Davis Riley shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 at Colonial Country Club to take a two-stroke lead among the Charles Schwab Challenge field heading into the weekend and sit at 10-under for the tournament.
Hayden Buckley and Pierceson Coody both signed with five-under 65s to join Riley at eight under.
Riley started his day on the back nine, and his strong showing began on the 15th hole, where he scored five birdies over the next six holes.
“The key on this course is getting the ball in the fairway. It’s long, but if you hit it in the fairway you’ll get a little bit of distance and have the clubs to improve your score,” Riley said. “If you can hit your shots from the fairway you’ll have a good chance.”
The former Alabama golfer led the field overall with 11.6 strokes gained, and was also third in strokes gained on approaches to the green, adding 5.2 shots in that area.
Colonial Country Club has completely renovated the entire golf course since last year’s event, and Riley feels there have been two main changes.
“Obviously, the greens are a lot different. There was a big learning curve between Tuesday and Wednesday,” Riley said. “The par-3s look different. I think you have to get used to the firmness of the greens and the different undulations of the greens. We spent a lot of time on the greens on Tuesday and Wednesday. The flow from tee to green is pretty much the same except for the par-3s.”
Riley and many of the players in the afternoon group had to endure a weather delay that lasted more than an hour, but he didn’t mind. When the players returned to the course, Riley made a 3-foot putt to make his mark on the scorecard.
“I told myself on the back nine I didn’t want to look at the scoreboard. I wanted to get into the process and try to hit the shot that was in front of me,” Riley said. “That part went well. I didn’t know where I stood until we got stopped here by rain. I had a three-foot shot come back and it was good to hit it.”
Riley has come close in previous tournaments, but finally managed to win last year at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans against Nick Hardy. Riley is 36 holes away from his first solo PGA Tour victory, and he will face Buckley on Saturday.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a Golf Staff Writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Instagram: @savannah_leigh_sports
