ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Every group in the afternoon wave has been on the course for at least an hour. Early indications are that there won’t be many threats to Michael Thompson’s lead at 10 under. Webb Simpson, who started closest at 7 under, gave a shot away when he missed a 4-foot par-saver on No. 4. He got back to 7 under with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 7th. Joining him at 7 under is Billy Horschel, who is 1 under through his first three holes. Richard S. Johnson just made the turn at 1 under today, 6 under for the week, and is joined there by Ben Crane, Scott McCarron and Nick O’Hern who have played six, five and five holes respectively. The biggest mover of the early afternoon is Charles Howell III. The two-time PGA TOUR winner has four birdies and a bogey on his first four holes today at Sea Island and has moved to a tie for 15th on the leaderboard at 4 under. Our Featured group is seven holes into their second round. Brandt Snedeker, on the strength of back-to-back birdies at Nos. 5 and 6 is 2 under today, 1 under for the week, and leading the trio of St. Simons Island residents. Zach Johnson and Davis Love III are both 1 over for the week. Johnson gave his shot away on No. 4 while Love, who opened with a 69 Thursday, had two bogeys to start his round.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Though already a member of the PGA TOUR, Richard S. Johnson was PGA TOUR driven during Thursday's first round of the McGladrey Classic. Johnson, who at No. 185 on the money list, is battling to secure his TOUR card for 2012 found 13 of 14 fairways in regulation Thursday. His 5-under 65 places him two shots behind early leader Webb Simpson at the McGladrey Classic. Shots from the tee have plagued Johnson this year. He’s hitting less than 63 percent of fairways and averaging nearly one stroke more per round. That was no problem Thursday, where his lone missed fairway came on his opening tee shot that settled right on the edge of the short grass. “I drove it fantastic,” Johnson said. “The course is not the longest one we play on TOUR that gives you a lot of short irons into soft greens. It was an easy day for me.” This in a season where nothing much has come easy for Johnson, who has made just 9 of 21 cuts on TOUR after regaining full status at q-school last fall. Johnson tied for 54th at this event last year with two rounds in the 60s, but has 5 under mark is one shot better than his total number from a year ago. In addition to his improved game off the tee, soft conditions at the Seaside Course made pins much more accessible, especially from his fairway lies. “You can attack a lot more this year,” Johnson said. “Last year, we had to be careful with some of the pins. There were actually some really tucked ones out there today, but we could get after them. (The soft conditions) bring in some other things, like you can spin it off the greens in a couple areas where it wouldn’t have been the case last year.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Webb Simpson (5 under through 14 holes) is the early leader at the McGladrey Classic, but the guys one shot back may be on the minds of more players in the afternoon wave. Four players -- Richard S. Johnson, Michael Letzig, Scott McCarron and Paul Stankowski -- of the six tied for second are currently outside the top 125 on the money list. Their presence near the top of the leaderboard gives guys like No. 123 David Mathis, No. 125 Matt Jones and No. 127 Paul Casey a little something extra to think about before teeing it up this afternoon. It’s far too early to start predicting what the leaderboard will look like Sunday, but with such a high quantity of players outside the top 125 near the top of the leaderboard, at least a couple can be expected to make major moves this week. This leaves the current bubble boys knowing that they must at least make it to Sunday, or risk being on the outside looking in when the TOUR heads to Disney for next week’s Fall Series finale.

Fred Funk and Jeff Klauk withdrew from the Transitions Championship on Wednesday. Funk has a problem with some cartilage in his chest while Klauk tweeted he isn’t feeling well.

@JEFFKLAUKpga Just WD from the tournament. Feeling terrible and need to head home. Innisbrook Is one of my favorite courses on tour as well

Funk was replaced by former Florida standout Billy Horschel while Richard S. Johnson replaced Klauk.

Richard S. Johnson is best known as the little Swede who won the U.S. Bank Championship at Brown Deer Park in 2008, but Johnson's exemption for winning that event runs out after this year.

Johnson came into TPC Summerlin ranked 143rd, and he was still idle before the final round. Then, he rallied with a flurry of eagles and birdies in the final round.

Johnson jarred his approach on the par-4 fourth, tacked on three more birdies, then eagled the par-5 16th to get to 7 under, which is among the best rounds of the day. Johnson is projected to move all the way to 121st on the money list. As we've seen in recent years, that number is critical -- usually a player around the 120 mark has some wiggle room as they play the season finale.

  Money list: Current standings | Projected standings

Don’t look now but there are 19 players in double digits within four strokes of the lead held by John Rollins, who has birdied three of his first five holes.

Richard S. Johnson and Brandt Snedeker, the 2007 winner of the Wyndham Championship, are tied at 13 under.

Johnson actually made the turn in 29 but missed a 21-inch par putt at No. 10. He did bounce back with a birdie at the 11th and is 6 under through 12 holes.