36-hole leader Brandon Crick looks to crack through, while 15-year-old Miles Russell sets Tour record by making cut at LECOM Suncoast Classic

Things to Know

• Brandon Crick cards the low round of the day with a bogey-free 9-under 62 to reach 14-under for the event and take the 36-hole solo lead
• 18-hole leader Mason Andersen cards a second-round 3-under 68 and trails by two strokes in solo third
• Seven players sit three strokes back of the lead at 11-under
• Miles Russell, the No. 1 ranked player in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, became the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event at 15 years, 5 months, 18 days of age
• The 36-hole cut was made at 5-under with 86 players making it to the weekend
• Third-round groupings will run from approximately 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local time

Second-Round Lead Notes

0 - Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic

2 - Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024: Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship), Steven Fisk (Club Car Championship at the Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Brandon Crick (Leader/14-under)

• Carded a bogey-free 9-under 62 in the second round to match his career low (2019 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae/R3); shares the low round of the tournament with Mason Andersen and Rick Lamb
• Made seven birdies on the day (Nos. 4, 5, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18) and dropped a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixth
• Posted a 5-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round with eight birdies (Nos. 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 17) against one bogey (No. 2) and a double bogey (No. 3)
• First lead/co-lead after any round in his 138th start on the Korn Ferry Tour
• Owns four made cuts in seven starts this season with two top-25 finishes, including a top-10 at the Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank, finished T5
• Made two cuts in four previous starts at the LECOM Suncoast Classic; best finish in the event was a T30 last year
• Best career finish came at the 2019 Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, taking runner-up honors
• Began the 2024 season as a conditional member after missing the cut at the 2023 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship to finish No. 76 on the Points List, missing out on fully exempt status for the entire 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
• Turned professional in 2010 out of the University of Nebraska, where he accumulated five collegiate victories
• Has played on the Dakotas Tour, eGolf Tour, Adams Tour, Dreamchasers Tour and Gateway Tour since turning professional
• Plays from McCook, Nebraska

Quotables

Crick on his bogey-free 9-under 62… “It was a combination of ball striking and putting. I mean, I don't even know if I missed a fairway today, so it was nice playing from the fairway all day. I'm finally getting kind of putts to roll in, which has been kind of the tougher part of the last few months, so it's good to see some fall and putting good strokes on them.”

Crick on his conditional status motivating him coming into the season… “Yeah, it did, it did. I knew I needed to get off to a fast start because I was subject to that reshuffle. Man, it was the most frustrating like first four weeks. Even my first three weeks I missed the cut by one, all of them, and then the fourth week it's like I had a great Saturday round and then I laid an egg on Sunday and finished pretty much dead last after making that cut. I was in kind of a dark place after that, I didn't even really want to go to Argentina or Chile. Then talked with the team and the caddie and they were like "you need to go." I went and played extremely well and it's kind of been great since. So I'm glad, I'm blessed that I got a good team behind me.”

Russell on his 5-under 66… “I putted it well obviously. I hit it better than yesterday. I didn't quite have as many up and downs like yesterday, so definitely was a little better. I had a game plan and I kind of stuck to it all the way through. Didn't quite execute the way I wanted to on the back side, but it was fun.”

Russell on being the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event… “I mean, I'm kind of speechless. The goal was to make the cut and we made it, so we'll see where the weekend goes. I mean, it's a cool record to break. I don't know how much longer it will stand. I mean, people are getting so good, so young. It could hold out for a week, you never know, but it's pretty cool right now.

Notes

• Morgan Hoffmann (second/13-under), making his sixth Korn Ferry Tour start of the year, cards his low round of the season with a 7-under 64, improving upon his previous mark that he set in Thursday’s opening round with a 6-under 65
  • Hoffmann returned to golf in 2022 after missing over two years while treating his (full medical term) which he was diagnosed with in 2017
  • He is fully exempt for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season as a former fully exempt PGA TOUR member for at least five consecutive seasons
• First-round leader and current No. 1 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Mason Andersen (third/12-under) followed up his opening round 9-under 62 with a 3-under 68 to make his first cut at the LECOM Suncoast Classic in his second career start in the event
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Rick Lamb (T4/11-under) recorded a 9-under 62 on Friday, matching Crick and Andersen for the low round of the tournament; finished T3 in the 2019 LECOM Suncoast Classic
• Sweden’s Tim Widing (T4/11-under), making his eighth start of the year, posted a bogey-free 7-under 64 to make his sixth cut of the season; Widing has finished T25 or better in five of his six made cuts with one top 10 (Astara Golf Championship/T8)
• Tampa, Florida, resident Jackson Suber (T4/11-under) joins the seven-way tie for fourth with a 4-under 67 in the second round; finished T36 in his only other start in the LECOM Suncoast Classic last year
• Russell (T26/8-under), who posted a 3-under 68 on Thursday, recorded a second-round 5-under 66 to become the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event at 15 years, 5 months, 18 days of age; previously Gipper Finau at 16 years, 20 days at the 2008 Utah Championship
  • The Jacksonville Beach, Florida, native made two birdies (par-5 10th, par-4 11th) and two eagles (par-4 fourth, par-5 ninth) against one bogey (par-3 13th)
  • Russell joins 14-year-old Guan Tian Liang as the only player under the age of 16 to make the cut on either the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR since 1983; Guan Tian Liang made cuts at both the 2013 Masters Tournament and 2013 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
• With made cuts today, Ricky Castillo (T25/8-under), Matt McCarty (T25/8-under) and Brian Campbell (T38/7-under) lead the tour in made cuts on the year with seven apiece
• Ryan Gerard (T4/11-under) and Isaiah Salinda (T25/8-under) are the only players bogey-free heading into the weekend; Gerard carded bogey-free rounds of 64 and 67, while Salinda posted bogey-free rounds of 69 and 65
• Kamaiu Johnson (T60/5-under), who Monday qualified into this week’s field, makes his first cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event in his second career start
  • Johnson followed up his opening round 6-under 65 with a 1-over 72 on Friday to make the cut
• Bradenton, Florida, native Danny Walker (T60/5-under) made the cut on the number with a 2-under 69 on Friday, making four birdies (Nos. 5, 6, 12, 18) against two bogeys (Nos.9, 10)
  • Walker finished T14 at the last Korn Ferry Tour event for his best finish of the year (Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club)
• The 36-hole cut had 86 players advance into the weekend; ties the 2015 Price Charity Cutter Championship for the most players to make the 36-hole cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event