Ben Griffin vaults out to three-shot lead ahead of Henley and amateur Koivun in second round of Procore Championship

By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaSportsNews @NapaKyle

It was only a matter of time before the top talent rose to the top of the leaderboard. When you have the majority of the United States Ryder Cup team in attendance, this talent will show.

On Friday, in the second round of the Procore Championship at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course, this is what happened as Ben Griffin surged to the lead. 

It was a great round overall for Griffin, who put in a second-round score of 66, which backs up his 64 and got him to -14 overall. For the second round in a row, Griffin logged a bogey-free round with six birdies. 

Some would even say Griffin is in fine form heading into the Ryder Cup. After all, this is a tune-up for the whole United States team. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t even say my mindset’s been Ryder Cup,” Griffin said. “I’ve been pretty focused on this golf tournament. Without a doubt, off the golf course, hanging out with the guys and stuff, there’s been some Ryder Cup presence, but once I get on the first tee, I’m thinking I’m trying to play well here. 

I’m not really trying to change too much of my mindset,” he continued. “Trying to hit a lot of fairways and simple stuff. You guys hear it all the time. Literally trying to give myself as many birdie looks as possible. Especially here because the fairways are so tight, you don’t know what type of lie you’re going to get in the rough. It’s very spotty in terms of the thickness of the rough, so it’s really important to kind of keep it in the fairway. This week, I’m trying to literally do the same stuff I’m doing. I’m trying to stay confident, stay motivated, and keep the pedal down.” 

In second after another strong round of where he shot 68, is Russell Henley. He once again battled some consistency with a pair of bogeys and six birdies in his second round. He’s made 16 birdies total through the first 36 holes of play. 

“Yeah, I’ve been making a lot of putts. I feel like I was — I made a ton of putts yesterday, I got off to a really hot start today,” Henley explained. “Yeah, I feel like I’m hitting a lot of fairways, and when I do I’m able to attack a little bit. If I could birdie ’em all, I would, but it’s a hard game.” 

The story of the day was amateur Jackson Koivun who vaulted into a tie for second. The Auburn University golfer shot 67 on Thursday, to back it up with a stellar second round score of 66 after a 67 on Thursday. This moves him into a tie for second and puts him in a good position as the weekend nears. 

“The 3-iron’s pretty good,” Koivun said. “I was pretty pleased with my iron shots, probably like my approaches are pretty good. A little disappointed in my driver, but still put me in some spots where I could still score from, so can’t be too mad about that, and my putting was pretty good today, too.” 

In fourth after the second day of play is J.J. Spaun, yet another US Ryder Cup team member. He’s at 9-under after logging a 68 in the second round. It wasn’t a round that Spaun was happy with since he only put 6 of 14 shots in the fairway. But he was able to get onto the green in regulation on 14 holes and was great at scrambling. 

“I don’t know, it was pretty just like, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible,” Spaun said. “I mean, I took advantage of some really good iron shots and made a few putts outside of three feet and called it a day. No bogeys, which is nice. Grinded a couple of holes, that’s about it.”

Lanto Griffin also shares the fourth spot with Spaun. He shot a 70 on Friday, which moved him to -9 for the event. 

Rico Hoey moved into sixth with a second straight 68 to move to 8-under overall. 

“Yeah, it was great,” Hoey recalled. “Conditions are awesome. It’s pretty fast out here, rough’s really thick. So it’s kind of, you know, being three weeks off, you kind of just have to go out there and play well, and that’s what I’ve been doing.” 

Beyond the top of the leaderboard, Friday also marked the day when the field was cut down. The cut line is at -1. There are numerous names below it that won’t be playing the weekend. Those making it to play the weekend include Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Harris English, Max Homa, Sahith Theegala, Cameron Young, Matt Kuchar, Akshay Bhatia, and Collin Morikawa. 

The notables to not make the cut are Joel Dahmen, Cameron Champ, US Ryder Cup Vice Captain Webb Simpson, Tom Hoge, Harry Higgs, Scott Piercy, and defending winner Patton Kizzire.  

The first two days have also been very well attended. This is due to the Ryder Cup. But this also means even higher attendance numbers could be seen over the weekend. 

The third round will take place on Saturday. The leaders will go out right around 2 pm in groups of two, which should also increase the pace of play.