DOURO-DUMMER, Ontario – Langley, B.C.’s Adam Cornelson did just enough to keep his lead at The Wildfire Invitational presented by PC Financial, firing a 5-under 67 on Friday to reach 14-under par through two rounds at Wildfire Golf Club.
The 26-year old carded five birdies on a bogey-free day, including one at the par-3 ninth, his final hole of the day, to lead by one over player partner Brock Mackenzie of Yakima, Washington.
“This is crunch time, and hopefully I can stick to my routine and keep the weekend going hot,” Cornelson said, refusing to get ahead of himself with two rounds to go. “I’m happy where I’m at, but there’s a long way to go, and with this TOUR, we all know the weekends get going. I’m going to keep my foot on the gas.”
Cornelson, a fourth-year PGA Tour Canada member, comes to Wildfire at 97th on the Order of Merit, knowing he needs to make a move up the leaderboard to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his season – if not his career. The University of New Orleans grad has five career top-25 finishes on PGA Tour Canada, but is looking for his first top-10 after missing five of his past six cuts.
“I started out pretty decent and got in a bit of a lull, but I kept working hard and had the attitude that I knew I could do this, and fortunately I’m starting to score,” Cornelson said of his 2014 season. “I’m sticking to my routine and picking good targets, and making good committed golf shots. I’m making the putts I need to make to keep the momentum going.”
The solid starts for Cornelson and Mackenzie came after the pair played together in each of the first two rounds, with the pair combining for 27 birdies, an eagle and just two bogeys through 36 holes.
“It was a real comfortable group, and Adam had another great round, so we just kind of fed off each other a little bit,” said Mackenzie. “It’s always more comfortable when you play with somebody that you like and you respect.”
“Brock had a hot start, and it pushed me to make more birdies for sure,” added Cornelson. The pair will tee it up together again on Saturday in the day’s final pairing at 1:15 PM ET.
One shot back of Mackenzie at 12-under were Meridian, Idaho’s Joe Panzeri and Corpus Christi, Texas’ Randall Hutchison.