CATS Impress on Links

Holmes owns share of British Open Lead; sophomore Cullan Brown among weekend field

LEXINGTON, Ky. – (UK Athletics) Current and former Kentucky men’s golfers are putting on quite a show in the two major PGA events taking place this week. UK Athletics Hall of Famer and former All-American J.B. Holmes has a share of the lead at The British Open heading into the weekend, while three players with UK ties have made the cut at the local Barbasol Championship.

Sophomore Cullan Brown and former stars Chip McDaniel and Stephen Stallings earned their way into weekend play with solid rounds on Friday at the Barbasol.

Brown carded a 4-under par round made the cut in his first ever PGA event. Brown is playing as an amateur after receiving a sponsor’s exemption last week. He opened play with an even-par 72 on Thursday, before firing the 68 on Friday. His round featured seven total birdies, including opening his round with one on the par-four first. He is paired with Heath Slocum and will begin his round on Saturday at 7:55 a.m. ET.

McDaniel surged up the leaderboard with a 5-under par 67 to move to 6-under for the tournament and into a tie for 44th. He played a flawless bogey-free round with five birdies to move ahead 31 spots on the leaderboard. He’ll play alongside Ben Silverman beginning at 9:55 a.m. ET.

Stallings will tee off on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. with Stephen Jaeger following a 4-under round of 68 on Friday. He is also 6-under par for the tournament and matched McDaniel’s flawless round. Stallings boasted four birdies with two coming on both the front and back nine.

FHolmes is at 8-under par through two rounds at the Royal Portrush Golf Club heading into weekend play. He is seeking his first major championship win, with his best finish coming at the 2016 British Open where he finished in third. Holmes has put together rounds of 66 and 68 and is tied with Shane Lowry with 36 holes to play. He and Lowry will comprise the day’s final pairing set to tee off at 10:50 a.m. ET on Saturday.