By Jeremy Harness

He did not shoot a 63 like he did in the opening round, but Brendan Steele will certainly take it.

The veteran tour player still shot under par nonetheless, and after Friday’s second round at Silverado, he remained on top of the leaderboard by two shots by firing a two-under 70.

As he did in the opening round on Thursday, he got two birdies on the front nine, including one on the very first hole. However, one of those birdies was offset when he bogeyed the par-4 third. However, he birdied the fifth hole to get things back on track quickly.

He birdied holes 10 and 12 as well as the 14th, but he was also brought down by two bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes.

Also keeping pace is Jhonattan Vegas, the Venezuelan native who earned his Tour card back by finishing in the top 25 on the Web.com Tour, who fired a one-under 71 to finish Friday’s proceedings two shots back of the lead.

Making a big move on Friday was Wil Wilcox, who fired a five-under 67 to tie him with Vegas at nine-under par as the weekend rolls around.

He recorded five birdies on the round and did not make a single bogey to make a steady climb toward the top of the leaderboard. He had back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes to start his ascent toward the top, and then finished the front nine with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.

It did not stop there, as he also birdied the par-4 10th, and four holes later, he picked up another shot by birdieing the 14th.

Among those who did not make the cut after two rounds was Zac Blair, who was in the final pairing with eventual champion Sang-moon Bae in last year’s tournament here. He shot 75 and 77 in the opening two rounds, and it was evident early on that he did not have the same rhythm that he did in last year’s run.