Rask Is 36-Hole Leader in the Clubhouse at Weather-Plagued Killearn CC Classic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Former MGA Player of the Year Clayton Rask was 5 under par through 11 holes on Friday when play in the second round of the Killearn Country Club Classic was suspended because of darkness. But he picked up where he left off on Saturday and played his last seven holes in 3 under to complete a bogey-free 64.

That was good for a two-round total of 131 (13 under), and made him the leader in the clubhouse.

The former University of Minnesota star and three-time winner of the Minnesota Golf Champions tournament was three strokes ahead of second-place Zack Fischer when play was suspended again on Saturday, with roughly half the field of 168 players still not having completed their second rounds at Killearn CC (6,998 yards).

Fischer matched Rask's second-round 64, the low score in the tournament so far.

Rask started from the 10th tee on Thursday. Although he made four bogeys in the opening round, the absurdly long-hitting 28-year-old (Rask drove the green on the 380-yard 10th hole at Gateway Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla., in a practice round last winter) put a serious dent in par by going 5 under in one four-hole stretch, from the 15th through the 18th. That spree included an eagle at the 511-yard, par-5 17th. 

He made eight birides and 10 pars over the two days that it took him to play the second round. 

Blayne Barber, a 2012 Auburn All-American now in his first full year as a professional, is one of three players tied for third at 135. He followed a first-round 66 with a 69, as did Marc-Etienne Bussieres. Chris Erwin is the third member of the troika at 9 under through 36 holes, following a 67.

This is the first official event on the NGA Tour's Pro Series. The NGA, formerly the Hooters Tour, is the third biggest tour in the United States -- behind only the PGA Tour and the web.com -- but it is notorious for not finishing rounds on time in the early part of its schedule.

"The fields are big, and there just isn't a lot of daylight in February and March," noted Justin Smith, another former Gopher who isn't playing this week but made nearly $100,000 on the NGA Tour in 29 tournaments during the last two years. "And the weather doesn't alway cooperate."

On Friday, the scheduled start was delayed by fog (the tournament was already behind by then, because not everyone finished the first round on Thursday), and there was a rain delay later in the day.

Among those still on the course when play was stopped Saturday was Trent Whitekiller, a former Oklahoma State   All-American who shot 65 in the first round. 

Also stranded was former Gopher Thomas Campbell. He shot 72 in the first round was is probably going to need something like a 71 in the second to make the cut. 


NGA (FORMERLY HOOTERS) TOUR

Killearn Country Club Classic

At Killearn Country Club

Par 72, 6,998 yards

Tallahassee, Fla.

Second-round results (incomplete) 

1. Clayton Rask, Elk River                    67-64--131

2. Zack Fischer, Lake Village, Texas    70-64--131

T3. Blayne Barber, Lake City, Fla.         66-69--135

T3. Marc-Etienne Bussieres, Quebec    66-69--135

T3. Chris Erwin, Brentwood, Tenn.         68-67--135

6. Rick Cochran, Paducah, Ky.               68-68--136

Projected cut: 143

T85. Thomas Campbell, Mpls.               72-DNF

T116. Tyler Ekenberg, Apple Valley     75-71--146