Cooper Dossey takes one-stroke lead into weekend at Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper

Things to know

• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Cooper Dossey holds a one-stroke lead over Brian Campbell for the first 36-hole lead of his career.
• Seven players stand at T3 and two strokes back of the lead, including two-time Korn Ferry Tour winners Taylor Dickson and Kris Ventura, as well as PGA TOUR winners Tommy Gainey and Richy Werenski.
• 2022 champion David Kocher cards a bogey-free, 7-under 65 and is the only player bogey-free through 36 holes.
• Thirty-six-hole cut was made at 6-under 138, with 73 professionals advancing to the weekend.
• Third-round pairings will run from 6:40 a.m. through 12:50 p.m. local time off the first tee.

Second-round lead notes

• 9 – Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper
• 5 – Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

Charting the leader

Cooper Dossey (leader/14-under)

• Turned in a 5-under 67 with six birdies (Nos. 1, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14) against one bogey (No. 17)
• Carded the lowest opening round of his career on Thursday with a 9-under 63, making nine birdies (Nos. 1, 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18) and an eagle (No. 8) against two bogeys (No. 16, 17)
• First lead/co-lead of any kind in what is his 21st career Korn Ferry Tour start
• First career start at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper
• Owns five top-25 finishes and one top-10 in 17 starts on Tour this season; best finish came in the form of a T9 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX
• Earned status for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season via a T14 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
• Played two seasons on PGA TOUR Canada (now PGA TOUR Americas) from 2022 to 2023 where he accumulated four top-10 finishes in 19 career starts
• One career start on the PGA TOUR; 2022 CJ CUP Byron Nelson (MC)
• Played five seasons at Baylor (2016-21) where he was named a two-time All-American and the first player in program history to earn First-Team All-American honors in the 2019-20 season
• Plays from Addison, Texas

Quotables

Cooper Dossey on his 5-under 67 second round: “I feel like I hit it better today. I had a lot of really good looks all day and had a hard time getting the speed out there to start. Then I made a long putt on nine and got hot early on the back nine, was hitting it really close, but I still feel like I left a lot out there, which is good. I'm hitting it well and I'm still hitting my putts the way that I want to. But we'll see. I'm really excited with how I'm hitting it.”

Dossey on being in contention going into the weekend: “Yeah, I've been waiting for good golf, and it's been nice this week to have no nerves or being comfortable on the golf course again. I feel like I've been up near the lead a lot this year, it seems like every cut I've made I've had one day that's just killed me. That's the difference between 20th and being in contention on the back nine on Sunday. I'm just going to keep hitting greens and let the Spider go to work, honestly.”

Shad Tuten on his delayed start to the season due to injury:“Yeah, I know I've made every cut, but it's been an interesting grind. I've never experienced this, coming into the year in the middle of the season. I was ready to play literally a week, two weeks after the end of the year, then that happened, then I had four months off. So it was definitely a challenge for me to get back into it. I was very rusty with tournament golf. I played just a little bit beforehand, but I was pretty rusty. I mean it was just developing my speed back, kind of developing what I did best in the past. You know, you kind of lose that if you haven't played competitively for a certain amount of time and it was about six months, so it took a toll on me mentally more than anything. I'm here and I'm playing and I'm happy.”

Notes

• Brian Campbell (second/-13) and Davis Chatfield (T29/-8) make the cut for a Tour-leading 15th time this season.
  • Campbell, who finished T2 at The Ascendant presented by Blue last week, trails by one stroke after a 5-under 67, making seven birdies (Nos. 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 14, 17) against two bogeys (Nos. 16, 18).
• John VanDerLaan (T3/-12), who finished No. 42 on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List for fully exempt status this season, cards a second consecutive 6-under 66 and stands inside the top five after 36 holes for the second time this season (T5/The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay/finished T14).
• Third-year member Matt McCarty (T3/-12) cards a 5-under 67 and is inside the top five after 36 holes for a second consecutive start (first/The Ascendant presented by Blue/finished T5).
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Kris Ventura (T3/-12), who gained status for the 2024 season via a T21 finish at Final Stage of PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, posts a bogey-free 7-under 65 to make his first cut at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper in his third start.
• Zach Bauchou (T3/-12), who is making his first career start at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, cards a 6-under 66 for the second consecutive day and records his 15th consecutive round under par.
• PGA TOUR winner Tommy Gainey (T3/-12) stands at T3 for his highest 36-hole position of the season (previously; T9/The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay/finished T16); Gainey is seeking his second top-10 finish of the season (T9/Veritex Bank Championship).
• Taylor Dickson (T3/-12) plays the second round bogey-free with a 7-under 65 and is now three for three on made cuts at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, seeking to improve upon his previous best finish of T51 (2023).
  • Dickson, a two-time winner this season, will head into the weekend seeking the three-victory promotion, earning him an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR.
• Richy Werenski (T3/-12), who finished runner-up at this event in 2016, has now made the cut in all three starts at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper; Werenski stands at T3 for his best 36-hole position in a Korn Ferry Tour event since the 2016 season (T5/2016 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper/finished second).
• Past champions Max McGreevy (T10/-11) and David Kocher (T10/-11) both make the cut and trail by three strokes of the lead at 11-under
  • McGreevy turns in a 5-under 67 with five birdies (Nos. 2, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15) against one bogey (No. 12).
  • Kocher – who set the 72-hole scoring record en route to his victory in 2022 – is the only player in the field bogey-free through 36 holes.
• Shad Tuten (T10/-11), who finished No. 32 on the 2023 points list for fully exempt status this season, is now seven for seven on made cuts this year after a 4-under 68.
  • Fourth made cut at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper in his fifth career start
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri, native Carr Vernon (T10/-11), who is playing on a sponsor exemption this week, makes his second cut on the Korn Ferry Tour in what is his fourth career start; finished T37 at the 2022 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper
• Eighteen-hole leader Austin Hitt (T19/-10) – who logged a bogey-free 10-under 62 in the first round for the lowest round of his career – posts an even-par 72 in the second round.
• Gustav Frimodt (T29/-8), who finished No. 9 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, logs his first cut on Tour in his second career start.
  • The Glamsbjerg, Denmark, native carded back-to-back 4-under 68s and leads the field in eagles through 36 holes with three.