a 2-over 37. "I made some bad decisions and it cost me dearly. I think I hit three shots that I wish I could hit again and unfortunately I had two doubles and a bogey."

Chalmers first got into trouble when he tried to muscle a 5-iron out of some heavy rough on No. 10 and advanced the ball only about 10 feet. That led to the first of his two doubles. He also took two shots to get out of a greenside bunker at the par-3 13th, leading to his second double in four holes.

"Sure I would have liked to play better but I wasn't trying to make doubles, I was trying to make birdies," he said after making six birdies. "I did a self-lobotomy there a couple times, I think. I made some silly choices and so be it. I played some good golf in between."

Chalmers has been playing pretty good golf in 2008. He won in Richmond in May, has eight top-10 finishes and is No. 4 on the money list, assuring himself a return trip to the PGA TOUR in 2009.

Fritsch, an Edmonton native now living in North Carolina, hit all 14 fairways Friday afternoon while grabbing a share of a lead for the first time in his career.

"It's just nice to be on the right side of the cut," said Fritsch, who is No. 101 on the money list and has now made the cut in half of his 20 starts. "It's just nice to be playing on the weekend. It'll be nice to be playing somewhere near the end of the draw. I've been in this position a couple of times this year and I did okay, but not great."

Fritsch's only top-10 came at the Knoxville Open, where a final-round 71 dropped him into a tie for ninth. The Campbell University grad is trying not to get too wrapped up in the money list as the season winds down and a sense of urgency begins to set in.

"You try not to think about it but you know the number you have to get to," he said. "It's always in your head a little bit."

Second-Round News & Notes: Bob Burns withdrew prior to the start of the second round. ... Keoke Cotner withdrew during the second round due to a hand injury. ... Jeff Curl rolled in five consecutive birdies (Nos. 14-18) on his opening nine holes. His 6-under-par 29 tied the tournament record and also matched the lowest 9-hole score on Tour this year. ... A total of 65 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-under 139. ... Nicholas Reach, a sophomore-to-be at Scranton Prep High School in Scranton, struggled to a 6-over 76 in the second round and missed the 36-hole cut by six shots. The 16-year-old shot a 3-under 67 in the first round and was trying to become the second-youngest player ever to make a 36-hole cut on the Nationwide Tour. ... This week's field features 12 of the top 15 money winners on the 2008 Nationwide Tour.