News: Nationwide Tour

By Anne Szeker, PGATOUR.COM

DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. — J.J. Killeen might have his PGA TOUR card locked up for 2012, but he’s not done fighting on the Nationwide Tour, especially with the money title and a spot in the 2012 PLAYERS at stake.

After ten holes Thursday though, things were not looking good for the current Nationwide Tour money leader. He had double bogeyed the par-4 and was five over for the day.

“I didn’t want to shoot 90,” he said.

And that’s when things started to turn around. The wind had been blowing in the afternoon, and according to Killeen, if you didn’t hit a quality shot, the wind “really magnified it.” Yet his playing partner, Ted Potter Jr. was flawless and moving toward the lead.

“Ted hadn’t missed a shot and he was playing well. I knew if I hit the shots, I could make birdies out there. So watching him do it I think probably helped me too,” Killeen said. He went on to birdie three holes, including the 18th, for a 74.

He kicked off his second round today with a bogey, but quickly found that momentum from the final holes Thursday, and holed out for birdie from the bunker on the second hole.

“That really got me going.”

He birdied four more holes before making the turn and attributed his improvement to the wind.

“It’s not as windy as yesterday afternoon for sure, and it’s a little bit of a different wind, so maybe it’s playing a little different. But you still have to hit good shots,” he said. “It’s set up pretty fair today and playing in the morning was nice. The greens are perfect, so I was able to roll in quite a few putts today.”

He needed seven less putts in the second round and ended up with a 68 to get to 2-under for the week. He’s eight strokes off the lead at the moment, but with two rounds to go he’s feeling confident.

“It’s close. If I can just have one of those rounds like today and eliminate the bogeys, I can take it really deep and hopefully get back into contention and see what happens,” he said. “I’m going to be quite a few shots back, but I know I have the ability to do it this weekend.”

View Killeen’s scorecard here.