Making his tournament debut and beginning off No. 10 tee, World No. 206 Brian Stuard spun a bogey-free 7-under-par 32-32=64 in the second round of the 3M Open to reach 8-under 134, up 59 places to solo 5th, one swing short of co-clubhouse leaders Bo Hoag (66) and fellow first-timer Chez Reavie (67).
The Michigan native, who posts the low round of the day thus far, kicked off last week’s opposite-field Barbasol with 64 (8-under) to co-lead after R1, eventually fading to T15 (64-69-70-68). He arrived this week 105th in the FedExCup standings with two top 10s in 31 events, a back-door T8 at the Deere two weeks ago (69-67-66-67), and a T3 at the season-opening Safeway back in September as a 54-hole co-leader (67-67-66-70). On 11 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation, the 38-year-old did the most damage on approach (3.404) and on the green (2.591), converting four of his seven birdies from between seven and 13 feet. He opened with a three-birdie one-bogey 70. (See link to post-round comments below.)