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The second day of the 2020 RBC Heritage might turn out to be moving day given how many big names rocketed up the leaderboard. Webb Simpson leads at 12 under after two rounds of play, but Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners are right behind him at 11 under.
Even bigger names sit just beyond DeChambeau and Co. as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy all made moves in Round 2 at Harbour Town Golf Links. Let's take a look at the leaderboard going into the weekend.
1. Webb Simpson (-12): He gained over six (!!) strokes with his putter on Friday, which is mildly concerning because it's completely unsustainable. However, he has a number of things also working in his favor. His ball-striking has been good ever since a baffling first round at the Charles Schwab Challenge last week, and this course could not fit him more perfectly. He can focus on what he does best -- iron play and short game -- and try to hold off an impressive group of players just behind him.
T2. Bryson DeChambeau, Corey Conners (-11): On the flip side, this is not a course that should fit Bryson very well, but he's destroying it. DeChambeau is first in driving, fourth from tee to green and sixth on approach shots. I genuinely wonder if we're watching somebody make the leap from a tier-two player into the upper crust of golf right now.
T4. Ryan Palmer, Matthew Fitzpatrick (-10): Palmer is losing strokes to the field with his putter and is still in the top five on this leaderboard. He has one bogey in 36 holes and is No. 2 in the field from tee to green. He'll probably get caught on the weekend, but if the putter gets hot, I wouldn't be surprised to see him steal one here.
T6. Abraham Ancer Brooks Koepka, Matthew NeSmith, Jonattan Vegas, Ian Poulter (-9): Koepka! The ball-striking is back! He's flushing it this week in a way he hasn't since the end of last season and the ensuing knee procedure he had done in the fall. I would love to see him and Bryson go at it on Sunday after their little kerfuffle just under a year ago.
T11. Dustin Johnson (-8): D.J.'s swing looked a lot better today than it has the last few times we've seen him (the exhibition charity match and last week at Colonial). The stats tell a similar story. He's second in driving and top 10 from tee to green. Just like Koepka, he's had a bumpy last nine months. It's odd that both would find it click into place at Harbour Town -- of all tracks -- but I'm glad for the jump-start for two of the most enjoyable golfers to watch in the game.
T28. Jordan Spieth (-6): Spieth had three birdies and two bogeys, which is the most normal round I remember him playing all year. The good news here is that he's hitting it pretty well this week. He's fourth on approach shots and top 20 from tee to green. But the putter is on ice, and he can't seem to put every aspect together in the same tournament.
T45. Rory McIlroy (-5): He shot a nice little 65 on Friday to make the cut. While he'll likely make some noise this weekend, he probably dug himself too deep of a hole on Thursday with his 1-over 72 to truly recover and win the tournament. Still, "has nothing to lose in those early morning weekend rounds" Rory might be my favorite version of all.
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More takeaways
- This course is great because it produces such a stylistically-diverse leaderboard. It's short and tight and a little nuanced, and we see a lot of different types of players at the top of the board. That's a great thing if you're really into golf.
- Tough missed cuts for Rickie Fowler, Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama. Fowler has been a little bumpy so far this season as he works out some swing changes, but I expected better weeks from all three.
- Collin Morikawa rallied late to keep his streak of never having missed a cut as a professional alive just one week after losing in a playoff. That's 22 in a row, and he's chasing Tiger Woods' mark of 25 straight. He's insanely good, and I look forward to watching him for the next 20 years on the PGA Tour.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way updating this story with the latest scores, updates and highlights from the RBC Heritage below. Check out the live scores at the top of this story or a more detailed leaderboard.
