Harry Higgs, Cristobal Del Solar share lead heading into weekend at Visit Knoxville Open

Things to know

• Harry Higgs and Cristobal Del Solar share the 36-hole lead heading into the weekend at 11-under.
• Twenty-one players sit at T10 or better and within three strokes of the lead.
• The first round was suspended Thursday at 7:38 p.m. ET due to inclement weather. The first round resumed on Friday at 7 a.m. ET and the second round began at 7:50 a.m. ET.
• The 36-hole cut was made at 4-under, with 75 players advancing into the weekend.
• Due to potentially dangerous weather Saturday morning, tee times will run from approximately 10 a.m.-12 p.m. ET with groups going off the first and 10th tee.

First-round lead notes

• Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Visit Knoxville Open (7): Anders Albertson (2022), J.J. Spaun (2016), Martin Piller (2014), Hunter Haas (2006), Heath Slocum (2001), Dave Rummells (1997) and Tim Conley (1993)
• Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024 (2): Isaiah Salinda (The Panama Championship) and Steven Fisk (Club Car Championship at the Landings Golf & Athletic Club)

Charting the co-leaders

Harry Higgs (co-leader/-11)

• Closed his second round with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 15, 16, 17 and 18 to card a 5-under 65; also made birdies on the par-4 third and 10th against one bogey coming on the par-4 seventh
• Turned in a bogey-free 6-under 64 in the first round
• Won last week’s AdventHealth Championship for his second career Korn Ferry Tour victory (2019 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper)
• Made six total starts this season, making three cuts with two top-25 finishes along with his win
• Entered the week No. 7 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Making his 38th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour this week
• Earned his PGA TOUR card in 2019 by finishing No. 5 on the Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List, entering the 2019-20 season sixth in the final priority ranking
• 118 career starts on the PGA TOUR with six top 10s, including two runner-up finishes (2021 Fortinet Championship, Butterfield Bermuda Championship)
• Owns three career starts in major championships with two top-25 finishes, including a top 10 (T14 at 2022 Masters Tournament; MC at 2022 PGA Championship; T4 at 2021 PGA Championship)
• Played college golf at Southern Methodist University, where he was a member of the team that won the 2014 American Conference Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championship
• Turned professional in 2014 following his collegiate career
• Born in New Jersey and grew up in Overland Park, Kansas

Cristobal Del Solar (co-leader/-11)

• Posted a 5-under 65 in the second round with five birdies (Nos. 6, 8, 9, 10, 18) and an eagle (No. 5) against two bogeys (Nos. 3, 7)
• Carded an opening-round, bogey-free 6-under 64 with four birdies and an eagle
• One of two players with multiple eagles through 36 holes (Austin Hitt)
• Finished T10 in his only other start in the Visit Knoxville Open (2023)
• Recorded the lowest 18-hole score in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event with a 13-under par 57 in the first round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in Bogota, Colombia
• Posted a 27 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history
• Second-year member making the 36th start of his Korn Ferry Tour career this week
• Fifth lead or co-lead after any round of his Korn Ferry Tour career, first 36-hole lead of any kind
• Last year as a rookie, finished 52nd on the Points List to earn fully exempt membership for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
• In 25 starts last season, tallied eight top-25 finishes and four top-10s, highlighted by a T5 at the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank
• Turned professional in 2017, playing on PGA TOUR Canada in 2017 and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica from 2018-2022
• Won four times on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica (now PGA TOUR Americas since merging with PGA TOUR Canada) tying him for the second-most career wins in the Tour’s history
• Moved to the United States when he was 15 years old and attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida
• Played five seasons at Florida State University from 2012-17, winning once and garnering 2017 All-America Third Team recognition, as well as All-Atlantic Coast Conference laurels in 2016 and 2017
• Plays from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but was originally born in Vina del Mar, Chile, roughly 76 miles from Santiago, where the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank will be contested next month

Quotables

Harry Higgs on the weather delays and completing the first round Friday morning: "Yeah, I'm shocked at how much we did play yesterday. For me, it was only one stoppage. It was a little weird teeing off my first hole, the 10th, and getting to the green and turning around and coming back. After that obviously, it stopped us for darkness. I was shocked at how much we played. It was early this morning, but it was nice to get out I had, what, probably 20 and a half holes roughly I played today. It was warm, though. I definitely found myself getting a little tired the last three or four holes, not quite getting through it like I'd want. Now I've got plenty of time to go back and rest up.”

Higgs on the four things he does before hitting a shot:“I have to have a clear intent about what I want to see happen. I have to have a rehearsal that matches that intent. I have to have a positive thought before I hit the ball. I think it might be three. Yeah, I think it is three. And then the fourth is after, and I have to accept wherever it is. Then I’m trying to do a good job controlling my breathing, especially late in the day when I’m getting a little tired. I have written down, this was started last Sunday, that it's a marathon, not a sprint. Certainly even on Sunday when you have a chance, but there's just so much that can go on, so much golf. Four days and 72 holes is a lot.”

Cristobal Del Solar on keeping his momentum going into the second round: “Yeah, just kept the same strategy as the first round, try to hit good shots, same lines. Honestly, trying hard to focus on my process, just forget about the results and just try to give myself birdie chances. Yeah, just go from there. Hit good shots, do my routine and just – it's coming along really nicely.”

Notes

• Four players trail the leaders by one stroke: Max McGreevy (T3/-10), Kris Ventura (T3/-10) and William Mouw (T3/-10) all post 3-under 67s and 7-under 63s over the first two rounds, respectively, while Ryan Gerard (T3/-10) turned in a bogey-free 4-under 66 in the second round
• McGreevy was bogey-free on his round, making birdies on Nos. 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 16 and 18
• Ventura finished T7 in this event last season
• Gerard began his week with a 6-under 64
• Brian Campbell (T7/-9), who entered the week No. 10 on the Points List, makes his Tour-leading 10th cut of the season in his 11th start
• Charles Porter (T7/-9), who carded a bogey-free 8-under 62 in the first round, made his fifth cut of the year in his 10th start after a 2-under 68 in the second round
• After 1-over 71s in the opening round, Trace Crowe (T22/-7) and Dalton Ward (T22/-7) bounced back with the low scores of the tournament with 8-under 62s, marking the lowest 18-hole score of Ward’s career and ties the lowest round of Crowe’s career
• Crowe, making his first Korn Ferry start of the season, earned his PGA TOUR card via a runner-up finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, where the top five and ties earned TOUR membership for 2024
• With a solo-third finish at the AdventHealth Championship, Ward earned 190 points to become eligible for Special Temporary Membership for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season after surpassing the threshold for Special Temporary Membership of 253.82 points (equivalent to the No. 100 finisher from the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List)
• Tain Lee (T10/-8) posts back-to-back bogey-free 4-under 67s and is the only player in the field bogey-free after 36 holes of competition
• Former Tennessee Volunteer Spencer Cross (T33/-7), who is playing on a sponsor exemption this week, turned in a bogey-free 7-under 63 after a first-round 1-over 71
• Cross finished T10 at the 2023 Visit Knoxville Open
• Holston Hills Country Club member Van Holmgren (T57/-4) posts a 3-under 67 at his home course to make the cut on the number