Madison, MS – Billy Horschel fired a 9-under 63 on Friday to take the clubhouse lead at the True South Classic, which has been suspended due to darkness.
The tournament has been plagued by bad weather so far. A dangerous weather situation forced play to be stopped Thursday afternoon, and it never resumed. Even after the first round got back underway Friday morning, play was halted again -- this time for 63 minutes -- because of weather.
The first round was finally completed early Friday afternoon, after the second round had gotten under way.
But with the tournament so backed up, round two will need to be completed Saturday. Play is set to Resume at 8:30 a.m. (ET)..
Horschel excelled Friday, when he played 31 1/2 holes. He carded two eagles and no bogeys during his second round, which got him to 13-under-par 131.
"I hit it really good, there's no doubt about it," Horschel said. "I made some putts. I'll tell you what. I'm not lying to you guys out there. There's five putts out there that should have went in. So I shot 9-under. It should have been 13."
Even without those extra putts, he holds a one-stroke lead over Matt Bettencourt, who finished off a 6-under 66 on Friday morning before following it with another 66 to get to minus-12.
Jason Bohn is also minus-12 through nine holes.
Steven Bowditch is fourth in the clubhouse at 11-under 133. He carded a 5- under 67 during his second round at Annandale Golf Club.
J.J. Killeen is 10-under through 12 holes in his second round.
Defending champion Chris Kirk played 29 holes Friday and turned in a good performance. He had already reached minus-4 through seven holes before Thursday's suspension, and bogeyed his second hole Friday.
But birdies at 16 and 18 sent him into the second round at minus-5, and he carded a 4-under 68 that included an eagle. He is four strokes behind Horschel at minus-9, along with Chris Stroud (66) and Gary Christian (68). Jason Gore is nine-under through eight holes and Bud Cauley is also minus-nine through seven.
Horschel began his second round on the 10th tee and got to minus-6 thanks to birdies at 11 and 13. After a birdie at 17, he rolled in a five-footer for eagle at the par-5 18th.
The 25-year-old then birdied the fourth before making his second eagle of the round. At the par-5 fifth, he made a 10-foot putt to reach 12-under.
Horschel closed his round in style, with a birdie at the last. He has put himself in contention to win his first PGA Tour event during a season without many top results. His best finish was a tie for fourth at the Stadion Classic at UGA, a Web.com Tour event.
Bettencourt began his second round on the first tee and started hot, with three birdies in his first five holes getting him to minus-9. He stumbled to bogey at eight and 10, but made up for the mistakes with a strong close to his round.
He made birdies at 12, 14 and 15 before a bogey at the next hole knocked him back to minus-9. But Bettencourt birdied 17, then drained a 54-foot eagle try at the last.
Gavin Coles (68), Heath Slocum (67), Rocco Mediate (69) and Paul Stankowski (70) all got through their second rounds and are tied at minus-8. Scott Stallings is halfway through his round at eight-under.
NOTES: The cut is projected to fall at 3-under 141. Among those who will miss it are Will MacKenzie (144) and Mike Weir (149).
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