Steele still atop leaderboard after 2nd round of Frys.com

Brendan Steele continued to hold a steely grip on the Frys.com Open lead Saturday over a tightly packed leader board that unfortunately has main attraction Rory McIlroy nowhere near it.

The Northern Irishman had just played a chip shot from next to the green at the driveable par-four 17th when Grillo’s drive landed only a couple of feet from the surprised McIlroy, who clearly received no warning that he was in danger of being hit.

Wilcox is making his first Frys.com Open start, while Varner is a PGA Tour rookie. Although he made bogey on the sixth hole, Loupe, 26, came home with five more birdies – which included a stretch of four straight starting on the 14th – and shot a 9-under-par 63 in the third round, tying the tournament course record. I can see a few coaches out here, and I don’t want to knock anyone, but off the success of their player they try to take a few benefit as well.

“Would have put me out of my misery, to be honest with you, ” he said, laughing.

New Zealander Ko overcame a double bogey with two late birdies in a 3-under 69.

His 71 left him eight shots adrift in a tie for 39th.

Jhonattan Vegas didn’t make a bogey until his last hole, the par-5 ninth, when he three-putted from 15 feet.

“It was another one of those days where nothing went for me”, he said.

Scotland’s Martin Laird (71) and England’s Justin Rose (69) are in a group of four at 136.

The 54-hole cut knocked out nine players, so the final round will be played in twosomes from one tee.

The with the par-four playing at 296, Grillo opted to go for the green, and thought McIlroy and the others in his group were out of the way.

His three previous wins came before the end of May and he was sidelined for nearly two months after rupturing a ligament in his ankle while playing soccer with friends on July 4.

“I think it’s more mental than anything else”.

“I was swinging pretty free out here today”, said Loupe, who earned his spot on the big tour thanks to his victory in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the penultimate event in the Web.com Tour Finals in late September on the Scarlet Course at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. The golf course is in flawless shape, just the right amount of bounce on the greens. I needed to get a win in those Finals.

SAN ANTONIO – Defending champion Michael Allen shot a 3-under 69 for a share of the lead with Scott McCarron in the 50-and-older Champions Tour’s San Antonio Championship.

Englishman Andy Sullivan cranked up his bid for a third EPGA title this year when he fired his second straight round of seven-under 64 to move three shots clear at the Portugal Masters Friday. It was almost dark when Varner played his last hole, though he never considered coming back to finish Saturday morning.