CARTAGENA, Colombia – Canada’s Brad Fritsch won the Servientrega Championship on Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title, beating Ollie Schniederjans with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

The 38-year-old from the Ottawa area  shot a 1-under 71 to match Schniederjans at 11-under 277 at TPC Cartagena at Karibana. Fritsch, who earned full-time status on the Web.com Tour this season through qualifying school, earned US$126,000.

Schniederjans had a 69, then made a triple bogey on the par-5 18th in the playoff.

Tag Ridings was third at 9 under after a 69.

“This is huge,” said Fritsch, who collected a check for $126,000 at the trophy ceremony. “My whole golfing life I haven’t won a lot. This is easily the biggest win against the best field that I’ve ever faced.”

“I mean, obviously it gives me a nice jump on getting my card for next year,” continued Fritsch, who jumped to No. 5 on the Tour money list. “To do something I’ve never really done before and to execute under pressure on 18, I love it. I want that feeling again.”

Fritsch hit what he called the greatest shot in his life on the first extra hole. With 220 yards from the right side of the fairway, the 38-year-old from Edmonton, Alberta opted for a long iron and striped it to 20 feet under the hole. From there, Fritsch only needed to make par to claim his first trophy as Schniederjans pulled his tee ball into the pond left of the fairway.

“I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but I hit a great shot,” said Fritsch, who hit his second before Schniederjans took a drop. “This time I hit the 4-iron, figuring that if I could get that on and two putt, he would have to get it up and down.”

Schniederjans took a drop; mishit is third from the left rough and dunked his third into the hazard. The 22-year-old former No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings took another penalty stroke and sailed the green with his fifth shot.

“It was kind of awkward,” said Fritsch, who received a standing ovation as he approached the green. “I had people congratulating me walking to the green and my caddy kind of gave me a high five.”

Fritsch tried to compose himself, but he still three putted for par. After the putt fell, the 16-year-old pro was overcome with emotion as his good friend and fellow Tour player Tag Ridings showered him with beer to celebrate.

The lead changed hands quite a few times throughout the final round. Schniederjans tied Fritsch at 11-under with a birdie on the 16th hole, but gave it right back with a bogey at 17. The Dallas, Texas native closed with a birdie at the par-5 18th to post 11-under to take the clubhouse lead. At that very moment, Fritsch bogeyed the 17th hole to drop one back of Schniederjans heading into the home hole.

“I was just trying to grind my way in,” said Fritsch. “I’m a scoreboard watcher and I’ll watch it. I knew he (Schniederjans) birdied 18.”

Fritsch responded on the final hole hitting a hybrid from 227 yards to just off the back of the green. He tried to chip it in, spun it two feet short of the hole and knocked in the birdie try to force overtime. The rest was history.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Where does Jordan Spieth go from here?

He could have been sailing along on the second act to one of the greatest years in golf history. Instead, the young Texan left Augusta shaking his head, and trying to figure out how to shake off one of the most epic collapses in the history of the game.

It won’t be easy.

“Big picture, this one will hurt,” Spieth said, still sounding in a bit of shock outside the Augusta National clubhouse Sunday evening after it all slipped away. “It will take a while.”

Not only will Spieth have to erase the memory of his splashdown on No. 12 – a quadruple-bogey 7 that included two water balls and turned a one-time five-shot lead into a three-shot deficit to the eventual champion, Danny Willett.

Spieth will also have to clear all the bad thoughts out of his head. Over the weekend, he played 31 holes of good-to-great golf and put himself in position for a second green jacket at the tender age of 22. Those other five holes were 17 and 18 on Saturday, then 10, 11 and 12 on Sunday. He went a cumulative 9 over on those and had bad swing thoughts that he simply couldn’t overcome.

“The wheels kind of came off the last … holes on Saturday,” said Spieth, who brought his coach, Cameron McCormick, back into Augusta for a quick tuneup before tee time in the final round.

It helped. For a while.

