Billy Tom Sargent shot a 7-under-par 64 to take a two stroke lead over first-round leader John VanDerLaan, Trent Phillips and Bio Kim after the second round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship at Ohio State’s Scarlet course on Sept. 19.
Sargent is 11 under par. VanDerLaan, who shot a course-record 62 in the first round, shot an even-par 71 on Sept. 19. He, Phillips and Kim are 9 under and Zecheng Dou is 8 under.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship is near the end of the season in the Korn Ferry Tour, with 120 players trying to advance to the third stage of the tour finals, Oct. 2-5 in Oklahoma, thus improving the chance of playing their way onto the PGA Tour next season.
Only the top 75 players on the points list make it out of Oklahoma to the final stage, the Oct. 9-12 Korn Ferry Tour Championship, and only the top 20 earn PGA Tour cards upon completion of the championship. Eight players, including Ohio State graduate Neal Shipley, who has won twice this season, already have secured their PGA Tour status.
Each of the four finals events has a $1.5 million purse. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship winner collects $270,000 and 600 points toward his season total.
Sargent, 29, played at Western Kentucky and entered this week 110th on the Korn Ferry points list. He has one top-10 finish on the tour. He has made 21 cuts in 56 tournaments.
Shipley shot a 2-over-par 73 in the second round. He is tied for 85th and is projected to miss the cut at 2 over. Shipley bogeyed Nos. 4, 11, 13 and 18. He birdied Nos. 7 and 12.
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