Hot Howell has lead at Sea Island

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Charles Howell III is playing some of his best golf when he least expected it.

Coming from a missed cut in Mexico to a tournament where he missed the cut last year, Howell kept bogeys off his card for the second straight day and was just as good Friday on the tougher scoring course at Sea Island. He had a six-under 64 on the Seaside course and matched the best 36-hole score of his career to build a three-shot lead in the RSM Classic.

“You just never know what’s around the corner in this game,” Howell said. “I thought I played pretty good in Mexico and just missed the cut there. Came here, I like it here, I didn’t really know what to expect and then this happens. So it’s a crazy game and we’re reminded of it daily. This is another reminder.”

Howell was at 14-under 128, his best two-day total on the PGA Tour since the Las Vegas Invitational in 2003.

He was three shots ahead of PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ and Jason Gore, who only recently was certified as an insurance salesman and found out just five days ago there was room for him at Sea Island. Gore birdied his last four holes for a 63. “I haven’t played a weekend in so long, I don’t know what to do,” Gore said. “I’ve got nothing to lose. This is fun for me. I’m an insurance salesman now. I’ve got a real job now and all that good stuff. Just glad my boss would let me off to play.”

His boss is his wife, Meghan, who presumably does most of the work. Gore plays a lot of golf with clients, and it restored some of the fun in the game that beat him up over the years.