Legends Reno-Tahoe Open: Second-round notebook

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Aug. 1, 2008
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff

RENO, Nev. -- Parker McLachlin surged into the lead at the midway point of the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open on Friday with a career-best 10-under 62 -- topping the 65 he had recorded on four different occasions and most recently during the third round of this year's Sony Open in Hawaii. At 14-under 130, he holds a four-stroke advantage over Nick Flanagan (65), Larry Mize (66), John Merrick (67) and Brian Davis (67).

Nick Flanagan posted a 65 to move into a share of second place. (Daniel/Getty Images)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player	Score
1. Parker McLachlin	130 -14
T2. John Merrick	134 -10
T2. Nick Flanagan	134 -10
T2. Larry Mize	134 -10
T2. Brian Davis	134 -10
T6. Bob Estes	135 -9
T6. Harrison Frazar	135 -9
T8. Mathias Gronberg	136 -8
T8. Joe Ogilvie	136 -8
T8. John Rollins	136 -8
T8. John Huston	136 -8

• Parker McLachlin's four-stroke lead equals the largest 36-hole cushion so far this season, also set by Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational and Phil Mickelson at the Northern Trust Open. At the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, Steve Flesch's two-stroke margin after the first two rounds in 2007 was the previous largest in tournament history. During the first eight years of the event (1999-2006), the leader(s) after 36 holes all held one-stroke advantages over their nearest competitors.

• McLachlin's 62 equals the Montreux Golf & Country Club course record set by Bill Glasson in 2005. Glasson also performed the feat during the second round. Roland Thatcher holds the lowest 18-hole score on TOUR this season with a 61 during the third round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic. McLachlin was close to tying Thatcher, but missed a 4-foot, 7-inch putt for birdie on the final hole.

• This marks the first time McLachlin has held the second-round lead during his career on the PGA TOUR. His only prior lead after any round came earlier this year at the AT&T Classic, where an opening-round 66 was good enough for a share of lead. He would eventually finish tied for fifth.

• McLachlin is making his second start at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. Last year, he posted rounds of 72-72-72-71 to finish tied for 37th.

• The second-round leader has gone on to win 14 of 32 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2008, including the last two weeks (Richard S. Johnson at the U.S. Bank Championship and Chez Reavie at the RBC Canadian Open).

• The second-round leader/co-leader at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open has won three of nine times, including John Cook in 2001, Vaughn Taylor in 2005 and Steve Flesch in 2007.

• Nick Flanagan, the 2007 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, posted a 7-under 65 to move into a share of second place. Flanagan joined the PGA TOUR during the 2007 season after becoming the eighth player in Tour history to earn the Nationwide Tour's Three-Win Promotion. After a frustrating start to the 2008 season, he seems to have turned the corner as of late with four straight made cuts and a tie for 11th at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee just two weeks ago.

• The cut came at even-par 144, with 71 players advancing to the weekend.

• Four-time PGA TOUR winner and 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize recorded a 6-under 66 to move into a four-way tie for second place. Mize will turn 50 on Sept. 23 to become eligible for the Champions Tour. This season, he has made 13 previous starts, with a tie for 10th at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular his best outing. He missed the cut in his first four appearances at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open (2000, 2004-06) before finishing tied for 57th a year ago.

• Michelle Wie posted an 8-over 80 on Friday to finish her eighth career start in a PGA TOUR event at 9-over 153. Wie holds the record for most starts on TOUR by a female, with Babe Didrikson Zaharias second on the list with four starts.

• Of the three past champions of the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open are participating this week, two made the cut, including 1999 champion Notah Begay III (69-74?143) and 2003 winner Kirk Triplett (71-72?143). 2002 champion Chris Riley had to withdraw before the second round with an illness. The only other WD came from Tom Byrum due to an injury suffered during the round.

• The second-round scoring average at the par-72 Montreux Golf & Country Club was 71.938, bringing the cumulative average for the week to 72.309. The par-4 eighth hole played the hardest on Friday at 4.308, while the par-5 17th hole was the easiest at 4.662.