By Jeremy Harness

Martin Laird did not have a very good putting season in 2013-14, but his flat stick has gotten him off to a great start to this campaign.

Laird has been a model of consistency in these first two days, and his matching rounds of 67 have placed him on top of the leaderboard, as he currently holds a one-shot lead over both first-round leader Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea as well as Zac Blair.

After suffering a bogey at the sixth that saw him hit his drive into the fairway bunker and then hit his second shot into a greenside sand trap, Laird rallied by running off four straight birdies on holes eight through 11, a streak which saw him roll in a 19-foot putt at the 10th and capping it off with a 23-footer at the 11th.

After the round, Laird credited the fact that the course itself sets up very well for his game.

“When I played (a practice round) on Tuesday, I liked the golf course right away,” Laird said. “I think it does suit my game because the greens are getting kind of firm, and with the course not being the longest golf course to play, there are some tight pins on the front of the greens that some guys can’t get to if you don’t hit it high.

“And you know, I hit it high.”

He used that to his advantage to grab the one-stroke lead at the 18th, as his high wedge shot to a front pin spun back four feet from the hole before he draining the birdie putt.

“I probably worked more on my short game in the last month than I have in a long time, and I’ve definitely seen it this week,” he said. “My wedge game was pretty bad last year, and it’s nice when you do the hard work and then you hit (a) wedge shot on the last hole to tap-in range almost. It makes it worthwhile.”

Meanwhile, Blair is already well on his way to a great career. The 24-year-old Utah native, who just graduated from BYU this past May with a degree in recreation management, turned around and earned his PGA Tour card for the 2014-15 season by placing in the top-25 on the Web.com Tour.

To kick off his rookie year, he followed up an opening-round 69 with a lights-out 66 on Friday to close to one stroke back of the lead.

After an especially-subpar first round of play, defending champ Jimmy Walker bounced back in a big way on Friday. He got himself far away from the cut line with a 66 of his own to put himself in a tie for 36th and a total score of three-under.

Among those who missed the cut Friday and will not play through the weekend were 2008 U.S Open winner Heath Slocum, 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir as well as Vijay Singh, who once overtook Tiger Woods to become the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.