Scheffler keeps share of lead at Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas — This has been a good week in North Texas for Scott Stallings, first qualifying for the U.S. Open that will be played less than an hour from where he was born and now sharing the Charles Schwab Challenge lead with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Beau Hossler at Colonial.

Stallings shot 6-under-par 64 without a bogey on a relatively calm Friday. That put the Massachusetts-born and 206th-ranked player in the world at 9-under 131 along with with Dallas-area resident Scheffler and former University of Texas player Hossler, who both had bogey-free 65s.

Scheffler, in one of the last groups of the day after Stallings and Hossler played in the morning wave, tied them with a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th and saved par at No. 18 after his final drive went left into the rough.

Hot and breezy conditions are expected for the weekend rounds, with gusts around 30 mph and temperatures in the 90s in the forecast.

Scheffler and Hossler were among the Colonial-record eight players to share the 18-hole lead at 66. Stallings began the second round as one of the seven others within a stroke of that.

Patrick Reed matched his opening 66 with another and was alone in fourth at 8-under 132. Pat Perez (66) and Chris Kirk (67), the 2015 Colonial champion who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since, were 7 under.

After missing the cut at last week’s PGA Championship like Scheffler did, the 37-year-old Stallings came to the Dallas area to play in a 36-hole qualifier Monday for the U.S. Open next month in Brookline, Massachusetts. He shot 8 under and placed 11th to get into his third U.S. Open and 12th major.

■ Champions: At Benton Harbor, Mich., tournament housemates Scott Mccarron and Stephen Ames each shot 5-under 66 in stormy, cold conditions to share the Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship’s second-round lead at 8-under 134. Bernhard Langer (68), Brian Gay (68), Mike Weir (71) and Steven Alker (72) were two strokes back.

■ DP World: At Cromvoirt, Netherlands, Ricardo Gouveia shot 6-under 66 for a 10-under 134 total and a onestroke lead at the Dutch Open’s midpoint. The 30-year-old from Portugal hasn’t won on the European tour. Haotong Li (63) shot the day’s best round and was alone in second.