Troy Matteson leads the John Deere Classic by one shot after carding a three-under-par 68, but Jeff Maggert and Brian Harman as well as defending champion Steve Stricker are all in the hunt.
Troy Matteson: Staying ahead
Matteson didn't come close to matching his impressive opening day score of 10-under, but four birdies and a bogey on the par-4 18th was enough to help him secure a slender lead going into the weekend.
"I'm fairly pleased," the 32-year-old said.
"I was apprehensive coming in. It's always tough to come to a golf course the day after a low round, You envision yourself playing the same way you did the day before, but the pins are different, and the course is different."
The day, though, belonged to Maggert as he moved from 39th in the standings to joint second with a nine-under-par 62.
The 48-year-old sunk nine birdies, which included five of the last nine, at TPC Deere Run. He finished with a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth to record a career-low round.
"I saw the putts better today," Maggert said. "But I'm going to be aggressive tomorrow. I feel I need another really low round Saturday or Sunday, seven- or eight-under, to be in contention. The last few years, guys have really been lighting it up here."
Harman carded a 65 for the second day in a row with the last two of his seven birdies coming after a 48-minute thunderstorm delay.
England's Gary Christian and Americans Ricky Barnes, Robert Garrigus and JJ Henry are on 11-under while Stricker is a further shot behind and looking good for fourth John Deere title.
"Kind of wasn't the start I was looking for," Stricker told the PGA Tour website.
"I was hoping to get a birdie before I got a bogey - or no bogeys at all.
"But I hung in there. I was patient and hit some good shots. I made a nice long putt at 13 and birdied 14, so I righted the ship pretty quickly and got her going in the right direction."
Winning a fourth straight title would enable Stricker to fly to The Open next week, but the 45-year-old is happy to just be in the hunt.
"You've got to make the cut to be able to try to win the tournament," he said. "That's always my first goal, believe it or not, in tournaments: make sure you're playing on the weekend."
Tommy Biershenk and two-time US Open champion Lee Janzen also are at 132 with Zach Johnson another shot behind after carding a six-under.
The cut came at four-under 136 and England's Brian Davis and Scotland's Russell Knox as well as former major champions John Daly, Stewart Cink, David Duval, Shaun Micheel and Todd Hamilton didn't make it.
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