Tim Herron, affectionately nicknamed "Lumpy" due to his physical stature, posted a three-under 69 on Friday to grab the second-round lead of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
He finished at seven-under 137 and is one clear of several players.
Play rotates over Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills over the first three rounds before playing at famed Pebble Beach in the final round. The cut comes after the third round.
J.B. Holmes, the playoff winner last week at the FBR Open, carded a two-under 70 on Friday and is tied for second place with Robert Floyd (70), Michael Allen (70) and Nicholas Thompson (69). That group finished at six-under-par 138.
Defending champion and three-time winner Phil Mickelson, who lost the extra session to Holmes last week, only managed an even-par 72 at Spyglass Hill on Friday. He is tied for 53rd place at minus-one.
Mickelson will have a lot of work to do if he is to catch Herron.
Herron played Poppy Hills on Friday and began on the back nine. He two-putted for a birdie from 16 feet at the par-five 10th, then parred his next six holes.
Herron bogeyed the par-three 17th after a three-putt, but reclaimed the lost stroke with a two-putt birdie at the par-five closing hole.
On the second nine, Herron started with five consecutive pars. He converted a birdie putt at the par-three sixth to get to six-under par for the championship.
Herron grabbed sole possession of first place with a birdie at the par-five ninth. That gave him at least a piece of the 36-hole lead for the 10th time on the PGA Tour and for the first since the 2006 PGA Championship.
"Today I hit it fine," said Herron. "I got actually a couple good breaks off some drives. Other than that, I drove it good. I probably had two or three bad drives."
Herron is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, but his last victory came at the 2006 Colonial. He is a veteran of the circuit and knows that with 20 players within three of his lead, nothing is guaranteed...
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