Chris Baker assumes 36-hole lead at Country Club de Bogota Championship

BOGOTÁ, Colombia– The second round of the Web.com Tour’s Country Club de Bogotá Championship continued Friday with players again playing both the Fundadores and the Pacos y Fabios courses. Chris Baker climbed to the top of the leaderboard using a 4-under 67 on the Fundadores Course. Baker, who started the day T5, had three birdies, an eagle and one bogey in his round.

After a slow start with four pars and a bogey, Baker played his next five holes at 5-under par. The 32-year-old caught fire with birdies on Nos. 6, 7, and 8 followed by an eagle on the par-5 10th, where he drained a 40-foot putt. Baker closed out the round with eight consecutive pars and will head into the weekend at 10-under.

“It was a front right pin on No. 10 and my drive landed pretty soft in the fairway.” Baker said. “I had to draw a 4-iron around a tree that bounced to about 40 feet and then the putt just went in. I wasn’t really expecting it, so it was great.”

Baker fired a 6-under 64 on the Pacos Course on Thursday and continued his strong play on the more difficult Fundadores Course in the second round. Baker, who has never missed the cut at the Country Club de Bogotá Championship, looks to stay patient heading into the weekend.

“It was a day of staying patient out there,” said Baker. “I really enjoy this stretch of golf down here and both courses have their own difficulties. I just need to be patient and let the birdies come.”

Sitting one shot behind Baker at 9-under are Web.com Tour rookie Scottie Scheffler and Colombia native Ricardo Celia. Both players shot 2-under 69 on the Fundadores Course on Friday. Despite two early bogeys and a front-nine 37, Scheffler rebounded with four birdies on the back including three in his final four holes.

“I got off to a pretty bad start today but just tried to stay patient,” said Scheffler. I didn’t have any good birdie looks until the back nine but got into a little bit of a rhythm on the back and figured out my swing and started making some putts.”

Scheffler used birdies on Nos. 10, 15, 16 and 18 to finish the back nine with a 32. The University of Texas standout made headlines as an amateur winning the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur and was named Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year in 2015. Scheffler is currently ranked 17th in the Web.com Tour Official Points List and is continuing his strong play after finishing seventh at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club.

“I just have to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” Scheffler said. “I feel like my game is in a good spot and I just need to keep playing confidently and I should be fine.”

Scheffler earned guaranteed starts on the Web.com Tour this season with a T34 finish at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament and is playing in his first Country Club de Bogotá Championship, although he doesn’t seem to have much trouble adjusting to the elevation.

“The ball is going far this week, that’s for sure,” he said. “I feel like I got a pretty good feel for my numbers in the beginning of the week and haven’t had too much trouble adjusting. Hopefully I can keep hitting it solid.”

Ricardo Celia also had a slow start to his day with six pars and one bogey in his first seven holes. Celia made birdie on his eighth and ninth holes to gather momentum and finished the day with four birdies and two bogeys.

“I had a good birdie on 17 and hit two great shots into 18,” said Celia. “I had two birdies coming in late, which is a great feeling going into tomorrow.”

Celia, who plays mostly on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and has the support of the crowd behind him.

“It’s amazing out here,” he said. “Playing a Web.com Tour tournament in your home country feels pretty awesome. When Sebastián Muñoz won three years ago, he got to the PGA TOUR so it’s a great opportunity for me.”

Matt Every, Andrew Novak and Mark Anderson are currently tied for fourth at 8-under par.