Williams takes over lead at Tour Championship of Canada

London, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Ryan Williams shot up the leaderboard with a second-round, 7-under 65 on Friday and he holds a 1-stroke lead heading into the weekend at the Tour Championship of Canada.

Williams, who has never won on the PGA Tour Canada, finished 36 holes at 10- under 134 and is one shot ahead of first-round co-leader Erik Barnes. Williams has missed the cut in his last three events and has not made it to the weekend in seven of the 11 tournaments he has played in this season.

Entering the day tied for first with Matt Marshall, Barnes carded a 5-under 67 and he holds sole possession of second place at 9-under 135. Adam Cornelson also fired a 67 and he is two back at minus-8.

Marshall is 7-under 137 through 36 holes following a second-round 69, tying him for fourth with Nate McCoy and Clayton Rask, both of whom shot 66 Friday.

Matt Harmon and Greg Eason, who are Nos. 3 and 5 respectively on the Order of Merit, remained tied following a pair of 68s. They were joined in seventh place at 6-under 138 by Ted Brown (68) and Eugene Wong (69).

The top-5 players on the Order of Merit following the Tour Championship will earn status on the Web.com Tour next season.

Williams did not come storming out of the gate in his second round, but he picked things up late, propelling him to the top of the leaderboard.

After starting the day with four straight pars, Williams drained his first birdie on the par-4 fifth. A pair of pars preceded four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 8 for Williams, quickly getting him to minus-5 on the day.

Williams made two more gains on 15 and 17, putting him at 7-under. He parred the last hole to end there and complete his bogey-free round.

Barnes picked up right where he left off on Thursday with birdies on one and four, but a bogey on the par-4 sixth dropped him back to minus-1. That was the last blemish on Barnes’ card, however, as he made the turn with four straight pars from the seventh.

A gain on 11 was followed by three straight pars and another birdie on 15. After a par on 16, Barnes finished off strong with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18, vaulting him into second place.

NOTES: Williams has two top-10 finishes on the season, with his best one coming at the Syncrude Boreal Open, where he ended tied for fourth … Williams is No. 39 on the Order of Merit, while Barnes is No. 53 … Williams’ 65 was the best round of the day … Rask started with five birdies in a six- hole stretch, but he slowed down with three birdies and two bogeys the rest of the day … Joel Dahmen (71), No. 1 on the Order of Merit, is at 2-under 142, while No. 4 Brock Mackenzie (69) is 3-under 141. No. 2 Timothy Madigan (73) had a another tough day and he is tied for 53rd at 8-under 152.

Categorized in: PGA