McLachlin blitzes Reno leaderboard

McLachlin: 10 birdies

Leaderboard:
P McLachlin -14
J Merrick -10
N Flanagan -10
L Mize -10
B Davis -10
B Estes -9
H Frazar -9

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Parker McLachlin tied the course record to take a four-stroke lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open at the Montreux Golf and Country Club on Friday.

McLachlin, who started the day tied for sixth, shot up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 62 that included 10 birdies for a 36-hole total of 14-under 130.

Behind the 29-year-old on 134 is a group of four consisting of 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize (66), John Merrick (67), Australian Nick Flanagan (65) and England's Brian Davis (67).

McLachlin admitted he even been eyeing a possible round of 59 at the 14th after he birdied six of the previous seven holes.

"I didn't know what the course record was, but I caught myself thinking about 59 at No. 14," he said.

"I had about a 10-footer there and thought 'If I birdie the last five, I'll shoot 59.' That was the worst thing to think, and led to me making par there."

He did however birdie 16 and 17 before closing with a par and described the day as his 'best round on tour'.

Meltdown

First-round leader Jeff Overton meanwhile suffered a complete meltdown, putting in a round of 75 to finish 10 shots adrift.

And Michelle Wie's latest bid to make a cut on the PGA Tour ended the same way as her previous seven attempts as she struggled to an eight-over 80.

The Hawaiian teenager was on course to become the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make a PGA Tour cut, after shooting a one-over 73 on Thursday.

But, after making the turn still in contention, the 18-year-old, who was disqualified from her last LPGA Tour event for failing to sign her scorecard, crumbled on the way home.

Following a double-bogey at the fourth, Wie took a nine at the par-four eighth but insisted there were positives to take from her performance.

"I am taking away a lot of good things from this week," she said. "I made some really good putts, some really good drives.

"I know that there are some things I need to work on, but I feel like I learned a lot.

"I think if I played a couple (of men's tournaments) in a row it'd be a different story, but it's hard to play one a year, you know.

"I think if I played eight in a row and missed all eight, that'd be a different story.

"But I gave it my best today, and I feel like I did a lot of good things, and hopefully that outshines the ones that I made mistakes on."