Rookie Austin Cook jumps to the top of the leaderboard at the RSM Classic

SAINT SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Veteran PGA TOUR caddie Kip Henley has seen his share of spectacular golf, but he said he’d never seen two stress-free, back-to-back rounds as those turned in by Austin Cook at The RSM Classic. In fact, Cook made it look so easy on Friday at the Seaside Course that Henley didn’t even realize Cook had signed for an 8-under 62. “I knew it was good, but I didn’t know it was that good,” Henley said. Cook hit 17 greens while carding eight birdies in the second round. He equaled the best 36-hole score at The RSM Classic, 14-under 128 and grabbed a 1-stroke lead over Brian Gay. Cook, who played his college golf at Arkansas, remembers playing in the Southeastern Conference Championship here, but never quite like this. He made four birdies in a row on the back nine beginning at No. 13, and said the 5-iron he stiffed from 179 yards at the 14th hole was his best shot of the day. “I never remember doing what I just did on that golf course,” he said, adding, “I was close to a 62 for nine in one SEC.” Cook, 26, is a PGA TOUR rookie after finishing 15th on the 2017 Web.com Tour money list. He solidified his spot in “The 25” with a runner-up finish at the Utah Championship. “It’s been a lifelong dream,” he said of earning his TOUR card. Next Tuesday, his hometown club, Jonesboro Country Club in Arkansas, is throwing a party for him in recognition of his achievement. When told he could have a lot more to celebrate if he were to become The RSM Classic’s fifth PGA TOUR first-time winner, Cook hesitated to look too far ahead. “Well, you know…” he said, taking a pregnant pause. “Yeah, we can have a lot to celebrate.” OBSERVATIONS GAY’S PUTTER HEATS UP. Brian Gay is regarded as one of the TOUR’s top putters and it keyed another vintage performance. Gay, 45, drained a 38-footer at the 6th hole for birdie, one of seven birdies in a round of 6-under 64 at the Seaside Course. He ranked third in strokes gained: putting (+3.538) on Friday, and heads into the weekend trailing Cook by one shot. Gay, who missed 18 months due to neck surgery and a thumb injury, regained his TOUR privileges last season on a major-medical exemption. Now he’s looking to get back into the winner’s circle. “It feels like it’s been a while,” said Gay, who last won at the 2013 CareerBuilder Challenge. “It really does.” WEEKEND PLANS FOR de JONGE. The putter case for Brendon de Jonge is a sun with shades and a smile and it matched its owner’s disposition after he shot a second-straight round of 67. That’s because de Jonge made his first PGA TOUR cut since the Shell Houston Open in April. “It feels really nice,” de Jonge said. “It’s a small monkey off my back.” Missing 16 of your last 17 starts, and finishing 221st in the FedEx Cup standings can lead to dark feelings. It has de Jonge contemplating a life after golf. He said he and his wife have started a company and invested in real estate. But he’d still like to get that elusive first TOUR win. De Jonge is fully-exempt on the Web.com Tour and plans to play out of the Veteran member category on the TOUR this season as much as he can. “The last few years have been a mental battle if whether this is what I want to keep doing,” he said. “I need to play one really good week and that’s how I’m going to figure out if that’s what I really want to do.” De Jonge, 37, wore a smile on his face as he described holing his second shot for eagle, a 9-iron from 138 yards on the 13th hole. He’s also enjoyed having childhood friend Bruce McDonald on the bag and staying with Sea Island teaching pro Mike Taylor this week. De Jonge and Taylor spent an hour on the putting green Wednesday, and it has paid quick dividends. “Sometimes you need a few to go into the hole to start believing,” McDonald said. KIRK USES AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE. Chris Kirk blames a balky putter for his dip in performance last season. He slipped to a career-worst 125th in strokes gained: putting. But this week his short stick is behaving, and he credits a switch to a Scotty Cameron by Titleist center-shafted Laguna model that he used during the 2010 Web.com Tour. “That was one of the best