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Bradley joins Rollins in share of lead

Rob Bradley joined John Rollins atop the leaderboard after two rounds at the $425,000 BUY.COM Hershey Open.

Bradley used a bogey-free 4-under-par 67 Friday to move to 7-under 135, and Rollins followed his first-round 65 with a 1-under 70. The pair hold a two-stroke advantage over Deane Pappas (69), Gary Hallberg (69) and Joe Daley (70) with two rounds left at the Country Club of Hershey's East Course. Matt Sharkey (65), Jason Caron (68) and Billy Judah (67) are tied for sixth at 4-under par.

"The wind was up more today than yesterday," said Rollins after extending his consecutive sub-par rounds streak to eight. "The wind was just swirling all over the place. You never could tell. You were on the tee, it's downwind. You get to your second shot, and it's into the wind. You get over your ball, and it's downwind. You were always kind of guessing which way the wind is going, and it was tough to pull a club and feel confident that you had the right number with the wind swirling the way it was. We managed the best we could and managed to shoot 1 under out of it, so all and all it wasn't too bad."

Rollins' confidence is up thanks to his current play and a little bit of Pennsylvania history.

"I know I am playing well and hitting the ball well, it's just a matter now of going into the weekend and carrying it over for two more rounds and see what happens," Rollins said.

That's where history comes into play. Rollins has played three TOUR-sponsored events in Pennsylvania in his career and never finished lower than a tie for 13th.

"I have been pretty lucky in Pennsylvania, and I don't want to jinx it yet, but Pennsylvania has treated me well on this TOUR and the PGA TOUR last year, so we will see if the record holds true this week."

A key to earning his first victory might be greens in regulation. Rollins hit 15 of 18 greens Friday, two more than Thursday, but could not get the putts to fall. The only one-putts he had all day came on his two birdie holes. He has hit 77.8 percent of greens through the first two rounds, which ties him for fourth this week.

One of the players ahead of him in that category happens to be Rob Bradley, his Saturday playing partner, who is tied for first with David Gossett in greens in regulation after hitting 30 of 36 greens through 36 holes.

"It's real important (hitting greens in regulation)," Bradley said. "I have been talking about staying patient all week and trying to keep the ball in the fairway and then not always going at the flagsticks, and it's definitely paid off for me the first couple of rounds."

Sharkey's 66 was the best round of the day and moved him from a tie for 80th to a tie for sixth after two rounds of play. He poured in six birdies during the morning round, none of which were closer than 12 feet.

"I was on the right side with those putts for the most part," said Sharkey, who needed only 24 putts Friday. "Other than maybe No. 1, they were putts where I had a good line and could be aggressive with and not worry about them flying by. I was due. I have been playing very well and haven't been putting at all. In the qualifier on Monday, I hit 17 greens and didn't make a birdie."

Sixty-two players made the cut, which came at 2-over-par 144.

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