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Lehi • With conditional status on the Web.com Tour, Florida pro Brian Richey's opportunities to play in golf tournaments like this week's Utah Championship at Thanksgiving Point Golf Club are limited.
So when Richey made the commitment a month ago to play in every Monday-qualifying event he could, regardless of the location, it could prove quite expensive since all are outside Florida.
That decision paid off this week, as Richey shot a 6-under-par 66 on Monday at Talons Cove Golf Course and became one of 12 golfers to qualify for Utah's only PGA Tour-brand event.
The 30-year-old has remained hot, and on Friday he fired a 3-under par 68 in the second round to go with the 64 he shot on Thursday. Richey, who has not made a cut in three previous Web.com Tour events this season, leads the tournament at 10-under 132 through 36 holes.
The $117,000 first-place check would do wonders for not only Richey's bank account, but his quest to regain his Web.com Tour card, and perhaps even propel him to the PGA Tour.
"Having to do Mondays pretty much all year, the last four or five I have taken the attitude to put the ball in play, put it on the green, and roll in as many as I can," said the graduate of Florida Southern University, an NCAA Division II school in his hometown of Lakeland, Fla. "I like to play here, and I have been playing well. I look forward to continuing that the next couple of days."
Richey is drawing inspiration from his friend Rick Lamb, who became the 22nd Monday-qualifier in Tour history to win an event when he took home the big trophy at the LECOM Health Challenge in Clymer, N.Y., two weeks ago. It requires a lot of confidence in oneself to fly across the country and play in an 18-hole event for the right to enter a tournament, Richey acknowledged.
"I made the commitment four or five weeks ago," he said. "I said I am going to do every Monday qualifier because there is still enough time left that if I play well, I can change my whole year, change my whole status out here."
Richey had full status last year, but finished 80th on the money list and missed keeping his Tour card. So he's back on the Monday circuit and trying to at least finish in the top 25, which would allow him to play in next week's tournament at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif., without having to qualify on Monday.
"I am just a competitor," said the former youth league baseball umpire. "I have been hard on myself at times, but during the tournament you just have to let it go and enjoy the walk. I have been doing a better job of that the last few months, for sure."
As for his round Friday — he entered the day sharing the lead with Peter Tomasulo, who fell off the leader board with a 73 — Richey said conditions were ideal and he made the most of it. Only a bogey on No. 18 when his tee shot found TP's thick rough dampened it.
There was a 45-minute delay for lightning at 12:54 p.m. when Richey's group was in the middle of the 14th hole, but he said he's used to stoppages, being from Florida, and he handled it well.
"You go back to your roots as a kid where you just showed up at the course and teed off," he said. "You didn't warm up."
Speaking of warm, temperatures crept close to 100 degrees Friday afternoon, but Richey wasn't fazed.
"I am from Central Florida," he said. "The 90 degrees in Central Florida is brutal. Like, soaking wet. Here, I am not sweating at all. With a little breeze, it is not bad at all."
California's Nicholas Lindheim shot one of the better rounds of the day, a 66 in the morning, to vault him up the leaderboard. Also tied for second at 9-under 133 is Andrew Putnam.
Lindheim, once a baseball pitcher who turned to golf after "blowing out my elbow throwing curveballs at a young age," said he feels comfortable at Thanksgiving Point.
"It has been awhile since I have been in contention," Lindheim said. "I am really excited. I know it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty and make a push [for a top-25 finish]. I am ready to go."
Jason Allred and Steven Alker, the 2013 Utah Championship winner, both aced the 210-yard 15th hole on Friday, bringing the total number of holes-in-one here to three. The Tour record is five in a tournament, set at Willow Creek Country Club.
The tough break award goes to JT Poston of St. Simons Island, Ga., who was within the cut line going into his final hole on Friday, but made a triple-bogey on the 18th hole. He finished at even-par 142. One of Poston's playing partners, Ben Kohles of Cary, N.C., made an 11 on the par-5 14th hole and withdrew a hole later.
None of the five golfers with Utah ties made the cut, which came at 2-under 140. B.J. Staten of Cottonwood Heights shot a 144, while Park City's Steele DeWald shot a 145. Riverside Country Club teaching pro Matt Baird, a Monday qualifier, came in at 148, while former BYU standout Jordan Rodgers finished at 149.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Utah Championship
At par-71 Thanksgiving Point Golf Club
Leaders after 2 rounds
132 • Brian Richey 133 • Nicholas Lindheim, Andrew Putnam
134 • John Rollins
135 • Bill Lunde, Trey Mullinax, Ollie Schniederjans, Alex Prugh