Nelson Ledesma claims solo lead after two rounds at UNC Health Championship

Things to Know

• Nelson Ledesma records the low round of the day with a 6-under 64 to claim his first outright lead this season
• Daniel Summerhays sits inside the top 10 after two rounds for the second consecutive week
• Second-year member Patrick Welch clinches the best 36-hole position of his career
• Raleigh native Carter Jenkins cards a second-round 2-under 68 and enters the weekend one shot off the lead
• Ledesma and Sam Saunders (T9) were the only two players to record rounds of 4-under par or better Friday

Second-Round Lead Notes

8 – Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH

• Davis Thompson (2022), Mito Pereira (2021), Kyle Thompson (2015), Chesson Hadley (2013), John Rigger (2010), Kyle Thompson (2007), John Maginnes (2001), Michael Christie (1995)

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

• Harry Higgs (Visit Knoxville Open), Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship) and Steven Fisk (Club Car Championship at the Landings Golf and Athletic Club)

Nelson Ledesma (Leader/6-under)

• Carded the low round of the day with a 6-under 64 via eight birdies against two bogeys
• Sat 1-under through 12 holes in the second round before birdying five of his final six holes (Nos. 13, 15-18)
  • Two bogeys Friday came at the par-4s first and 11th
• Leads all players with 13 birdies through 36 holes this week
• Marks his fifth ever 36-hole lead/co-lead on the Korn Ferry Tour and his first lead of any kind this season
  • His last lead/co-lead after two rounds was at the 2022 Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse (finished T27)
• Has made 10 starts this season, logging just one top-25 finish (T20/LECOM Suncoast Classic)
• In his sixth season on the Korn Ferry Tour and making his 112th career start this week
• Last season, recorded five top-25s and finished the year No. 78 on the points list
• Two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour with victories at the 2019 The Ascendant presented by Blue and 2018 LECOM Suncoast Classic
  • His win in 2019 at The Ascendant presented by Blue, along with a pair of top-3 finishes that season, culminated in his first PGA TOUR card
• Finished No. 192 in the 2020-21 FedExCup Standings and returned to the Korn Ferry Tour
• Hails from Tucuman, Argentina, and turned professional in 2007 at just 17 years old

Quotables

Carter Jenkins on his second-round 2-under 68… “I'm very happy. The course is playing tough. It's getting pretty firm and pretty crispy and these greens, as much slope as they have, it's pretty tough to make putts on them. So yeah, a lot of today was just like yesterday, just trying to grind out pars and keep pace, and saving a shot, whether it's a birdie or a par save, it doesn't matter in my mind. Really just trying to continue to move forward, positive outlook on the round and not beat yourself up because it's playing hard.”

Jenkins on having an advantage at Raleigh Country Club… “You always feel like you've got an advantage when you're playing a golf course that you've played 50, 60 times. You know where to miss it, you know how to manage your misses. I'm just glad I've been able to do that the first couple of days and hopefully I can continue to do it this weekend and put up some good numbers.”

Second-round notes

• The second-round scoring average was 72.490 (+2.490)
• Daniel Summerhays (T2/-5) sits inside the top 10 after two rounds for the second consecutive week and clinches his best 36-hole position on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2019
  • Entered the week ranked 33rd on the points list after logging two top-10s in nine starts this season
  • In 2007, Summerhays qualified for a start as an amateur in the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship and became the first amateur to win a Korn Ferry Tour event
• Patrick Welch (T2/-5) carded a 3-under 67 via six birdies against three bogeys and sits inside the top five after two rounds for the first time in his career
  • Welch, who was No. 8 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2023, is in his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour and bidding for his first top-10 finish of the season
  • Raleigh native Carter Jenkins (T2/-5) has just two bogeys through 36 holes, the fewest number of holes of bogeys-or-worse by any player this week
  • Jenkins is making his sixth ever start at the UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH; his first PGA TOUR-sanctioned start came in this event in 2011 at the age of 15 as a sponsor exemption
• 18-hole co-leader Steven Fisk (T5/-4) sits two shots off the lead after recording a second-round 2-over 72 that included three birdies, one bogey and two double bogeys
• Sam Saunders (T9/-3) carded a 5-under 65 Friday, the second-lowest round of the day only behind Ledesma, and sits inside the top 10 after 36 holes for the first time this season
• In his first ever start on the Korn Ferry Tour, South Africa’s Cole Stevens (T57/+2) made the cut on the number after rounds of 68 and 74
• Open qualifier and Zebulon, North Carolina native Blake McShea (T57/+2) birdied his final hole of the day, the 498-yard par-4 18th which played the toughest of any hole Friday, to claim his first made cut on the Korn Ferry Tour (making fifth career start on the Tour this week)