By Christopher Powers
One of Tyler Duncan’s main weaknesses over the last two seasons was his short putting, specifically to the four-to-eight foot range. Over the last few months, he worked on those have-to-have-’em type putts, which still doesn’t guarantee they’re going to go in when you need them to go in.

But when they do go in, you can put together a magical round like Duncan did on Friday at the RSM Classic. The 30-year-old Indiana native made everything he saw on Sea Island’s Seaside Course, shooting a nine-under 61 to vault to the top of the leader board. At 14-under 128, he leads by two heading into the weekend.

“I made a lot of putts, a lot of straight-ish putts, which I struggled with a little bit and we’ve been working on that a ton,” said Duncan, who has gained 3.869 strokes on the green over the first two rounds, which ranks fourth in the field. He’s also gone bogey-free, something he can’t recall ever doing in his career.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had back-to-back rounds with no bogeys, so I’m happy to have that, for sure. And 61 I think is probably my lowest in competition, so very happy with that as well.”

The Seaside Course yielded a ton of low scores on Friday, with the field averaging 67.711. Sebastian Munoz and Rhein Gibson, who are tied for second at 12 under, shot 63 and 64, respectively, on the Seaside.

Also at 12 under is D.J. Trahan, whose nine-under 63 came on the Plantation Course. Brendon Todd, in search of a third victory in as many starts, shot a six-under 66 on Plantation, putting him in a tie for seventh at 10 under.