My confidence going into the first hole was fantastic,” said Spieth, who made four straight birdies to hit the turn at 7 under, in the lead by five strokes. “But listen, I had my ‘B-minus’ game tee to green. Ultimately, you have to have your ‘A’ game every single part, and I just didn’t have those iron swings, as it showed on the back nine.”

All of which set up an awkward award presentation in Butler Cabin, which was then replicated on the practice green in front of the clubhouse.

First, Spieth had to present the green jacket to Willett in front of the television cameras.

Then, he had to do it again for the patrons.

Willett earned the honor by shooting a bogey-free round of 67 that left him three ahead of Spieth and Lee Westwood. Willett finished at 5-under 283.

Still looking a bit shocked, Spieth managed to muddle through.

“I can’t imagine that was fun for anyone to experience,” he said, “other than maybe Danny’s team and those who are fans of him.”

He fully expected to be taking home his own green jacket for another year, as is the custom for the Masters champion.

“I can’t think of anybody else who may have had a tougher ceremony to experience,” said Spieth, who now has to leave his jacket at the club.

For Willett, this is a career-changing victory that almost never got started. His first child was due Sunday. But Zachariah James Willett came early, on March 30, which allowed the new dad to rebook his ticket to Augusta and play in his second Masters.

Now, Willett can be mentioned in the same sentence with none other than Nick Faldo – the only other Englishman to wear the green jacket.

Faldo’s third and final victory at Augusta came courtesy of Greg Norman’s epic collapse back in 1996. Willett’s came courtesy of Spieth, though the 28-year-old Englishman, who will move up to ninth in world ranking, did plenty to earn the victory, as well.

He went bogey-free through the last 18 holes, which looks all the more impressive considering the shaky play going on around him.

Westwood, still 0-for-the-majors, chipped in for an eagle on 15 to get within one shot of the lead, only to miss a 4-footer to save par at the 16th – right after Willett had drained a longer birdie putt.

The two-shot swing finished off Westwood, who at least showed he’s still got game at age 42 after enduring a winless 2015, when his focus was clearly distracted by a divorce and a move back to his native England to be closer to his kids.

“Obviously, I must be doing something right,” Westwood said.

Dustin Johnson, another extremely talented player who has dealt with personal issues, also got within a shot of the lead but couldn’t pull out his first major title.

For Johnson, it was a familiar story – plenty of good shots, but some shaky putting and mistakes at the most inopportune times. He double-bogeyed the fifth and was all done after another double-bogey at the 17th. He finished in a tie for fourth with J.B. Holmes and Paul Casey, four shots back.

“I think my game’s exactly where it needs to be,” Johnson said, not looking at it as another one he let get away. “I feel like I’ve got control of my game. I’m looking forward to the year for sure.”

For Spieth, the next major can’t come soon enough.

But he has to wait two painful months for the U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Time to clear his head, and try to move past the one he gave away.

“I’m very confident in the way that we play the game of golf,” Spieth said. “I think that when we’re on, I believe we’re the best in the world.”

LAKE WALES, Fla. – Canada’s Samantha Richdale won the Symetra Tour’s Florida’s Natural Charity Classic on Sunday, closing with a 3-under 69 for a one-stroke victory.

The 32-year-old Kelowna, B.C., player had a 7-under 209 total at Lake Wales Country Club. She earned $26,250 for her fourth career victory on the tour. She won once in 2008 and twice in 2009.

“I’m very excited,” said Richdale, who last won on the Symetra Tour on August 23, 2009 at the Turkey Hill Classic in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “It seems like forever the last time I won so this is a big day for me.”

Richdale, 31, started the day with two pars and then made bogey on the third. She responded with birdies on the fourth and sixth holes and made the turn at 5-under, two shots off the lead held at the time by Kana Nagai (Tokyo, Japan). As Nagai began to fade with bogeys on 11, 14 and 15, Richdale took control. She made birdie on the par-5 13th and then chipped in for birdie from left of the green at the par-4 14th to take a two shot lead. She tripped up on the par-3 15th by missing the green right, but closed with three pars.

