Rookie Killeen leads by five after 36 holes in Livermore

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LIVERMORE, Calif. -- J.J. Killeen admits it's pretty easy to make pars and birdies when you hit nearly every green. Killeen missed a couple early in Friday's second round of the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship, but recovered quickly to shoot a 3-under-par 69 and take a commanding lead at the halfway point of the Nationwide Tour's $600,000 event.

J.J. Killeen leads the field with 14 birdies through two rounds. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. J.J. Killeen 134 -10 T2. Aron Price 139 -5 T2. Joe Daley 139 -5 4. Guy Boros 140 -4 T5. Hunter Haas 141 -3 T5. James Love 141 -3 T7. Sebastian Fernandez 142 -2 T7. Tom Gillis 142 -2 T7. Jeff Klauk 142 -2 T7. Chris Nallen 142 -2 T7. Paul Stankowski 142 -2

Killeen, a 26-year-old-rookie from Texas by way of San Diego, is at 10-under 134 after two trips around The Course at Wente Vineyards and leads by five strokes over Aron Price (70) and Joe Daley (70). Guy Boros (69) is in fourth, six shots back. Hunter Haas (69) and Monday qualifier James Love (74) are tied for fifth, seven back of the leader.

A total of 61 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 3-over-par 147.

The Wente Vineyards course was the toughest on the Nationwide Tour for the past two seasons, but Killeen established a new 36-hole record, breaking Jeff Quinney's mark of 135 set in 2006, the inaugural year of the tournament. Killeen has also opened the biggest 36-hole lead on Tour since Kevin Na led by six at the 2006 Mark Christopher Charity Classic.

"It was just another good day," said Killeen, who tied the course record on Thursday with a 65. "You just try to keep some momentum going after the first day but you keep the same game plan."

Killeen's plan has been simple and executed to near-perfection: stay out of trouble, make a lot of pars and drop a few birdie putts. Killeen, a 2006 Texas Christian University grad, has hit 29 of 36 greens in regulation and leads the tournament with 14 birdies. Love is next on the list with 10.

"Every part of my game feels really good right now," said Killeen, who has made only two of five cuts this year and earned $7,002. "My irons have been really good and I've been able to hit most of my shots pin-high. I'm really relaxed this week. I'm just playing out there. All I'm thinking about is hitting the right shot and so far it's paid off."

Daley had the misfortune of having to play in the afternoon, when temperatures dropped into the low 50s and winds gusted to 15-20 mph.

Players who started the day in shirtsleeves finished in jackets and gloves.

"When the wind gusted, it changed things by one to two clubs," said Daley, who managed to hit 15 of 18 greens in the blustery conditions. "There are a lot of hard holes on this golf course and the difficult thing in the wind is picking the right club at the right time. You have to judge it right and hope you hit it at the right time."

Daley was steady in the wind with five birdies and three bogeys and was one of the few players to actually move up the leaderboard.

"The elevation changes out here force you to play the wind," said the 47-year-old Arizona resident. "The wind will move the ball 10 to 15 yards on some of these holes so you need to be very careful where you aim."

Second-Round News & Notes: Eight of the top-10 money winners are competing this week, but No. 5 Matt Every and No. 6 Gavin Coles are skipping this event. Of the top 10, made the 36-hole cut. Those missing the cut included the top four players on the money list -- Jarrod Lyle (+6), Ewan Porter (+11), Darron Stiles (+5) and Scott Dunlap (+15). ... Players who were bogey-free in Round Two: Henrik Bjornstad (69), Marc Leishman (69). ... The second-round scoring average was 75.032. ... Franklin Langham (83) withdrew after the opening round. ... Bubba Dickerson withdrew after nine holes Friday due to a neck injury. ... Skip Kendall (68) had the low round of the day. ... Bob Burns was the only player in the field to birdie the 423-yard fourth hole. ... The toughest hole on the course was No. 18, which had a scoring average of 4.549. There were 12 birdies made on Friday compared to 18 double bogeys.