Team Thompson makes its move in second round of Korn Ferry Q-School's Final Stage

   There were some low scores recorded and some big moves up the leaderboard in the second round of the Korn Ferry Qualifying School Final Stage Friday at Orange County National in Winter Haven, Fla.

   It was a particularly good day for Team Thompson as the older brothers of LPGA Tour star Lexi Thompson, 26-year-old Curtis and 36-year-old Nicholas, moved in tandem into solid position to finish among the top 40 and enhance their status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020.

   Curtis Thompson was borderline spectacular as he made a pair of eagles, including one on the par-5 18th hole, on Orange County National’s par-71 Panther Lakes Course on his way to a 9-under 62 that left him in a tie for second place, a shot behind halfway leader Steve Lewton, a 36-year-old veteran of the Asian Tour from England, at 13-under 130.

   Curtis Thompson, a collegiate standout at LSU, had a couple of pretty good years on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2015 and 2016 before his golf swing went into the wilderness. He spent 2018 trying to relocate that missing swing, doing some looping at Pine Tree Golf Club near his Florida home a little and carrying the bag for his talented little sister Lexi in a couple of LPGA Tour events.

   Curtis Thompson rebuilt his swing from the ground up in 2019, the hard work paying off when he earned medalist honors in a Stage II Q-School event earlier this fall at the Plantation Preserve Golf Club in Plantation, Fla.

   In addition to his two eagles in Friday’s second round, Curtis Thompson had six birdies and a lone blemish with a bogey at the 14^th hole. He had opened up with a solid 4-under 68 at the par-72 Crooked Cat Course Thursday.

   Big brother Nicholas Thompson, who also emerged from the Stage II qualifier at Plantation Preserve, was a collegiate standout at Georgia Tech and has spent time in the Big Show, the PGA Tour, and on the Korn Ferry, earning a Korn Ferry victory in the 2007 HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship.

   Nicholas Thompson, who will turn 37 Christmas Day, added a solid 6-under 66 Friday at the Crooked Cat Course to the 3-under 68 he carded in Thursday’s opening round at the Panther Lakes Course to join the group tied for 15^th place at 9-under 134.

   Only the medalist or medalists will be fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour throughout 2020. The second through 10^th finishers will be exempt for the first 12 tournaments in 2020 and the 11^th through 40^th finishers are exempt for the first eight tournaments in 2020. Everybody who reached the Q-School Final Stage at Orange County National has at least some status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020.

   Lewton surged to the top of the leaderboard on the strength of an 8-under 63 at Panther Lakes that left him at 14-under 129. Lewton, who played college golf at North Carolina State and was the runnerup to Rory McIlroy in the 2006 European Amateur Championship, had opened with a 6-under 66 at Crooked Cat Thursday.

   Lewton started quietly enough with birdies at the second and eighth holes before going off with six birdies on the back nine, including four straight to finish his round.

   Sharing second place with Curtis Thompson at 13-under 130 was 27-year-old Tyler Dickson, who starred collegiately at Winthorp. Dickson added a 7-under 65 at Crooked Cat to the 6-under 65 he posted in Thursday’s opening round at Panther Lakes.

   Another player who made a huge move in Friday’s second round was Nick Hardy, who capped an outstanding career at Illinois by winning the 2018 Big Ten individual crown at Baltimore Country Club’s Five Farms East Course.

   The 23-year-old Hardy fired a 9-under 63 at Crooked Cat and was alone in fourth place at 12-under 131. Hardy, who made the cut and played the weekend in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, had opened with a 3-under 68 at Panther Lakes Thursday.

   Tag Ridings, a 45-year-old veteran of 206 Korn Ferry Tour starts, headed the foursome tied for fifth place at 11-under 132, a shot behind Hardy. Ridings had earned a share of the lead after an opening round of 7-under 64 at Panther Lakes, but backed off a little with a 4-under 68 at Crooked Cat Friday. Still, he remained very much in the hunt for the top prize of $50,000.

   Zach Cabra, a 27-year-old product of Sam Houston State who played the Mackenzie PGA Tour Canada this year, added a 5-under 66 at Panther Lakes to the opening round of 6-under 66 he posted at Crooked Cat to get it to 11-under.

   Mark Blakefield, a 37-year-old who starred collegiately at Kentucky, also landed among the group at 11-under after adding a 5-under 67 at Crooked Cat to the 6-under 65 he registered in the opening round at Panther Lakes.

   Rounding out the quartet at 132 was Greyson Sigg, a 24-year-old who emerged from the powerful Georgia program. Sigg, who made 10 cuts in 12 Mackenzie PGA Tour Canada starts this year, fired a sizzling 9-under 63 at Crooked Cat Friday after opening with a 2-under 69 at Panther Lakes.

   Sigg isn’t afraid to go low, which he proved with a 12-under 59 in the final round of the Mackenzie PGA Tour Canada’s GolfBC Championship in June at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in Kelowna, British Columbia. It was just the second sub-60 round in the history of the Mackenzie PGA Tour Canada.

   Heading a group of six players tied for ninth place at 10-under 133 was Jordan Niebrugge, a product of the powerhouse Oklahoma State program and a two-time U.S. Walker Cup team member. Niebrugge, who was the low amateur in The Open Championship in 2015 at the Old Course at St. Andrews, carded a 5-under 67 at Crooked Cat Friday after opening with a 5-under 66 at Panther Lakes.

   Niebrugge has struggled to get his pro career going, but he proved he can play on the biggest stage at St. Andrews as he finished in a tie for sixth place at 11-under 277, the lowest total ever recorded by an amateur in the long and storied history of The Open Championship.

   Braden Thornberry, winner of the 2017 NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. as a junior at Mississippi, had shared the lead with Ridings after the opening round with a 7-under 65 at Crooked Cat, but fell back with a 1-under 70 at Panther Lakes Friday. Thornberry’s 8-under 135 total left him among the group tied for 24^th place.