Corey Conners takes two-shot lead at PGA Championship

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Brendon Todd birdied his last four holes Friday for an 8-under 63 and a share of the lead with Harry Higgs and Scottie Scheffler after the second round of the inaugural Bermuda Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times Todd finished on the front nine at hilly and breezy Port Royal Golf Club, also birdieing Nos. 2 and 4. Higgs shot a 65, closing with a birdie on the par-4 18th. Scheffler, the first-round leader after a 62, had a 69. They were at 11-under 131. “It’s one of the shorter ones we play on the TOUR and it forces everybody to hit the ball with the same clubs off the tee,” Todd said. “The good thing about that for me is, I’m hitting the same clubs into the greens as everybody else and for some reason that tends to work out well in my favor. So, the course is good for me, for my game, and I’ve been swinging well.” Todd won the 2014 AT&T Byron Nelson for his lone PGA TOUR title. He regained his card in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. “Having more full status again this year, the goal really is to get in contention as many times as I can and get another win because that’s the easiest way to keep your card, get back to where I want to be, which is playing in the big events,” Todd said. “I think this is a good opportunity for us to come out here and get in contention and practice a little bit, see what that feels like.” Higgs and Scheffler each won last season on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Scheffler said “I didn’t really. My swing didn’t feel too good, didn’t really make a lot of putts, but still shot 2 under. Hung in there pretty well and posted a decent number, so in good position going into the weekend.” Higgs, Bryson DeChambeau’s teammate at SMU, is the only player without a bogey the first two days. “I’ve had a good progression from Latin America to a good year on the Korn Ferry Tour, and now it’s just kind of seeing how my game stacks up,” Higgs said. “I’ve had good enough results to where I think it certainly does. And this will be nice, this is my sixth event, to at least have a decent chance of winning to kind of really see how you stack up, see how well you can think, how well you can manage all the other non-golf stuff.” Aaron Wise (65), Boo Weekley (66) and Wes Roach (69) were a stroke back.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR announced Monday that Erik van Rooyen has accepted Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR Season. A native of South Africa, van Rooyen is now eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season as he attempts to earn his PGA TOUR card for the 2020-21 season. At No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking, van Rooyen has made 10 starts on the PGA TOUR in 2019-20, highlighted by a career-best T3 at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February. Van Rooyen, who has played six of the eight weeks since the PGA TOUR returned, entered last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational needing 29 non-member FedExCup points to secure Special Temporary Membership and finished T20, good for 46 points. To earn full status on the PGA TOUR for the 2020-21 season, van Rooyen must earn as many or more points through the non-member FedExCup points list as No. 125 in the 2019-20 season FedExCup standings. Van Rooyen currently has 305 points, and for reference, that would fall between Nos. 105 and 106 in the current FedExCup standings. No. 125 (Chase Seiffert) currently has 254 points. Van Rooyen spoke at the recent 3M Open about his desire to become a PGA TOUR member. “I think it’s been a goal since I was a kid, reason being you see the best players in the world playing out here,” he said. “It’s not so much a goal being a full-time PGA TOUR player as it is a goal of wanting to compete against the best in the world. However, the best in the world play here. So that’s why I want to get my PGA TOUR card. “We also live here now. My wife’s from Minneapolis, from here, so we live in the U.S., we want to raise our family here, so I think long term it just makes sense. But again, I see myself as one of the best players in the world and I want to compete on that level and that means I’ll play here. It’s definitely a goal of mine. It’s been on my mind throughout these last few months, but it will take care of itself. I know that I’m a good enough player, so if I put the scores up, it’s going to happen.” Van Rooyen is in the field at this week’s PGA Championship following a T8 at the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage State Park Black Course, his best showing in four major appearances. The 30-year-old has three worldwide victories, most recently winning the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation on the European Tour. Van Rooyen played collegiately at the University of Minnesota before turning professional in 2013. In May, the Korn Ferry Tour announced modifications to the 2020 schedule and a fall calendar of events that would be part of a one-time, combined 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season. The adjustments resulted in the loss of a graduating class via the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, and pushed the next available Qualifying Tournament to 2021. In turn, non-members paths to the PGA TOUR for the 2020-21 season are through the non-member FedExCup points list or a victory on TOUR. Special Temporary Members are not eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs, but Special Temporary Members or non-members who subsequently become regular PGA TOUR members by winning an official event during the season will be counted on the FedExCup points list, along with any FedExCup points earned as a non-member (excluding those won at World Golf Championships events as a non-member) and thus be eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs.

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