He鈥檚 a long way from home, but Zach Cabra is starting to feel more comfortable with every swing of the golf club.
And it didn鈥檛 take the 24-year-old from McKinney, Texas, long to hit his comfort zone on Friday at Uplands Golf Club as he put up an eagle on his opening hole en route to a 7-under 63 and a share of the lead heading into the weekend at the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒鈥檚 Bayview Place DCBank Open presented by the sa国际传媒.
Cabra, who was tied for third after Thursday鈥檚 opening round thanks to a 66, began his round Friday on the par-4 10th hole. Two shots later, his ball was in the cup.
鈥淸Thursday] I hit too much club, so today I laid back a bit, got it near the front of the green, and hit a really good shot to make it and that just started the round off well,鈥� Cabra told reporters after his round, which also included five birdies.
Cabra is coming off a 29th-place finish at the Mackenzie Tour鈥檚 opening event at Point Grey in Vancouver and he鈥檚 setting his sights on one of the top-five Order of Merit spots to propel him onto the Web.com Tour. The $36,000 top prize on Sunday would go a long way to securing that.
鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously a bit different up here than where I鈥檓 from, but the area is beautiful. I rode the ferry the other day and it was really beautiful scenery, and now it鈥檚 just a matter of becoming comfortable with professional golf and treating it like any other tournament.鈥�
Cabra shares the lead with opening-round leader Doc Redman. The 2017 U.S. Amateur champion out of NCAA Clemson, didn鈥檛 cool off at all, posting a second-round score of 5-under 65.
鈥淚鈥檝e been putting really well and I putted really well again today, although I missed a few down the stretch but I feel good where I鈥檓 at,鈥� Redman said in a PGA Tour sa国际传媒 statement.
And now Redman and Cabra will be in the spotlight today in the final pairing.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the last time I was in a final pairing, but it鈥檚 a blast,鈥� added Redman. 鈥淚t was disappointing not to be able to pull away a bit, but it鈥檚 going to be awesome [today], hopefully there鈥檚 lots of people.鈥�
Staying in the hunt 鈥� three shots off the lead in sole possession of second place 鈥� with his second-straight round of 66 was Jimmy Jones, the son of the late Dawn Coe-Jones. The 23-year-old, who has duel Canadian/U.S. citizenship, only has conditional status this season, but that could change quickly with a good showing at Uplands.
鈥淚 just tried to play the course and not pay attention to what the other boys were doing and it went well,鈥� Jones said, in a PGA Tour sa国际传媒 statement.
鈥淥bviously, you want to get into the party with all the leaders and it鈥檚 nice to finally get my feet in the water and make some money this week.鈥�
Uplands grounds-crew member and former PGA Tour Champions player Jim Rutledge of Victoria will play on the weekend after finishing Friday with a even-par 70 to sit tied for 30th.
Comox native and veteran Mackenzie Tour player Riley Wheeldon will also collect some money this week as he also shot a 70 and is tied for 30th.
Third-round tee-offs begin at 7:30 this morning with the leaders starting their rounds at 1 p.m.
CHIP SHOTS: Defending champion Sam Fidone still has sights on a repeat. He fired a 1-under 69 to sit in a tie for 16th, seven shots off the lead. . . . The cutline was even par and Zach Anderson of Nanaimo just made it with rounds of 70 and 69 to sit in a tie for 40th聽at 1-under. Not so lucky and missing the cut was 14-year-old amateur Abhay Gupta, who followed up his opening round 76聽with a 2-under 68 in his first pro tournament. . . . After a week off for the Canadian Open, the Mackenzie Tour moves to Gallagher鈥檚 Canyon in Kelowna for the Golf sa国际传媒 Championship June 13-16.