“Overall, my game worked out well and I was able to hit some good shots and even when I didn’t I was able to hit some really good short game shots,” said Richdale. “This was a big confidence builder for me.”

Fifteen-year-old amateur Ya-Chun Chang of Taiwan and Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom tied for second.

The pair didn’t make it easy for Richdale down the stretch. Sagstrom birdied 11, 13 and 14 and got within one of Richdale when she bogeyed the 15th. Chang had a 25-footer for birdie on the 18th to tie and nearly rolled it in.

“I was thinking about missing my flight to Hawaii so I wasn’t really paying attention,” said Richdale of Chang’s final putt. “I really grinded and they played really well so it pushed me to play a little bit better.”

Richdale had a flight to Los Angeles tonight to go play in the LOTTE Championship on the LPGA this coming Wednesday. She wasn’t able to make the flight and is undecided on whether she will try to get a different flight to Hawaii or play in Fort Myers next week on the Symetra Tour.

“My ultimate goal is to get better status on the LPGA,” explained Richdale, who has partial status based on her T41 finish at LPGA Qualifying Tournament in 2015. “At this point, I’m not sure of my plans so I’m thinking about going to Gary’s Oyster Bar for a celebratory dinner.”

Richdale is now second all-time in career earnings on the Symetra Tour.

“I just tried to stay calm out there and have fun and take it one shot at a time,” said Richdale. “I really committed to playing my game and hitting my shots and it worked.”

Team Canada Youtn Pro Squad member Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto finished tied for 4th after a final round 69 left her at 4-under for the championship.

The Symetra Tour heads to Fort Myers for the third annual Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial from April 14-17 at Cypress Lake Country Club. It’s a joint event with the Legends Tour.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – What looked to be another march to the Masters for Jordan Spieth suddenly turned into a walk on the wild side Saturday.

Ultimately, Spieth was still in the lead for the seventh straight round at Augusta National, one round away from another green jacket.

But he sure made it hard on himself.

Leading by four shots with two holes to play, having handled the worst of the wicked wind, Spieth hit two wild tee shots and two poor wedges that led to a bogey and a double bogey for a 1-over 73.

He had a one-shot lead over Smylie Kaufman, Spieth’s junior golf buddy who is playing in his first Masters. And Spieth gave plenty of hope to a cast of challengers that range from 58-year-old Bernhard Langer to world No. 1 Jason Day. Hideki Matsuyama was tied with Langer at 1 under, hoping to become the first man from Japan to win a major.

Spieth was at 3-under 213.

“Understand this is the position I wanted to be in after 54 holes and not think about the finish to today’s round,” Spieth said.

Kaufman, who qualified for his first Masters by closing with a 61 to win in Las Vegas in October, kept stress to a minimum and rolled in one last birdie down the hill on the 16th for a 69, the low score of the day.

The biggest surprise was Langer, who won the first of his two Masters in 1993, three months before Spieth was born. On the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus becoming the oldest Masters champion at 46, Langer is two shots behind in his quest to become the oldest major champion by 10 years. Langer ran off three straight birdies on the back nine and posted a 70.

He even beat Day, who was hitting it some 60 yards by him. Day managed a 71, and thanks to Spieth’s late implosion, goes into the final round just three shots behind.

Day was tied with Dustin Johnson, who had a 72, and Danny Willett (72), the Englishman who didn’t think he was going to be able to play his first Masters until his wife gave birth to their first child.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – On the 30th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ final Masters victory, another ageless blond is making a run at the green jacket.

This one would be even more remarkable.

Fifty-eight-year-old Bernhard Langer used all his wits and guile to shoot a 2-under 70 on another challenging day at Augusta National, giving himself a shot Sunday at becoming the oldest major champion in golf history.

Leader Jordan Spieth – who was born almost four months after the second of Langer’s Masters victories in 1993 – was still on the course when the German finished out his stunning round on a bit of a downer, making a bogey at the 18th after an errant drive left him behind a giant magnolia tree.

