Brett Drewitt claims outright lead following bogey-free second round

Things to Know

Korn Ferry Tour winner Brett Drewitt holds his third 36-hole lead/co-lead at 12-under par and holds a one-stroke lead over Ben Kohles and Sam Saunders

Of the 20 rounds played in 2023, Drewitt sits inside the top 10 for the ninth time (fourth consecutive)

2023 Astara Chile Classic champion Kohles moves to 11-under par and one stroke off the lead with 6-under 6

18-hole leader Noah Goodwin cards even-par 71 Friday and falls to T4, three strokes off the lead

Open qualifer and Austin, Texas native Cooper Dossey makes his first cut on the Korn Ferry Tour after back-to-back 4-under 67s and sits inside the top 10 heading into Saturday

The second round was suspended due to darkness at 8:13 p.m., with three players still needing to complete their round; play will resumed Saturday at 7:05 a.m.

The 36-hole cut will be made at 3-under par on Saturday morning with currently 75 players at T60 or higher

Round three is projected to start at approximately 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. off No. 1 in threesomes

Second-Round Lead Notes

0: Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win Veritex Bank Championship

1: Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2023 (David Skinns/Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Brett Drewitt (First / -12)

Posts 5-under 66 consisting of five birdies on Nos. 3, 6, 10, 11 and 16

Drewitt is making his third start at the Veritex Bank Championship; finished T12 in 2022 and T3 in 2021

Third career 36-hole lead/co-lead on the Korn Ferry Tour (T1 at the 2015 Astara Chile Classic/finished T5; T1 at the 2018 Alberstons Boise Open presented by Chevron/finished T43)

Making 156th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour and third start at the Veritex Bank Championship (Best finish: T3/2021)

Boasts a Tour-leading four top-10s in five starts this season

- Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf and Athletic Club (T4) / Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard (T3) / The Panama Championship (T8) / The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay (T4)

Drewitt first earned Korn Ferry Tour membership in 2015 via third place finish on the 2014 PGA TOUR China Order of Merit

In his second season on the Korn Ferry Tour Dewitt earned his first PGA TOUR card after qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals and finishing No. 16 on the Finals Points List

Made 19 starts on PGA TOUR during the 2016-17 season, but returned to the Korn Ferry Tour after finishing 196th on the final FedexCup Points

Played primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour for three seasons from 2018-21

During the combined 2020-21 season Drewitt played 45 events and logged seven top-10s, highlighted by a win at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS en route to his second PGA TOUR card via finishing No. 24 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List

Made 23 starts on the PGA TOUR last season, but ultimately returned to the Korn Ferry Tour after finishing 219th on the final FedexCup playoffs and Eligibility Points List

Quotables

Brett Drewitt on his start to the season… “It's obviously been my best start to a season in my career. I just feel really confident. I'm swinging the club really well, doing a lot of good work with my coach back at TPC Sawgrass. Everything's just starting to click now. I was holding on there for a little while there when I was finishing top-5s and stuff, but I think I'm starting to drive the ball better now so I can give myself some more chances.”

Brett Drewitt on how his game feels… “I've been driving the ball good. Kind of actually been struggling with my driver all year, lots of good finishes, but yeah, getting myself in play, holing putts, getting up and down when I need to get up and down to keep the rounds going and hitting some good iron shots along the way. So everything feels like it's starting to click, which is good..”

Ben Kohles on his day… "Yeah, I mean, super solid, just keeping the ball right in front of me, not really making any mistakes. Yeah, I had a nice little four-hole stretch there to get it kind of rolling at the turn. That was nice to just get some birdies on the board, then pretty smooth sailing coming in.”

Notes

Brett Drewitt (First /12) and Ben Kohles (Second / -11) are the only two players to be bogey-free through 36 holes

Kohles and Cole Hammer (T9 / -8) tied for the low round of the day at 6-under 65

Hammer, a conditional member, stands inside the top 10 through 36 holes for the second time in his young career (T4 at the 2022 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS/finished T7) and is in line to make his first cut in his second start of the season

Kohles stands inside the top three after two rounds for the 11th time in his Korn Ferry Tour career and second time this season (T2 at The Panama Championship/finished T7)

Sam Saunders (Third / -10) stands inside the top 10 for the first time since the 2021 MGM Resorts Championship (T7 after 36 holes/finished T56)

Frankie Capan III (T4 / -9) makes his third cut of the season in his sixth start; holds his best 36-hole position at T4

Sponsor exemption and Plano, Texas native Parker Coody (T4 / -9) is in line to make his first Korn Ferry Tour cut after 3-under 68 on Friday