Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Webb Simpson fired a 5-under 67 in Friday's second round and he joined first-round leader Robert Streb in first place heading into the weekend at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, is a Charlotte native and a member at Quail Hollow Club. Simpson is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, while Streb, who carded a 3-under 69 in round two, earned his first win earlier this season at The McGladrey Classic.
The duo of Simpson and Streb finished 36 holes at 10-under-par 134, two shots better than Martin Flores (67) and Patrick Rodgers (68), who share third place at 8-under 136.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who picked up his first PGA Tour victory at this event in 2010, carded a 67. He is tied for fifth with Phil Mickelson (66), the runner-up to McIlroy in 2010, and Will MacKenzie (68).
Simpson was chasing Streb throughout most of the day before catching him late. The 29-year-old did not get off to a great start, however, as he tripped to a bogey at No. 3. He later sandwiched a bogey on six between birdies at five and seven, putting Simpson at even for the day.
Then Simpson got things going starting with a chip-in from 56 feet out for birdie on No. 9. Around the turn Simpson made it two in a row with a 6-foot gain at No. 10.
Following a trio of pars from 11 and still three shots back of Streb, Simpson rolled in another set of birdies from eight and five feet out on 14 and 15.
Simpson joined Streb atop the leaderboard with yet another chip-in birdie from 67 feet at the par-3 17th and he closed with a par at the last to end at minus-10.
"It was a fun round. I had a couple chip-ins at nine and 17. A mistake early on three and a mistake on six with iron shots, but other than that it was similar to the first round. Just clean," Simpson said. "Drove it nicely and the golf course firmed out quickly."
Streb continued to play well on Friday as he started his round with four straight pars from the first. He then birdied three of four holes from six, five and 15 feet from No. 5 to get into red numbers for the first time on the day.
After making the turn with four straight pars from nine, Streb stretched his lead to three shots with a 9-foot birdie conversion on the par-3 13th.
That was his last birdie of the day, however. Streb found water off the tee on 16, leading to a bogey and dropping him back to minus-10 and into a tie for the lead with Simpson. Streb finished up with a pair of pars.
"A few errant shots here and there, missed a couple of good opportunities on nine and 10, not that I hit bad putts but they just didn't go in," said Streb. "Played pretty good for the most part there in the middle of the round and in the end kind of just tried to get home."
NOTES: Simpson has three top-10 finishes in 11 events this season ... Including his win, Streb has five top-10s, but has missed the cut in four of his last six events ... Colt Knost made a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th, which was the first at this event since 2008 and only the second in tournament history ... Jason Bohn made back-to-back eagles on 14 and 15, including a pitch-in from 89 yards on 14 ... With the cut falling at even-par 144, 81 players advanced to play the weekend ... Of those missing the cut were defending champion J.B. Holmes, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Jim Furyk and Charl Schwartzel.
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