Leaderboard: Round 2 results at Wyndham

Jhonattan Vegas (+6600) … He’s a two-time winner of the RBC Canadian Open, so no one likely is more eager to return to the Great White North more than the Venezuelan. Until then, he’ll find Congaree to his liking as a long-hitting, tee-to-green specialist. Even better, he’s in form upon arrival with nine paydays in his last 11 starts worldwide. The stretch includes a runner-up finish in Puerto Rico, a T18 at Corales and a T9 at TPC Craig Ranch. In other words, he’s capitalized on the moments when most of the notables have rested. Scott Stallings (+6600) … Like his fellow three-time PGA TOUR winner, Vegas, who is just seven months his senior, the 36-year-old Stallings does his work from tee to green and he’s streaky. Although safely positioned at 106th in the FedExCup, he also always figures out a way to retain his card even when his back seems to be against the wall. As it concerns the here and now, since joining forces with Brice Garnett for a T11 in New Orleans, Stallings is 5-for-5. The highlight was a T3 at TPC Craig Ranch. Currently 41st in greens hit and fourth in scrambling. Hank Lebioda (+10000) … The first of two Florida State University products included here, the 27-year-old lefty often looks good but he continues to battle inconsistency enough to flail just outside the bubble of qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs (currently 140th). However, he’s gone for a pair of top 20s in his last three starts with a T17 at the AT&T Byron Nelson as the most recent. Ranks 29th on TOUR in greens hit, sixth in proximity, sixth in scrambling and T31 in par-5 scoring. Perhaps the unfamiliarity of the greens at Congaree will lift his relative value elsewhere on the course just as it did at TPC Craig Ranch in his last start. Bronson Burgoon (+8000) … Like the guys featured above, he also recorded a solid finish at TPC Craig Ranch. A T13 matched his season-best just two starts prior at Copperhead. In accordance with the theme, the 34-year-old figures out a way to keep at least a shred of status while doing his work with his longest sticks because he constantly throws enough against the wall, er, hits enough greens in regulation to keep the performance centers lit for a putter that too often has stage fright. John Pak (+12500) … Get used to the name. The eight-time winner at Florida State was the “valedictorian” of the first graduating class at PGA TOUR University. He’s making his professional debut at Congaree following a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. The 22-year-old cleaned up on all of the annual awards reserved for top collegians and he’s a two-time Walker Cup winner. In his only prior appearance in PGA TOUR-sanctioned competition, he placed T51 at the U.S. Open in September. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, June 8 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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DALLAS — Marc Leishman shot a 10-under 61 on the new links-style Trinity Forest course to take the first-round lead Thursday in the AT&T Byron Nelson. Jordan Spieth was eight-shots back in his hometown event, which returned to Dallas after 35 years at the TPC Four Seasons in suburban Irving. Defending champion Billy Horschel shot 68. Leishman opened with an eagle, started the back nine with three-straight birdies and reached 9 under with another eagle at the 14th. The 34-year-old Australian, a three-time PGA TOUR winner, had chances to go lower but settled for a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th for the lowest round of his PGA TOUR career. He was a stroke shy of the Nelson record. J.J. Spaun and Texan Jimmy Walker shot 64. Spaun had six birdies in a span of seven holes for a 30 on his second nine — the front nine on the undulating layout with no trees or water hazards a few miles south of downtown Dallas.

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Paul Azinger didn’t win THE PLAYERS Championship in 1991, but he made an impression. After sleeping on the 54-hole lead at the end of a particularly windy week, he shot 74 to finish T3. Steve Elkington won the first of two PLAYERS titles, but in its recap, Sports Illustrated writer John Garrity called Azinger, “the Tour’s most personable and exciting young player.â€� In other words, he was good TV.  Azinger’s second career as a TV golf analyst got a turbo boost when he was named Monday as NBC’s successor to retiring Johnny Miller. Azinger has called golf for ABC, ESPN and Fox. Now, in taking on NBC, he inherits one of the network’s crown jewels, THE PLAYERS, where players try to quell their nerves with disaster looming off every tee box and near every green. “Well, I haven’t won there, unfortunately,â€� Azinger said Monday of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. “But I definitely have some last-group-on-Sunday experiences at TPC and I know what it’s like to sleep on the lead there. It’s different than most places because there’s a lot of water on that golf course and you can pay a heavy price on just about every hole. “But you can’t get past thinking about 17 at any point,â€� he added, “and you have to keep reminding yourself that you’re not there yet, you’re not there yet.â€� Monday was a happy occasion for Azinger, 58, who also will appear on Golf Channel’s Live From the Masters, contribute to instructional projects, and assist with Golf Films programming. A teleconference with the national media featured plenty of laughs between Azinger; NBC Golf Executive Vice President of Content Molly Solomon; and Lead Golf Producer Tommy Roy.  Alas, the frivolity will be short-lived, as there’s much work to be done.  In addition to continuing to call the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open for Fox, and the Masters for the BBC, Azinger’s NBC dance card is full. He’ll start with the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, February 21-24; call The Open Championship, which he’s done previously with ESPN; work the Ryder Cup, the tournament where he made his mark as a player and later as the winning U.S. captain in 2008; and decamp for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.   He will call the action from places where he’s won, like Bay Hill (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) and Waialae Country Club (Sony Open in Hawaii), and places where he hasn’t. The first biggie, though, will be THE PLAYERS in March, it being a potential career-maker for players (Elkington, Davis Love III) and broadcasters (Gary Koch: “Better than most!â€�) alike. Azinger compiled four top-10s and seven top-20 finishes in 19 starts at TPC Sawgrass. He also made a memorable ace at the island 17th hole in 2000.  Now he gets to take on the iconic tournament in a whole new way: calling it like he sees it from the 18th tower.    “It’s a scary golf course and I haven’t won on it, but I respect anybody that does,â€� said Azinger. “And the magnitude of the event; the fact that it’s the strongest field of the year, year-in and year-out, is, you know, a big part of it.… I look forward to getting in this and sharing with the general public what that place is all about.â€� You can’t get past thinking about 17 at any point, and you have to keep reminding yourself that you’re not there yet, you’re not there yet. Azinger and Miller have similar styles; both are direct and unapologetic, and both are above all loyal to the viewers. Azinger said he will speak up when players thrive/wilt under pressure, but while maintaining respect for the game and its players. It would be “irresponsible,â€� he said, to call anyone a choker, and he wants to build up the game and its players. After all, he’s been there, standing on the tee as he eyes the flagstick bending in the breeze, whitecaps on the water, the tournament hanging in the balance. It’s an uneasy feeling, and one that Azinger expects will come flooding back to him at times as he begins his career with NBC. “You have to have butterflies to do a good job, I feel,â€� he said. “I remember teeing off at the Masters one year without butterflies, how shameful. I hate to even admit that. But I didn’t have any butterflies because I knew I wasn’t going to be any good. “I did have butterflies this morning,â€� he added.

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