Still, Langer walked off Saturday just three shots out of the lead, assured of playing in one of the final groups Sunday. He flipped his ball to a fan and headed off to ponder the idea of beating the record for the oldest major winner by a full decade.

“I’ll put my feet up, get some rest, and hopefully have a late tee time,” Langer said with a smile.

Julius Boros was 48 when he captured the PGA Championship in 1968. Nicklaus remains the oldest Masters champ, taking his sixth title at 46. And it was Nicklaus who contended again one final time at Augusta in 1998, at roughly the same age as Langer, before settling for sixth.

“I’ve been saying it’s going to happen sooner or later,” said Langer, mindful that two other players over 50 – Davis Love III and Larry Mize – also made the Masters cut. “Guys like Davis Love and Vijay Singh and Fred Couples are long enough to win the majors. I’m not quite at their distance, but I try to make up for it in other areas.”

Playing alongside the world’s top-ranked player,
less-than-half-his-age Jason Day, Langer showed that there are many
ways to get around Augusta National.

At the eighth hole, the 28-year-old Day drove it nearly 300 yards, and then left his approach about 40 yards from the flag. Langer’s drive was some 50 yards behind the young Aussie’s, which was pretty much par for the course all day, and he was still some 100 yards away after his second shot drifted off to the right.

But Langer stuck his third shot to 4 feet and made the birdie putt. Day left his much-shorter approach shot 7 feet off the flag – and missed the putt.

“Jason was outdriving me by many, many yards,” Langer said. “That was a big difference to make up. But so far, so good.”

Day was certainly impressed.

“When you consider some of the positions he is playing from compared to where I was, it was unbelievable,” said Day, who shot 71 and was one stroke behind Langer’s 1-under 215 total. “He plods along and knows his strengths and weaknesses. I had a lot of fun playing with him. I could tell how gritty he is and how much of a competitor he is.”

Langer, who will turn 59 in August, used a run of three straight birdies through the middle of the back side to charge up the leaderboard, highlighted by a chip-in at the 14th after Day sank a long putt of his own.

Can Langer pull off such shots one more day and actually win?

“I believe I can,” he said. “If I play my best, I can shoot 4 or 5 under.”

Tom Watson was 59 when he lost in a playoff at the 2009 British Open, but that was on the links of Turnberry – a manageable layout for a senior still on his game. But Augusta is a young man’s course, which is why Watson played the Masters for the final time this year and Ian Woosnam, who is actually a few months younger than Langer, announced Friday he was done after shooting two rounds in the 80s.

But Langer is still trim with a full head of wavy air, albeit with a bit of grey around the edges. He doesn’t concede anything to the younger guys.

“There are different ways to get around out there,” he said.

Langer leaves nothing to chance. As he stepped to the ninth hole, he kicked away a magnolia leaf, carefully paced off where he wanted to tee it up from, then brushed off a couple of more leaves.

He is steady and persistent, a professor of the fairways, taking full advantage of the vast knowledge accumulated over 33 Masters appearances. He won the tournament in 1985, while playing the final day in the next-to-last group with the late Seve Ballesteros, and it was Langer who awarded Nicklaus the last of his six green jackets the following year.

Langer won again at Augusta in ’93 for his only other major.

Now, he’s got a shot at one for the ages.

LAKE WALES, Fla., – Amateur Ya-Chun Chang (Chinese Taipei), 15, carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday to take the 36-hole lead at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at 6-under, 138.

If Chang wins on Sunday, she will become the youngest in the 36-year history of the Symetra Tour to win. Chang would be just the fourth amateur to win (Cristie Kerr – 1995, Kellee Booth – 1999, Hannah O’Sullivan – 2015).

Kana Nagai (Tokyo, Japan), 18, is just one shot back at 5-under, 139 after a 1-under 71. Peiyun Chien (Chinese Taipei) and Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, B.C.) are two shots back at 4-under, 141.

