John VanDerLaan, T.J. Vogel share 36-hole lead at Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse

Things to know

• John VanDerLaan and T.J. Vogel share the 36-hole lead, marking the first lead/co-lead for either player this season.
• VanDerLaan, a fourth-year Korn Ferry Tour member, placed runner-up in this event last year, his career best.
• Vogel’s bogey-free 7-under 64 tied the low round of the day and tied his career low round on the Tour.
• Danny Walker, the 18-hole solo leader, cards a 1-under 70 and sits two shots behind the co-leaders.
• University of Nebraska alum Brandon Crick cards his second consecutive 67 and sits inside the top five.
• Open qualifier and Nebraska native Nate Vontz matches Vogel’s 64 for low round of the day.
• The 36-hole cut was made at even par with 67 professionals making it to the weekend.
• Third-round pairings will tee off from 7:15 a.m. through 1 p.m. local time off the first tee.

Second-round lead notes

2 - Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Pinnacle Bank Championship

• David Skinns (2021) and Kris Ventura (2019)

5 - Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

• Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship), Steven Fisk (Club Car Championship), Harry Higgs (Visit Knoxville Open), Taylor Dickson (Wichita Open), John Pak (Compliance Solutions Championship)

Charting the co-leaders

John VanDerLaan (Co-leader/-12)

• Clinches his first 36-hole lead/co-lead of the season and the second of his career.
  • Only other 36-hole lead/co-lead came at the 2020 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard where he finished T6, the first top-10 of his Korn Ferry Tour career.
• Followed his first-round 65 with a second-round 65 via five birdies and one eagle against one bogey.
• Through 36 holes, leads all players with 14 total birdies (13 birdies, one eagle).
• In the 2023 Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse, VanDerLaan held the outright 54-hole lead by three strokes, but settled for a runner-up finish after eventual winner Alejandro Tosti carded a final-round 62 to tie the course record.
  • Runner-up finish last year marked a new career best for VanDerLaan
• VanDerLaan has sat inside the top-three on the leaderboard after each of the last six rounds played at the Pinnacle Bank Championship.
  • 2023, Round 1 – T3, Round 2 – 2nd, Round 3 – first,, Round 4 – T2
  • 2024, Round 1 – T2, Round 2 – T1
• Making his sixth career appearance at the Pinnacle Bank Championship and has three made cuts and one top-10 finish: 2023/T2, 2022/T47, 2021/T35, 2020/MC, 2019/MC.
  • Has not recorded an over-par round at The Club at Indian Creek since 2021 (R4/75)
• In his fourth season on the Korn Ferry Tour and making his 114th career start.
• Since joining the Tour in 2020, VanDerLaan has totaled 10 top-10s and 31 top-25s.
• Last year marked his best season on the Tour, racking up nine top-25 finishes and four top-10s in 25 starts.
• In his three previous seasons on Tour, finished inside the top-60 on the final points list each time:
  • No. 53 in 2020-21, No. 47 in 2022, No. 42 in 2023
• In 2019, made his first Korn Ferry Tour start as a sponsor exemption in the Pinnacle Bank Championship (MC).
• Played four seasons collegiately at Florida Southern College (2014-18) where he was a four-time All-American.
  • Named the 2018 Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the top collegiate player in Division II after clinching seven wins during his senior season, including the individual national title at the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships
  • Helped Florida Southern win the team national title at the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships
  • Set school records for single-season scoring average (69.05 in 2017-18) and career scoring average (70.88)

T.J. Vogel (Co-leader/-12)

