Garett Reband takes outright 36-hole lead at Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank

Things to know

• 24-year-old Garett Reband takes the outright lead after 36 holes at 13-under with a second-round 6-under 66
• Trey Winstead cards a 7-under 65 Friday and sits in solo second
• First-round co-leaders Thomas Walsh and Rob Oppenheim trail Reband by two and three strokes, respectively
• Alvaro Ortiz posts the low round of the day and matches the low for the tournament with an 8-under 64
• This week marks the sixth playing of the Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank
• The event made its return to the Korn Ferry Tour schedule last season after last being contested in 2015
• The 36-hole cut was made at 4-under with 70 players making it through to the weekend

Second-round lead notes

2 -- First-round leaders/co-leaders to win The Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank

1 -- First-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

Garett Reband (leader/-13)

• Carded a second-round 6-under 66 to move to 13-under for the tournament and claim the 36-hole outright lead
  • Began his day on the back nine and made birdies on the par-4 12th, par-5 14th, par-4 16th and 17th for a bogey-free 32 on his first nine; dropped in two more birdies on the par-4 first and par-3 fourth before surrendering a bogey on the par-3 seventh, regained the stroke with a final birdie on the par-5 ninth for a 34 on his back nine
• Posted an opening round 7-under 65, highlighted by eight birdies, including four consecutive on Nos. 8-11, against one bogey on the par-3 15th
• Makes first cut of the 2024 season in his second start (117th Argentina Open presented by Macro)
• Marks the first lead/co-lead after any round in his Korn Ferry Tour career
• Making his 31st career start on the Tour this week, owns 11 made cuts and three top-25 finishes
  • Best career finish on Tour is a T18 at the 2022 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open
• Originally joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021 following his top-five finish in the inaugural PGA TOUR University Class of 2021
  • Other top-five ranked players in his class were: Korn Ferry Tour member John Pak (No. 1), PGA TOUR members Davis Thompson (No. 2) and Kevin Yu (No. 4), and PGA TOUR winner Austin Eckroat (No. 3)
  • Played collegiately at the University of Oklahoma, posting 25 top-20s, 16 top-10s, eight top-fives and two wins, including the 2021 Men’s NIT, and was a two-time All-American
• Lost Korn Ferry Tour status following the 2022 season when he finished the season 117th on the points list
  • In 22 starts in 2022, tallied three top-25 finishes while missing the cut 13 times
• Last year, competed on PGA TOUR Lationámerica (now PGA TOUR Americas), making eight starts with two made cuts and two top-25s, including a top-10 finish at the Kia Open where he finished T6
• Owns one career start on the PGA TOUR at the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (MC)
• Reached as high as No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings
• Father, Steve, played golf at Ferris State University, while his mother was a track athlete there
• From York, South Carolina, and currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina

Quotables

Reband on his second round 6-under 66… “A lot of similar stuff. Hit it well, didn't actually make quite as many putts, hit a few more greens, but overall it was pretty good. I Didn't have to make too many par saves today, which was nice, the least amount of stress. Everything was good. Hit it pretty good and made a lot of pars.”

Reband on what he credits his success to this week… “Probably a conversation that I had with my mom a couple of days ago. She said just be a kid again and play like you know how to play. I put a lot of stress on myself. I know my game's good enough, I've just got to believe it and try to come out here and prove it.”

Walsh on his play through two rounds… “Yeah, it's been solid. I played really well today. Honestly, just as solid, but every drive was five yards in the rough and yesterday I was five yards in the middle of the fairway. So I managed it great today. I've been putting well. I've been playing well for a month now. I had the flu last week in Argentina so I was toast, but this week I'm feeling better and playing better.”

Walsh on playing with 13 clubs after damaging his 8-iron in the first round… “I needed it one hole and it was a perfect 8-iron. My caddie and I looked at each other, we were like, we deserve this. It was fine, we just hit it to the middle of the green and took our medicine. I think I'm going to ask my buddy here if I can use his 8-iron for the weekend because we play a similar golf shaft. My caddie wants me to carry 13.”

Notes

• 25-year-old rookie Winstead (2nd / -12) followed up his opening round 5-under 67 with a 7-under 65, rolling seven birdies (Nos. 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 14, 18) and an eagle on the par-5 ninth against two bogeys (Nos. 1, 8)
  • Winstead’s second-round 65 matches the lowest round of his career; achieved earlier this season in the first round of The Panama Championship where he held the 18-hole co-lead and went on to finish T5
• 18-hole co-leader Walsh (T3 / -11) followed up his opening round 8-under 64 with a 3-under 69 that was capped off with a lengthy eagle putt on the par-5 18th
  • Walsh is the only player in the field to eagle the 537-yard par-5 18th both days
  • With his fourth made cut of the 2024 season, Walsh heads into the weekend seeking his third top-25 and second top-10 finish of the year
• Starting his round on No. 10, Jackson Suber (T3 / -11) posted a second round 7-under 65, highlighted by a stretch of six consecutive birdies (par-4 17th, par-5 18th, par-4 first and second, par-5 third, par-3 fourth), making nine total on the day to reach 11-under for the tournament
• First-round co-leader Oppehiem (T5 / -10) posted a 2-under 70, making four birdies (Nos. 5, 13, 14, 18) against two bogeys (Nos. 2, 15) to move to 10-under for the tournament and make his second cut of the season (The Panama Championship, T48)
• Mexico’s Ortiz (T6 / -10) carded the low round of the day and matched the low round of the tournament with an 8-under 64, rolling in seven birdies (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 14, 18) against one bogey on the par-4 17th
  • Ortiz finished runner-up at Prince of Wales Country Club in the 2018 Latin American Amateur Championship a 6-under 278 (69-70-70-69)
  • Earned starts in the first 12 events of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season with a T21 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
• Second-year member Ricky Castillo (T9 / -9), who posted a bogey-free 2-under 70 on Thursday, carded a second round 7-under 65, rolling in six birdies (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 14, 18) and an eagle on the par-5 9th against one bogey on the par-4 fifth
  • Castillo’s lone bogey through 36 holes is the least of any player in the field
• Chandler Blanchet (T39 / -5) and Daniel Miernicki (T39 / -5) both entered the day 2-over par but bounced back on Friday with 7-under 65s to climb 96 spots and get inside the cutline
• No players are bogey-free after 36 holes of competition