Canada’s Richdale posted an even-par 72 on Saturday to put herself in contention heading into Sunday. After the final-round, Richdale will fly to Los Angeles and then on Monday morning she will fly to Honolulu to get ready for the LOTTE Championship on the LPGA. Richdale has partial LPGA Tour status courtesy of a T41 finish at 2015 LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

“If I play well in Hawaii, I can reshuffle and get better status,” explained Richdale. “I just have to see how things go.”

The 3-time Symetra Tour winner is in her 11th year on Tour. She spent three years playing on the LPGA Tour from 2010-2012.

“I’m not hitting the ball as well as I’d like, my greens in regulation are down, but I hit some better shots coming in today,” said Richdale. “I’ve played this course quite a few times and I’m pretty comfortable out here so I feel pretty good going into Sunday.”

The cut was made at 5-over and 69 players will tee off on Sunday. Chang will play in the final group with Nagai and Chien at 11:32 a.m.

Full Canadian results:

Cartagena, COL – Kevin Tway birdied the par-5 finishing hole on Saturday and jumped into the 54-hole lead at the Servientrega Championship Presented by Efecty. Tway fired a flawless 6-under 66 which put him at 11-under-par 205, one ahead of second-round leader Brad Fritsch, who got up and down for birdie on 18 to pull within a shot of Tway.

Argentina’s Jorge Fernandez-Valdes parred the final five holes, shot 2-under 70 and finds himself two off the pace in third place.

Ollie Schniederjans (66) and Timothy Madigan (67) are 8-under-par after three trips around TPC Cartagena at Karibana.

“It was definitely playing tough out there,” said Tway, about the blustery conditions. “The wind probably kicked up around hole 7. So from then on, you’ve just got to try and survive and give yourself as many opportunities as possible.”

Tway took advantage of the front nine, going out in 3-under 33. The 27-year-old from Edmond, Oklahoma knew the importance of getting off to a fast start. Through 54 holes, the back side of TPC Cartagena is playing a half-shot harder than the front.

“Everyone knows when they get to the back nine it’s going to be windy,” said Tway, who has played the second nine 5-under in three tries. “You kind of just have to pick a shot that you can see and commit to it.”

Tway has rolled the flat stick very well this week. The four-time All-American at Oklahoma State University played throughout the Midwest, “where it is windy all the time.” Those experiences have helped Tway not get discouraged on the greens when a gust comes up because he knows how to resort back to feel when standing over the ball.

“Putting is very difficult,” said Tway, who grew up in Oklahoma. “You take the wind into consideration more than usual. Sometimes you don’t even look at the break; you just kind of play what the wind is doing.”

Tway, whose favorite golf memory is caddying for his father, Bob Tway, in the Par 3 Contest at the Masters, has never led heading into the final round of a Web.com Tour event. In 2013, Tway earned his first Tour victory at the Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft, where he defeated Spencer Levin in a playoff. Now a veteran on Tour, the five-year pro’s strategy for Sunday is to battle the golf course instead of fending off his competition.

“You have so much to handle on the course that I’m not really going to be thinking about leading or not,” said Tway. “You’ve just got to try and hit each shot the best you can and fight the conditions.”

Fritsch struggled with the wind throughout the day. The 38-year-old Ottawa resident was forced to back off a few times when a gust would knock him off the ball. Down two on the final green, Fritsch caught a break when the wind died down for a moment. The brief lapse allowed Fritsch to drain his birdie try to stay within striking distance of Tway.

Fritsch played the first 36 holes with Tway and is familiar with his game. Knowing he can’t overpower a course like the long-hitting Tway, the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada native will try and make his move early before the flagsticks start to bend.

“Just try and get off to a real good start,” said Fritsch, who is 7-under on the opening nine this week. “The front nine is the easier nine when it’s windy and then you just try and survive on the back nine.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth set a Masters record on Friday by leading the tournament for the sixth straight round.

He sure didn’t seem to be in a mood to celebrate.

