Canada's Taylor Pendrith, seeking his second title of 2024, birdied three of the last four holes to grab a two-stroke lead after Friday's second round of the PGA's 3M Open.
Pendrith fired a seven-under par 64 and remained bogey free after 36 holes to stand on 12-under 130 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.
"I've been hitting the ball really solidly, hitting a lot of greens," Pendrith said. "Today was pretty tricky with the wind, it was blowing pretty hard at times, so my speed was great all day and stayed really patient. "Played really solid, drove the ball well and hit a lot of greens."
American Matt NeSmith was second on 132 after a 64 with countrymen Jacob Bridgeman and Andrew Putnam on 133 and Americans Doug Ghim, Lanto Griffin, Alex Smalley and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas on 134.
Pendrith, 33, won his first PGA title in May at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and had his best finish since then last week by sharing fifth at the Barracuda Championship.
"That was fun," Pendrith said. "Game is in a good spot and I've been playing really nicely the first two days here, so hopefully keep it up."
Pendrith, ranked 59th in the world, holed a 55-foot putt at the par-3 fourth and sank a five-footer to birdie the seventh, then began the back nine with a 16-foot birdie putt and added a birdie putt from just inside eight feet at the par-5 12th.
His closing run included an eight-foot birdie putt at 15, a 30-footer for birdie at 16 and a tap-in birdie at the par-5 18th after reaching the green in two over a water hazard.
"I've hit a lot of greens the first two days, which has been really helpful," Pendrith said. "The putter kind of heated up there on the back nine, which was nice."
NeSmith had his best PGA finish two weeks ago, sharing second after losing in a five-man playoff at the ISCO Championship. His bogey-free round Friday included a 14-foot eagle putt at the par-5 12th.
"I played really solid," NeSmith said. "I've been putting really well for the last three weeks or so. It has been very hot. I've just been working on it, it's finally starting to come through."
American Hayden Buckley aced the par-3 17th hole for his third career PGA Tour hole-in-one, the first since last year's Players Championship. His towering tee shot at the 178-yard hole landed short of the hole and went in after one bounce. But he missed the cut.
"It gave me a little bit of something to smile at, at least, headed home," Buckley said.