JACKSON, Miss. — David Toms admits his initial idea for the weekend was to catch a little live college football action down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Saturday night when Alabama faces his beloved LSU.
Two rounds of excellent golf at the Country Club of Jackson might have thrown a wrench in those plans.
Toms and John Rollins each shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to share the second-round lead in the Sanderson Farms Championship.
"I had great intentions to (go to LSU), but after today, I guess I might have too late of a tee time," Toms said, smiling.
The 47-year-old Toms — a 13-time PGA Tour winner who played at LSU — is playing some of his best golf in years and was bogey-free through the first two rounds. He hasn’t won since 2011 at Colonial.
A patient approach and a hot putter have put him in contention in his past two tournaments. He has made just two bogeys over his past 90 holes, dating to the second round of the McGladrey Classic two weeks ago where he tied for 14th.
"Just to play well is what excites me," Toms said. "You never know, when you hang around on the leaderboard a little bit, every once in a while you’re able to get one."
Rollins had eight birdies and two bogeys to share the lead with Toms. He won the last of his three tour titles in 2009 and finished 177th on the money list last season.
"To get off to that kind of start is always great, birdieing the first three, birdied four out of the first five, and really just kind of helped me relax a little bit and just kind of get in the rhythm of the round," Rollins said. "I hit the ball well, made some good putts and put myself in a good position."
Toms and Rollins were at 10-under 134.
Canada’s Nick Taylor was two strokes back after a 69. Robert Streb, the McGladrey winner, was tied with Tom Gillis, three strokes back. Gillis had a 68, and Streb shot 70.
Play was suspended because of darkness with 15 players unable to finish. First-round leader Sebastian Cappelen was 3 over for the round and 4 under overall with two holes left.
The course was slightly damp for Thursday’s opening round after overnight rain, but a full day of sunshine and wind dried the course and made the greens much faster.
Temperatures started around 40 degrees early Friday morning. Toms said he doesn’t like cold weather, but found a way to get through the first few chilly hours.
"I had the gloves and hand warmers, two sweaters on, a jacket, rain pants," Toms said. "We were lucky this morning that we didn’t have much wind when we teed off, because it would have been awfully cold. It warmed up pretty quick when the sun came out."
