ordan Smith grabbed control at Colonial while Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Keith Mitchell and Sungjae Im missed a wild Charles Schwab cut.
FORT WORTH - The Charles Schwab Challenge cut line turned Friday at Colonial Country Club into pure golf cruelty.
For hours in Fort Worth, the number bounced around just enough to torture everyone near the edge.
READ MORE: Charles Schwab Field Hit by Mass Withdrawals
At one point, 2-under looked safe. Then it didn’t.
Then, after Jackson Suber’s late double bogey on the par-4 ninth, it moved back and gave several players a weekend lifeline.
That’s Colonial. It doesn’t care about names.
Tony Finau, Keith Mitchell, Rickie Fowler and Sungjae Im are done after missing the cut.
Finau posted back-to-back 70s to finish even par. Mitchell went 71-69. Fowler opened with a 70 but stumbled to a 73 on Friday. Im’s week unraveled with a 76 after starting with a 70.
Meanwhile, Lucas Glover, Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Brandt Snedeker and Suber survived and will play the weekend, though they’re chasing from eight shots behind leader Jordan Smith.
Smith has been ruthless through two rounds, firing 65-65 to reach 10-under. That’s not flashy survival golf. That’s full control on one of the PGA Tour’s most demanding classic tracks.
Brian Harman, who sits one shot back at 9-under after rounds of 65-66, explained why Colonial keeps exposing players.
“It's a thinking man's course,” Harman said. “You've got to be really strategic off the tee. You can't just get up there and blast it wherever.”
He’s right. Colonial forces decisions. The trees squeeze angles. The fairways demand discipline. One careless swing can flip an entire tournament.
J.J. Spaun, Akshay Bhatia, Alex Smalley, Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley all stayed in the hunt with steady Friday rounds.
Justin Thomas also climbed safely inside the cut with a 67 to reach 4-under.
Now the weekend gets serious. Smith owns the lead, but Colonial rarely lets anyone coast.
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