Kevin Dougherty snags 36-hole lead at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard

Things to Know

Kevin Dougherty cards a 3-under 68 on the Lagos course to hold the third 36-hole lead / co-lead of his career

Twelve of the 13 lowest scores relative to par Friday came from the Pacos course; the exception was Jacob Bergeron’s (T15) 4-under 67 on the Lagos course

Joe Highsmith (T45) carded seven consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-11 of the Pacos course, the longest streak by a Korn Ferry Tour player since David Kocher made seven in a row in Round 1 of the 2022 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, to make the largest jump up the leaderboard Friday (rose 97 places)

The 36-hole cut was made at 1-under par, with 75 players advancing to the weekend

Round three tee times will run in groups of three from 6:58 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. ET off No. 1 tee

Charting the Leader (stats entering the week)

Kevin Dougherty (Leader / -10)

Holds the 36-hole lead / co-lead for the third time in his Korn Ferry Tour career; held a share of the 36-hole lead at 2020 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club (finished solo second, lost playoff), and held outright 36-hole lead at the 2019 Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship (finished T62)

Ties his career-low 36-hole score with a 10-under 131, matching his 13-under 131 from the 2020 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club

Finished T8 at last week’s The Panama Championship for his first top-10 of the 2023 season

Seeking first career Korn Ferry Tour victory in his 114th start; best finishes to date are runner-up finishes at the 2020 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club (lost in playoff), 2019 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics (lost in playoff), and 2018 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation (finished T2)

Earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for first time via 2017 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament (finished T42)

Top-75 finisher on Korn Ferry Tour Points List the last four seasons (No. 26 in 2018, No. 33 in 2019, No. 74 in 2020-21, No. 42 in 2022)

31-year-old from Murrieta, California residing in Stillwater, Oklahoma

Turned professional in 2014 out of Oklahoma State University and played the 2015 season on PGA TOUR Canada prior to earning Korn Ferry Tour membership

Quotables

Kevin Dougherty on his game the last two weeks: “My ball-striking the last two weeks, Panama and here, has just been kind of wherever we're looking is where we hit it. Then definitely made some putts the first two days, which is something I worked on between Panama and here. And Martin Flores actually helped me out a little bit. It's definitely paying off.”

Kevin Dougherty on his week in Colombia: “It’s a pretty special week. Growing up, Camilo [Villegas] was my childhood hero; he's the reason why I play golf. To be paired with him in his home country was already special, and then on top of it, in a really good spot with our game, so it was kind of a double dip.”

John Augenstein on how his game feels this week: “It’s felt good. It didn't feel that bad the first three events, just kind of couldn't get results out of it, but this golf course, it's so important to be in position. Fairways are very, very important, and even if not fairway, the correct side of the hole depending on the hole location. I've done a good job of that and allowed myself to hit a lot of greens and not have a lot of stress.”

John Augenstein on the start of the 2023 season: “I had a really good offseason attacking the problems I felt like I had last year, some physical, some mental. Coming out this year, I feel really comfortable, for the most part. My game has felt good. The results haven't been there, but I'm making cuts. When you're playing four rounds, you just learn so much more than playing two. Although those first three events weren't what we wanted, playing 12 rounds is really important. You get to just continue to learn and see where you're going. That's helped me, too, to be trending this way coming into this week.”

Notes

John Augenstein (2nd / -9) holds his highest 36-hole position in his 29th career Korn Ferry Tour start; his previous career-high position after any round on the Korn Ferry Tour was T5 (through 18 holes of 2022 NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank/finished T32)

Kris Ventura (3rd / -8) stands third or higher through 36 holes for the sixth time in his career and first time since the 2020 TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons

Ventura’s five previous standings of T3 or higher through 36 holes yielded one win (2019 Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna) and four additional top-10s

Dawson Armstrong (T5 / -6) leads the field with 14 total birdies (one eagle, 13 birdies); the only other players in the field with 13 birdies are Brady Calkins (T5 / -6) and Peter Knade (MC / +1)

Alex Weiss (T5 / -6), the second-to-last player in the 156-man field this week (i.e. – No. 154 of 156), stands inside the top five through 36 holes of a Korn Ferry Tour event for the first time in his 19th career start

Weiss was one of six players with conditional membership playing this season out of the “Additional Qualifying Tournament Finishers / Finishers 76-100 from 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Points List” category who made their first cut of the season – Billy Tom Sargent (T5 / -6), RJ Manke (T15 / -5), Isaiah Salinda (T30 / -3), Yuto Katsuragawa (T46 / -2), Taylor Dickson (T62 / -1)

Manke, a conditional member who finished T120 at Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, successfully open qualified into the field, and he was the only one of the four open qualifiers who made the 36-hole cut

Rico Hoey (T30 / -3) carded a field-high eight birdies on the Pacos course Friday en route to a 5-under 65 and a third consecutive made cut

Round Two Course Statistics - Lagos

Scoring Average (Par 71): 72.273 [+1.273]

Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 35): 35.974 [+0.974]

Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 36): 36.299 [+0.299]

Toughest Hole: No. 1, Par 4, 431 yards – 4.403 [+0.403]

Easiest Hole: No. 10, Par 5, 585 yards – 4.597 [-0.403]

Round Two Course Statistics - Pacos

Scoring Average (Par 70): 68.792 [-1.208]

Scoring Average (Front Nine – Par 35): 33.662 [-1.338]

Scoring Average (Back Nine – Par 35): 35.130 [+0.130]

Toughest Hole: No. 2, Par 3, 191 yards – 3.195 [+0.195]

Easiest Hole: No. 9, Par 4, 330 yards – 3.377 [-0.623]