Ben Martin shot a second consecutive 6-under-par 66 on Friday to sit alone atop the leaderboard at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
Martin sits at 12-under 132, holding a two-shot lead over Alex Smalley, who fired a 65 at Corales Golf Course.
Adam Schenk (68) and Chad Ramey (65) are tied for third at 9 under after 36 holes.
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland sits solo fifth at 8 under and Nate Lashley solo sixth at 7 under, five shots back.
Just like his first round, Martin carded eight birdies against two bogeys. Starting on No. 10, he opened with three consecutive birdies but bogeyed Nos. 13 and 16 to make the turn at 34.
“I think the course was playing a little easier,” Martin said. “The wind was up yesterday morning more than it was this afternoon. But it was starting to dry out some in the afternoon, so a little give and take there. Got off to a nice start, birdied the first three and birdied 6, 7, 8 to finish, so it was a nice way to start and a nice way to finish.”
Martin, 34, won his only PGA Tour event back in 2014.
The tournament serves as an alternate event for those who did not qualify for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, being held this week in Austin, Texas.
–Field Level Media