DeMorat takes one-stroke, 36-hole lead at PGA TOUR Canada qualifier

WESTON, Florida—Slow and steady is paying off for the 27-year-old Mickey DeMorat. He has played his first 36 holes bogey-free and has jumped to the top of the leaderboard, holding a one-stroke lead at the PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament at The Club at Weston Hills.

“I played pretty solid the last two days,” DeMorat said after Wednesday’s round. “The conditions have been pretty tough out there with a little bit of wind in the afternoon. The greens are very firm, and some of the pins today were in tricky, undulating spots, so I thought I did a good job of just keeping the ball in the middle of the green and taking advantage of a couple of the wedge shots I was able to hit close.”

And take advantage he did, tying the low score of the day, at 5-under and jumping four spots to No. 1 with two more rounds to go.

“I didn't do anything too special,” he added. “With four rounds you don't have to go crazy low in any one round, so my mindset is just to keep a slow, steady pace. I’ve kept it in front of me pretty well, thus far, and hopefully I can just get a few more putts rolling in the next couple rounds.”

With an 8-under 136 (69-67), DeMorat leads Eric Beringer by one stroke. Beringer came out in the second round after shooting an opening, 8-under 64 and had a much different experience from his opening 18. Beringer finished the day with a 1-over 73 to fall to 7-under 137 at the halfway point.

“I had to be a lot more cautious,” Beringer said. “The wind was up, and I missed a lot more greens today than I did [Tuesday]. My two three-putts were what set the tone for the day, but other than that, I thought I played really well.”

Sitting tied for third, Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Garza shot even-par and is at 5-under overall after 36 holes. He joins Americans Brandon Hoelzer and Ben Carr, heading into the third round. Carr, a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern, is the highest-ranked amateur in the field.