Griffin Wood leads before play called for darkness Friday at Veritex Bank Championship

Leaderboard

Things to Know

• Open qualifier Griffin Wood cards 11-under 60 and ties the second-lowest 36-hole score (any consecutive rounds) in Korn Ferry Tour history at 18-under 124
• Frankie Capan III, who held a three-stroke lead after tying the Korn Ferry Tour record for lowest 18-hole score relative to par with a first-round 13-under 58, trails Wood by one stroke with two holes remaining in his second round (par-4 eighth, par-5 ninth)
• The current projected 36-hole cut line of 7-under 135 (19 players at T55) would tie the Korn Ferry Tour record for the lowest 36-hole cut score (5-under 135/2023 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics; 7-under 135/2023 NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank; 6-under 135/2024 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard), in addition to tying the lowest 36-hole cut score relative to par (7-under/five times)
• The 36-hole cut will be made upon completion of the second round Saturday morning, while third-round tee times will run from 10:30 a.m. through 12:48 p.m. in groups of three off the first and 10th tees

Griffin Wood (1st/-18)

• Follows first-round 7-under 64 with 11-under 60 in second round to tie the second-lowest 36-hole score (any consecutive rounds) in Korn Ferry Tour history
• A 34-year-old open qualifier making Korn Ferry Tour debut and seventh PGA TOUR-sanctioned start (previous six all came in 2022 on PGA TOUR Canada)
• Earned spot in this week’s field with birdie on the first hole of a 5-for-2 playoff at the Waterchase Golf Club open qualifier site
• Best finish in six starts on PGA TOUR Canada in 2022 was T40/Quebec Open
• Does not currently have status on any PGA TOUR-sanctioned tour
• Played four seasons at Evansville University (2008-12), posting a 75.00 career scoring average, which ranked second in program history upon exhaustion of his eligibility
• Attended Boonville High School in his former hometown of Boonville, Indiana, where he grew up playing Quail Crossing Golf Club

Lowest 36-Hole Score (Consecutive Rounds) in Korn Ferry Tour History

Frankie Capan III (2nd/-17 thru 16*)

• Stands 17-under par and one stroke behind clubhouse leader Griffin Wood with two holes remaining in his second round
• In Thursday’s first round, carded 13-under 58 and tied the Korn Ferry Tour record for lowest 18-hole score relative to par, in addition to tying the second-lowest 18-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history, and recording the 13th sub-60 round in Korn Ferry Tour history
• In line to establish a new career-high 36-hole position in what is his 31st career start on the Korn Ferry Tour (T3/2023 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS/finished 4th)
• Finished T30 at 2023 Veritex Bank Championship, his only previous appearance at the event
• Finished No. 51 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List as a rookie last season, earning fully exempt status for the 2024 season
• Finished T8 at Final Stage of 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (now PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry); he was one of eight players who advanced through each stage of Q-School, beginning with pre-qualifying, in 2022
• Played two seasons at University of Alabama (2018-20) and two seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University (2020-22), earning one victory and garnering All-Atlantic Sun Conference Second Team honors in 2021 and 2022 while at Florida Gulf Coast
• Won back-to-back individual state titles at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division III Championships in 2017 and 2018, winning the latter by 10 strokes off the strength of a second-round 11-under 59 on the Sonoran Desert Course at Omni Tucson National Resort

Quotables

Griffin Wood on where he’s played most of his professional golf to this point… “I've got a lot of mini tours in the U.S., played on the Dakotas Tour, I played everywhere, APT a little bit, the Asher Tour out in Phoenix and I played (PGA TOUR) Canada two years ago. I had conditional, so I played there half a season. Last year I had conditional, but I didn't get into anything. Yeah, so mostly in the U.S. I've been playing full time for about five years in total even though I'm a little older. I had to take some time off. A little later progression.”

Wood on what was behind his extended break from professional golf… “I had a back injury where I couldn't play for a couple years. When I came back, I was not shooting 60s on courses. I had to work to support myself and try and get my game back and try and play as much as I could. I played one year out of college. So I graduated in 2012, played for a year. Played pretty well, like was ‑‑ so I kind of proved to myself I could do it in small mini tours. Then I got hurt right before Q‑School right out of college, it would have been 2013. Then I was off for a couple years and was kind of pedaling around for a while. I've been back for the last four, I'd say, playing pretty full time and trying to get back.”

Wood on the playoff at Monday’s open qualifier… “I was playing solid golf and I bogeyed my last hole in regulation. It was a pretty easy hole, and I was pretty devastated because I thought that would be the difference. But I rebounded really well, because after I made that bogey, you know, you can go south quick. Me and another guy, Matt Atkins, birdied the first hole in a 5‑for‑2 (playoff). I had my head on straight, that was the big thing, and I was able to play right after I finished. I went right to the playoff hole, which helped. We finished in the dark, we didn't have any more time to play another hole and it worked out perfectly.”

Additional Player Notes

• Trent Phillips (3rd/-16) follows career-low 10-under 61 with 6-under 65 and shatters his previous career-low 36-hole score of 132/2023 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX
• Tim Widing (4th/-15), who won last week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, has four holes remaining in his second round and is one of three Korn Ferry Tour winners in the top 10 of the leaderboard
• The only other Korn Ferry Tour winners in the current top 10 of the leaderboard are Kyle Jones (T5/-12) and Andrew Kozan (T5/-12)
• Amateur Preston Stout (T11/-11), who attended J.J. Pearce High School in nearby Richardson, Texas, follows 4-under 67 with 7-under 64; he is a freshman at Oklahoma State University who earned co-medalist honors Wednesday at the 2024 Big 12 Conference Championship, and is making his first PGA TOUR-sanctioned start
• Arlington, Texas native, University of Texas-Arlington alum and conditional member Caleb Hicks (T39/-8), competing as a sponsor exemption, is 5-under through 10 holes in his second round and seeking his first made cut in what is his second career Korn Ferry Tour start (MC/2024 Astara Chile Classic)
• Reigning champion Spencer Levin (T90/-5) finishes two strokes off the current projected 36-hole cut line of 7-under 135
• Miles Russell (T102/-4), a 15-year-old amateur who became the youngest player to make a cut in Korn Ferry Tour history at last week’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, makes a late run at the cut line with birdies at the par-4 seventh and eighth, but closes with bogey at par-5 ninth for second-round 1-under 70