putting seasons I’ve ever had,” he said. Kirk, a Georgia Bulldog alum, pulled the Laguna putter out of his storage closet last weekend while watching the Georgia-Auburn football game. “The game wasn’t going so well so I started messing around with it on my putting rug,” he said. It ended up in the bag this week. The 2013 RSM Classic champ took just 23 putts Thursday en route to a 9-under 63 at the Plantation Course, and though he needed 31 putts during Friday’s even-par-70 at Seaside Course, he said he rolled it “incredibly well.” Kirk, who is winless since 2015, enters the weekend at 9 under and in a share of third place. NCAA CHAMP IMPRESSES AGAIN. Amateur Braden Thornberry, a 20-year-old junior at Ole Miss, fired a 6-under 64 at the Seaside Course on Friday. Count veteran TOUR caddie Don Donatello, who is on the bag for the reigning NCAA champ this week, impressed. “He’s the youngest player I’ve ever caddied for, and he handles himself like he’s been playing this game for 30 years,” Donatello said of Thornberry. Thornberry, the Haskins Award winner as college golf’s best player, continues to show that his game can translate to the next level. He finished tied for fourth at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June in his TOUR debut. After an opening-round 72 at the Plantation Course, Thornberry canned a 34-foot birdie putt at the first hole at Seaside Course and birdied five of his first 10 holes. He enters the weekend tied for 22nd. “I was surprised how comfortable I do feel out here,” he said. NOTABLES Brandt Snedeker – The eight-time TOUR winner used his 14-week layoff with a rib injury to good effect. He and instructor John Tillery changed his natural draw ball flight to a fade through a series of drills and exercises.” I was anxious to see how it would perform under pressure,” said Snedeker, who carded a second-straight 67 to improve to 8 under. “I hit a 4-iron from 220 into the wind today at the second and it never left the pin. Hit it straight to 5 feet and made birdie. I feel like my swing is starting to feel natural.” C.T. Pan – He finished in style, making eagle at the 18th hole en route to shooting 7-under 65, the low round on Plantation Course. Pan, 25, enters the third round at 9-under overall and in position to improve upon a T6 finish at The RSM Classic last season. Bud Cauley – Cauley, who grew up just across the Georgia border in Jacksonville, improved nine strokes on Friday. Cauley, 27, carded a bogey-free 7-under 63 on the Seaside Course. That was a stroke off Cauley’s personal-best on the TOUR — a 62 during round one of The 2012 RSM Classic. Cauley rallied on Friday to make his sixth consecutive cut dating back to last season. Bubba Watson – The nine-time TOUR winner made eight threes and a five on the par-5 seventh hole of the front nine at the more difficult Seaside Course and signed for a 6-under 64. Watson, who finished 75th in last season’s FedExCup and had intended to take a long layoff, is making his second start in the fall season. He improved to 7 under overall and T12 heading into the weekend. QUOTABLES “My mind kind of got off of golf. Being home and being with the family and everything, I realized how much I missed the game of golf and that’s why I wanted to come and play in these tournaments.”– Bubba Watson, who after a subpar year, decided to play in two fall events” He has the confidence on the greens like Jordan Spieth in that he thinks he can make anything.”– Caddie Don Donatello on reigning NCAA champion Braden Thornberry SUPERLATIVES Low round: 62. Austin Cook at the more difficult Seaside Course. Longest putt: Scott Brown went long distance at the par-4 14th hole, draining a putt from 69 feet, 4 inches. Longest drive: Trey Mullinax gripped it and ripped 357 yards on the ninth hole at Seaside Course. Fewest putts: Bubba Watson led the field with 13 one-putt greens and took just 23 putts in Round 2 at the Seaside Course. Hardest hole: The par-4 14th hole at Seaside played to a stroke average of 4.429. Only four birdies were recorded on the day. Easiest hole: The par-5 15th hole at Seaside played to a stroke average of 4.506. There was one eagle and 41 birdies in round two. CALL OF THE DAY

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