Shad Tuten closes with back-to-back birdies, takes 36-hole lead at Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS

BROUSSARD, Louisiana – Back-to-back birdies on the final two holes propelled Shad Tuten to the outright 36-hole lead at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS. Tuten’s birdies at the par-4 17th and 18th took him to 11-under par, one stroke ahead of Braden Thornberry, who co-led after the first round and finished T8 at this event last year.

Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:27 p.m., with 16 players still needing to complete the second round, meaning the 36-hole cut will be determined Saturday morning.

Tuten teed off Friday as one of five co-leaders from the first round and followed Thursday’s 6-under 65 with a 5-under 66, highlighted by the aforementioned closing birdies. Tuten’s scorecard in the second round featured just one bogey and six birdies, giving him a field-leading 14 birdies for the week.

“You can’t win it on the second day, but that certainly helps,” Tuten said of his closing birdies, the second of which came after a fortunate break. “A series of fortunate events. I would put it that way. It was 10 out of 10 in the water. A thousand percent. I just got a good break. It made up for a couple little shorty putts I missed, so it feels good to finish that way.”

Tuten’s second round started the same way it ended: with consecutive birdies.

The Augusta, Georgia native birdied the par-5 first and par-4 second, and closed the front nine with a birdie at the par-4 ninth. Tuten recorded his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 11th, but immediately recovered with a birdie at the par-5 12th. The final two birdies came after a run of four consecutive pars at Nos. 13-16.

“Feeling pretty good. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Tuten said. “I’m not really comfortable being in this position because I haven’t been, but I’m just going to ride it out, have fun with it and keep going.”

Making his 46th career Korn Ferry Tour start in his second season as a member, Tuten holds a 36-hole lead for the first time. The only previous occasion Tuten stood inside the top five through two rounds was the 2020 Orange County National Championship presented by Knight 39, where he was solo second.

Tuten made his way to the Korn Ferry Tour via PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Although Tuten concluded a collegiate career split between Darton State College and Armstrong State University in summer 2014, he would not turn professional until 2016. Tuten played the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, with his highest finish on the Order of Merit being eighth in 2019 – which earned him an exemption for Final Stage of the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, where he finished T13 and earned guaranteed starts for what became the 2020-21 combined season.

A 29-year-old who plays out of Aiken, South Carolina, Tuten finished 69th on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, earning him fully exempt status for the 2022 season. Tuten posted six top-25s, including a T2 and T3, across 40 starts as a rookie last season. Tuten also played the 2021 Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS, but missed the cut after a 3-over 74 and 5-over 76.

And while Tuten does not have much experience contending on the Korn Ferry Tour, he emerged victorious at the 2019 66 JHSF Aberto do Brasil on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

“That was by far my biggest win,” Tuten said. “That’s what I fall back on, really. (I’m) just reminding myself to go have fun, and really just stay in the moment and enjoy it. It’s not often I get to put myself in this position, so I’m enjoying it and it’s working.”

The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m., while third-round tee times will be determined once the 36-hole cut becomes official. The current projected cut is 2-under par, with 15 players tied for 62nd place. Third-round tee times are expected to run from 9:30-11:30 a.m. off the first and 10th tees.