• In his 162nd career start, earns the first 36-hole lead/co-lead of his career.
  • Only previous 18-, 36- or 54-hole lead came last year at the 2023 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation (T1 after 54 holes, finished T12).
• Carded a second-round bogey-free 7-under 64 via one eagle and five birdies, tying his career-low round on the Tour.
• Marks his first top-10 position after any round this season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
• Making his sixth career appearance at the Pinnacle Bank Championship and has three made cuts and one top-25 finish: 2023/T61, 2022/T12, 2021/MC, 2020/MC, 2019/T27.
• Entered the week No. 125 on the points list after just one top-25 finish this season (T11/Astara Chile Classic).
• Has one career win on the Korn Ferry Tour which came at the 2022 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club.
• In his Korn Ferry Tour career, has totaled 27 top-25 finishes and five top-10s in 161 starts.
• Last season, finished No. 96 on the points list after logging three top-25s in 22 starts.
• Best season on the Korn Ferry Tour came in 2022, supported by the aforementioned win at the Club Car Championship, when he finished the regular season No. 27 on the points list, two spots out of claiming a PGA TOUR card.
• Finished 89th on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Points List and 53rd in 2019.
• First earned Korn Ferry Tour membership via a T73 finish at the 2013 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.
• From 2014-15, made 27 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and recorded four top-25 finishes.
• Played primarily on PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica (which merged to form PGA TOUR Americas this season) from 2016-17, making 26 starts across the tours over the two-year span.
• Turned professional in 2013 after graduating from the University of Florida.

Quotables

John VanDerLaan on playing well after his T2 finish here last year… “I'm happy to be here again. Yeah, I played great here last year, so obviously some good memories to recall. I think I finished second last year. The guy who won shot I think 62 Sunday, which was the low round by four or five, so I didn't even feel like I played bad, sometimes you just get beat. Feels good to kind of put myself back in that position. Hopefully, keep moving forward.”

VanDerLaan on the challenges presented by The Club at Indian Creek… “It's one of the more challenging events and one of the better golf courses we play all season, so I kind of feel like it rewards really good play, but if you're struggling, it will kind of expose you. Some of the other courses you can kind of just blast it wherever and wedge it on the green, you're going to have 15 feet for birdie. This one, you've got to hit your spots. If you get it out of position, you can make bogeys in a hurry. It's kind of I feel like a real proper test and a full test of your entire game. I just like being here.”

T.J. Vogel on enjoying the challenge of The Club at Indian Creek… “It's nice knowing you don't have to shoot 64 just to keep pace. I would say this is the closest course we have all year to like a PGA TOUR course length and difficulty with the high rough and greens being the way that we like. It was really nice to go out there and fire two really good rounds.”

Additional second-round notes

• 18-hole solo leader Danny Walker (3rd/-10) fell to solo third after carding a second-round 1-under 70 via four birdies and three bogeys
  • In Thursday’s first round, Walker tied the course record with a 9-under 62, marking a new career low; of the five previous players who recorded a 62 in the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse, two players went on to win the event: Alejandro Tosti (2023) and Sam Ryder (2017)
• McCook, Nebraska native Brandon Crick (T5/-8) records his second consecutive 4-under 67 of the week and sits four shots off the lead
  • Crick has appeared in all eight playings of the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse and has three top-25 finishes in Omaha (T11/2020, T12/2021, T20/2023)
• In just his third Korn Ferry Tour start of the season, two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Trey Mullinax (4th/-9) sits in solo fourth entering the weekend after opening rounds of 66 and 67
• S.Y. Noh (T5/-8) rolled in six birdies against one bogey for a second-round 5-under 66
  • Noh has two career PGA TOUR-sanctioned victories, one on the Korn Ferry Tour (2013 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship) and one PGA TOUR (2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans)
• Open qualifier and 25-year-old Creighton University alum Nate Vontz (T38/-2) tied Vogel for the low round of the day with a bogey-free 7-under 64 (after a first-round 5-over 76), including three consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-18 to close the round, and records his first career made cut (nine PGA TOUR-sanctioned starts – three on Korn Ferry Tour and six on PGA TOUR Americas)
• Vontz was one of four players who open qualified this week and made the cut: Bo Peng (T16/-5), Will Chandler (T26/-3), Carson Schaake (T47/-1)