Spieth led by as many as five shots after a fast start, and then, just like everyone else on this wickedly windy day, he had to hang on for dear life. Spieth holed a 15-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 2-over 74 that gave him a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy.

“I’m still in the lead. I couldn’t ask for much better than leading,” Spieth said. “I’m a bit disappointed right now, fresh off the round. Two over on the last three holes will leave you that way.”

McIlroy, who needs a green jacket to complete the Grand Slam, played the last six holes in 3 under for a 71 to match the low round of the day. Conditions were so brutal that it was the first time since the third round in 2007 that no one broke 70.

“I know I’m in a good position going into the weekend,” McIlroy said. “And I’m happy with that.”

The prospects of Spieth and McIlroy in the final group at any major, much less the Masters, is tantalizing. Both of them realize that this is far from the duel. With more wind expected on Saturday, it feels more like everyone against Augusta National. And right now, the odds are with the golf course.

The way Spieth came back to the field, the Masters is wide open.

He was at 4-under 140, the highest 36-hole lead since that frigid, windy Masters in 2007.

Danny Lee bogeyed his last two holes for a 72 and was two shots behind, along with Scott Piercy (72). The only other players who remained under par were Hideki Matsuyama (72), Brandt Snedeker (72) and Soren Kjeldsen (74).

Dustin Johnson birdied all the par 5s for a 71 and was in the group at even par that included U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau, who felt the sting of Augusta on the final hole. DeChambeau was playing the best round of the day at 3 under and just one shot out of the lead. But he hooked his tee shot into the trees and had to return to the tee, hooked the next one and made triple bogey for a 72.

Still in the mix was Jason Day, who sputtered along to a 73 but was only five shots behind.

“It almost feels like a U.S. Open where you need to survive,” Day said. “And I’m trying my best to survive right now.”

Spieth finished a round over par at Augusta for the first time in his three Masters appearances. Coming off his wire-to-wire victory last year, that par save from the bunker on the 18th allowed him to set a record for most consecutive rounds in the lead. Arnold Palmer was atop the leaderboard for six straight rounds in 1960 and the opening two rounds in 1961, though he shared in those last two rounds.

Even so, it was hard to get past Spieth’s mistakes – a four-putt double bogey on No. 5, a three-putt bogey on No. 16. Frustration began to set in on the 10th when Spieth posed over his approach until it came up short of the green. “How is that into the wind?” he said, before turning and having a stern conversation with himself.

McIlroy was as many as eight shots behind and never lost sight of the difficult conditions. He picked up birdies on the two par 5s on the back, and holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th before finishing with a par save out of the trees.

“I was at 8 under and you finish at 4. That’s kind of tough,” Spieth said. “I felt like I played better than 4 over from the fourth hole on.”

The gusts topped out at 30 mph on Friday, and it’s not expected to get easier. Throw in the pressure on Spieth to become only the fourth back-to-back winner at the Masters, and a burden on McIlroy to finish off the Grand Slam, and this could be theater at its finest.

“Tomorrow is going to be more difficult than today,” Spieth said. “Even par is one heck of a score tomorrow.”

He said anyone breaking par Saturday could move into the lead from as far back as 25th place.

Spieth’s par on the last hole not only kept him in the lead, it sent Phil Mickelson home for the weekend because of the 10-shot rule. Mickelson shot a career-high 79 and finished at 7-over to miss the cut.

Tom Watson missed the cut by two shots in his final Masters appearance, walking up the 18th fairway to a standing ovation and warm applause. He parred his last four holes for a 78 and said later, “I’m glad I don’t have to play that 18th hole anymore.”

Spieth, McIlroy and everyone else have two more days to endure to see who claims the green jacket.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth was frustrated Friday when Masters officials put his group on the clock ahead of the toughest stretch at Augusta National.

Spieth, Paul Casey and Bryson DeChambeau were told on the 11th hole – the toughest in the second round – that they were being timed for being out of position. Spieth hit his approach some 75 feet from the hole and was heard saying to his caddie, “I’m being … timed. I want to take my time, wait out the gusts.”

