SAVANNAH, Georgia – Following a bogey-free 7-under 65 Friday, Erik Barnes sits alone atop the leaderboard at 13-under par after 36 holes at the Club Car Championship at The Landings Club. It marks the second 36-hole lead in 159 career starts for Barnes on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Thursday’s first round, which was interrupted by inclement weather, concluded Friday morning.

Barnes, who plays from Marion, Indiana, was a part of the late-early wave of tee times the first two days, something he admitted was advantageous this week. In Thursday’s opening round, Barnes teed off in the afternoon, avoided strong wind gusts and inclement weather which ultimately caused an 80-minute delay, and carded a 6-under 66.

The 34-year-old began his second round Friday at the par-4 10th and made his first birdie at the par-3 12th. Barnes closed his first nine with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16, and the par-5 18th. Barnes’ trio of birdies on the front nine came on par 4s (Nos. 4, 5, and 7). The seven birdies recorded by Barnes were tied for fourth among players in the second round.

“We got really lucky on the (afternoon) wave,” Barnes said. “It seems like a lot of times, you feel like you're always on the bad end of the draw, but there's no denying we got the good end of the draw here. When the storm blew through, the wind laid down a lot. It was a big advantage to play the late-early wave.”

Barnes only bogey of the tournament came Thursday at the par-3 12th. The Austin Peay State University alum is one of four players in the field with a single bogey through 36 holes.

“I've been hitting it good, for the most part, all year,” Barnes said. “I'm just not risking too much on the holes that you feel like you can make a big number. Fortunately, I've been avoiding too many mistakes. But if you take your eye off the ball just for a minute, you'll make a quick score you didn't want to make, and then all of a sudden you drop a couple.”

Barnes’ only other instances leading a Korn Ferry Tour event were last July at the 2021 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS, where he led outright after 36 holes and shared the 54-hole lead before Taylor Moore overtook him with a 6-under 65 in the final round. Barnes finished three strokes behind Moore, who shot an 11-under 60 in the third round, for the third runner-up finish of his Korn Ferry Tour career.

While Barnes has not found the podium this year, in the first seven events he already has three top-10s, only one less than his highest single-season total on the Korn Ferry Tour (four across 26 starts in 2018, and four across 38 starts in 2020-21). Barnes, now the only player with made cuts in all eight events this season, has a top-10 in each month thus far, finishing T4 at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club in January, T5 at The Panama Championship in February, and a T5 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS two weeks ago.

“I've been trying to take the mentality that I'm not playing that great this year so I'm in grind mode,” said Barnes, who entered the week ranked No. 13 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. “It's been working out so far this year. It's going to be tough the next two days no matter what happens, but I'll keep myself thinking I'm not playing that great and in grind mode, and maybe I can keep playing well.”

Barnes has been on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2015, finishing top 75 in the regular season four times (2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020-21), including a career-high 31st last season. Also of note last season, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Barnes stocked shelves as a Grocery Replenishment Specialist at Publix to help support his family financially.

As Barnes pursues his first career Korn Ferry Tour win, his support system will be along for the journey, as his wife, Ashleigh, and their two sons, Jaxton and Tucker, made the trip to Savannah.

After Barnes capped his second round with a par at the challenging par-4 ninth, Jaxton and Tucker sprinted to him as he walked off the green.

“I drove (from the Lake Charles Championship) back to Birmingham Sunday night after final round, then we all drove together Monday afternoon here,” said Barnes. “Being able to try to get away a little bit and focus on family instead of thinking about golf so much, that's always positive. I guarantee (Jaxton and Tucker) they’re going to want to play baseball in the driveway. We'll do that until the no-see-ums bite me enough to where I go back inside.”

Third-round pairings will run from 7:24 a.m. through 1:10 p.m. local time off the first tee.