Another round at the RBC Heritage and another lead for Luke Donald. This surprises absolutely nobody. Donald, who has finished in the top three in six of his eight trips to this tournament (but never won), shot a 67 on Friday to back up his 65 on Thursday. He is tied for the lead at 10 under at the halfway point of the event alongside Canadian Graham DeLaet.
Donald has just two bogeys on the week (one in each round) and was nearly flawless again on Friday in Round 2. He ranks No. 112 in the medium-sized field in strokes gained off the tee, but has made up for it by sitting No. 2 in approach shots and No. 7 in putting.
"I struggled off the tee," Donald said. "And this is a tough golf course to struggle off the tee. But my short game really bailed me out today. I'll go work on the range a little bit, tighten up my drives, and hopefully be better off the tee tomorrow. Certainly happy with my score. I haven't been out of position, but those last holes were satisfying."
Luke Donald with the clutch par save.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 14, 2017
He still trails by one. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/ZjES25Ln9d
Donald's history at this tournament, like we discussed on Thursday, is preposterous. He has one T15 finish, one T37 and everything else is either second or third. But what he doesn't have is a win.
"Hopefully a little bit of coming back to what I really feel like I can play," Donald said when asked what a win here would mean. "The last couple of years have been a struggle. But I still feel like I've got some good years in me. And obviously I play well around here and I need to try and finish off this weekend."
He also has some good company near the top of the leaderboard. Webb Simpson, Bud Cauley, Ian Poulter and Jason Dufner are all within three strokes of the lead. They are good players with terrific pedigrees. So a win (finally) here for Donald would be well-earned.
"There are a lot of players behind me," Donald said. "I've been in this position before, and I've got to go out there and be aggressive and make some birdies. Certainly playing for pars won't get it done out here. You've got to be attacking the golf course."
.@LukeDonald: -73 in @RBC_Heritage since 2009, 32 shots better than any other player in that span
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) April 14, 2017
There is a reason those type of players (non-bombers) are at the top of the 36-hole lead, too. DeLaet summed it up on Friday afternoon.
"I think it's such a neat place," DeLaet said of Harbour Town. "There's not many like it. I think Riv(iera) and Colonial and this place are kind of the three that I really love because it's precision golf, it really is. It's not the guys who bomb it the longest and can just dash out of the rough from 80 yards, there's no premium really on any fairways.
"Out here, you have to use your imagination so much. You have to hit it in the right side of the fairway. And even from the fairway sometimes you have to work the ball to get it in the middle of the green. And it's just a lot of fun."
This is a Donald (and DeLaet) specialty. And the other co-leader agreed.
"The greens are very small, and in order to hit all of them you need to be good around the greens," Donald said. "You've got to keep yourself in it. You can miss it in certain places, but you have to be smart."
Now, DeLaet and Donald will try and leverage this short-hitters course to get their first win at the RBC Heritage (and for DeLaet, his first win overall) this weekend as the PGA Tour moves away from the Masters and towards the rest of the season.