ISCO Championship Round 2: Lucas Glover Stays Bogey-Free and Builds a Two-Shot Lead

Thursday ended in a four-way logjam. Friday ended with one name standing on top, and it belongs to the oldest name in the conversation.

Lucas Glover shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 at Hurstbourne Country Club to reach 13-under 127 and take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the ISCO Championship. Chan Kim (65) and Steven Fisk (66) are tied for second at 11 under. Aaron Wise and Jeong Weon Ko, both 65-65, sit three back at 10 under, and defending champion William Mouw roared up the board with a 63 to get to 9 under.

Rain, Then Red Numbers

The morning did not start pretty. Rain fell through the early holes, there was a delay, and the course was soaked. Glover said afterward that it was a little nasty to begin with, and that the hole locations had been tucked onto the high spots because of the weather, which made a few pins hard to attack.

None of that slowed the scoring much. A soft golf course is a soft golf course, and Glover had seen this coming. Glover said the forecast told the story the night before and that the only plan was to stay aggressive. The 46-year-old even came out early after the delay to check the speed of the greens, which were a tick slower but nothing dramatic.

"Scores are going to be low, so keep the pedal down," Glover said, per the AP.

Two Days, Zero Bogeys

That is exactly what Glover did. Three birdies on each nine, including a 13-footer on the 12th, and not a single dropped shot. Through 36 holes at Hurstbourne, Glover has played the entire golf course without a bogey on the card. Glover described the round as very similar to Thursday, with the putter behaving the same way and a few more fairways found this time.

There is real context behind the run. Glover tied for third at the John Deere Classic last week, so this is two straight weeks of elite ball-striking from a player with six PGA TOUR wins, including the 2009 U.S. Open. A win on Sunday would be the seventh of Glover's career and the fourth since 2021, per Field Level Media. Glover is the only major champion in this field, and right now it shows.

Kim and Fisk Hang Around

Kim keeps finding a home in Louisville. A year ago Kim led this event after 18 and 36 holes before the weekend got away, and on Friday the scoring came in a burst: five birdies in an eight-hole stretch from No. 7 through No. 14 for a 65. Kim told reporters the course suits that game well and that the goal this year is to redeem the weekend that slipped away last July.

Fisk, one of Thursday's four co-leaders, did not light it up the way the opening 63 did, but a 66 kept the Sanderson Farms champion right in the mix. Two back with 36 to play is a strong place to be for a player who already knows what closing out a PGA TOUR event feels like. If you missed it, our Round 1 recap covers how all four leaders got to 63. Behind them, Wise and Ko kept pace with matching 65s.

Mouw Brings the Heat

The best round of the day belonged to the defending champion, and it came with a story. Mouw shot 63, tying Taylor Pendrith for the low round, and made three putts of 20 feet or longer, including four birdies in the closing stretch from No. 14 through No. 18. One of those was a 5-footer on 14.

The secret, according to Mouw, was not technical. Mouw told Field Level Media about dunking the putter in boiling water the night before as a joke, and said it stayed hot all day, with plans to repeat the ritual Friday night. Golf has always had room for superstition, and a 63 tends to make believers out of skeptics.

"I played really solid golf today," Mouw said, adding that the short game held up whenever a green was missed.

Pendrith's 63 was just as loud in its own way. After an opening 70 left the Canadian well off the pace, Pendrith jumped to 7 under and into a tie for ninth, six back of Glover.

Cut Line and the Kids

The cut fell at 3-under 137, a reminder of how much birdie-making Hurstbourne allows. Sixty-seven players made it to the weekend. One of Thursday's co-leaders, Troy Merritt, shot 71 but stayed safely inside the number at 6 under.

Two college names will be playing Saturday. Jackson Koivun, the former Auburn star, followed an opening 67 with a 68 to sit at 5 under, a week after missing the cut in a professional debut at the John Deere. NCAA champion Preston Stout shot 67 to join Koivun at 5 under. Stephan Jaeger, another of Thursday's co-leaders, cooled off with a 69 and sits at 8 under alongside Davis Chatfield, who shot 64.

The Weekend Setup

The stakes are clear. This is the opposite-field event to the Genesis Scottish Open, co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, and the winner gets into next year's PGA Championship. Glover has the lead, the clean card and the résumé. Kim has the course history and the motivation. Fisk has the closing experience. Mouw has a hot putter, literally or not.

Two shots is not much on a course this soft, and Glover said as much: the plan is to keep it going. Saturday will tell us whether the rest of the field can make the veteran sweat.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 recap and leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media, Golf Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.