SAFEWAY OPEN: Duncan roars back, takes over lead at Silverado

AP Photo/Eric Risberg photo: Tyler Duncan takes a one stroke lead with a six under 66 at the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa on Friday

By Jeremy Harness

NAPA–Tyler Duncan fought off a sluggish start to his second nine in Friday’s second round, seizing control of his game and ended up taking a one-stroke lead with a six-under 66 at the Safeway Open, held at Silverado Resort and Spa.

He played a clean first nine at three-under and had a promising start to his second nine, making birdie at the first, but then started spiraling in the wrong direction with three consecutive bogeys and looked like he was going absolutely nowhere.

That’s exactly when he started getting his game back on track, and he was able to keep the momentum going all the way through until he was at the top of the leaderboard with an overall score of 13-under.

He birdied the fifth, and after settling for a par at the par-4 sixth, he birdied the seventh and eighth before dropping in an eagle at the par-5 ninth to take the lead by a single shot.

In the process, he overtook first-day leader Brendan Steele, who had a solid round of five-under 67 with only one bogey on his scorecard on Friday and enters the weekend trailing by only one shot and a 12-under overall score.

The defending champion played a bogey-free front nine that was highlighted by three birdies, and after dropping a shot at the 11^th, a long par-3, he got right back on the horse with consecutive birdies at the 12^th and 13^th before knocking down a 12-footer at the par-3 15^th.

The round of the day – and the tournament, for that matter – belonged to Chesson Hadley, who made a huge charge on Friday with a tournament course record of 61.

He birdied three of his first five holes and offset a bogey at the sixth with two more birdies and capping off the front nine with an eagle at the ninth. He never stopped the momentum, either, as he birdied five of the next seven holes and even had a chance for a 59 before parring out the next two holes.

He is currently in third place at 11-under. Meanwhile, Zac Blair and Tony Finau are both tied for fourth at nine-under, with Finau shooting a 65 on Friday while Blair fired a 66.