He two-putted for par, escaped with a par from the bunker short of the 12th green and the group was back in position a short time later.

Under pace-of-place guidelines, a player is warned if he goes over his allotted time while on the clock, and the second violation is a one-shot penalty.

Spieth chose his words carefully when asked if it was fair for his group to be put on the clock.

“I wouldn’t say it was unfair,” he said. “I would say that … have fun getting put on the clock at 11 of Augusta, and then play 11 and 12 rushing with gusting wind. It’s not fun. It’s not fun at all.”

He said the group also was put on the clock at the 17th.

Spieth had a 2-over 74 and had a one-shot lead over Rory McIlroy.

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old amateur from China, was given two bad times in 2013 and assessed a penalty shot in the second round. He still made the cut.

CARTAGENA, Colombia – Brad Fritsch took advantage of calm conditions at TPC Cartagena at Karibana, on Friday morning, and fired a 7-under-par 65 to move into the lead. The Canadian’s 8-under 136 total is good for a one-stroke advantage over PGA TOUR veteran Jonathan Byrd (67), and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica alum Jorge Fernandez-Valdes (68) after 36 holes of the Servientrega Championship presented by Efecty.

Jason Millard (-6), who finished No. 5 on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit last season, and Irishman Seamus Power (-6) are two back heading into the weekend.

“Playing today in the morning was such an advantage,” said Fritsch, who teed off at 6:30 a.m. “If there was ever a good draw, this was the one.”

Starting on 10, Fritch recorded four straight pars before getting into red numbers with birdies at 14 and 15. His only blemish of the day came at the par-4, 16th where he made bogey. Fritch bounced back two holes later with a birdie at the par-5, 18th to turn in 2-under.

On his inward nine, Fritsch recorded three birdies to tie for the lead at 6-under. The 38-year-old pro cemented himself atop the leaderboard with an eagle at the par-5, eighth hole. With 210 yards from the middle of the fairway, Fritsch elected to hit a mid-iron and landed it just short of the green.

“I hit a 7-iron,” said Fritsch, who guessed his ball would carry an extra 30 yards downwind. “I just tried to one-bounce it on the green and it just missed the bunker on the left.”

The ball settled 25 feet from the cup. With some help from Kevin Tway, who hit a pitch along the same line, the Holly Springs, N.C., resident drained the putt for three, which put him 8-under for the tournament.

Fritsch is not known as a great chipper of the golf ball but was force to lean on his short game to break par in the tough conditions Thursday afternoon. The Edmonton, Alberta, native made five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey en route to a one-under score.

“I got up and down nine or 10 times yesterday,” said Fritsch about his first-round 71. “I just had to survive yesterday and that was the goal.”

Fritsch has held at least a share of the 36-hole lead three times in 135 starts on the Web.com Tour. The 16-year pro has never won an official Tour event and relishes the chance to change that this weekend.

“I’m looking forward to it,” said Fritsch. “It’s a very good challenge.”

Byrd could not believe how limp the flags around the first hole were when he walked up onto the tee box. Playing in still conditions, the five-time Tour winner went 6-under-par in his first 14 holes. Late in the round the breeze started to pick up and Byrd closed-out his day bogey-birdie-bogey-par and signed for a 5-under score.

“Every little breath of wind you feel, you thought it was coming,” said Byrd, who was waiting for it to start howling. “We probably got the better wave and that first nine was just there for the taking.”

Fernandez-Valdes has been in contention quite a few times in his two years on Tour, most recently at last year’s Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco. With two rounds left to decide a winner, the 24-year-old from Cordoba, Argentina has a chance to become the fourth Argentinian to win on Tour and first since Emiliano Grillo at the 2015 Web.com Tour Championship.

“I think all the experience is good,” said Fernandez-Valdes, who has competed in 50 Tour events entering this week. “I just got to keep doing my thing and stick to my strategy. I’m 100 percent sure that will help me this weekend.”