Nathan Smith maintains lead in Fort Smith Classic

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Nathan Smith is all smiles heading into the weekend with the lead at the Fort Smith Classic.

FORT SMITH, Ark -- Nathan Smith managed an even-par round of 70 Friday, but it was good enough to maintain the lead after two rounds at the Fort Smith Classic. Smith's 9-under 131 total is one better than fellow rookie Zack Miller, who bogeyed the final hole for a second straight 66.

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Leaderboard: Rd. 2
Scorecard: Smith
Daly three back

David McKenzie's 6-under 64 was the day's best round and moved the Australian into a tie for third at 7-under 133. He is joined by Monday qualifier Matt Davidson (69).

Local favorite John Daly shot a 2-under 68 and stands at 6-under 134 along with eight others, including 2001 champion Jay Delsing (68) and Fabian Gomez, winner of the Chitimacha Louisiana Open earlier this year.

"I think the hardest thing in golf is to back up a really low round," said Smith, who carded a 9-under 61 in Thursday's opener. "I didn't hit the ball nearly as well today but I fought to stay around par."

Smith, who missed the cut at the European Tour event in Lisbon, Portugal last week, wasn't as crisp in his second round, missing seven of 18 greens and needing 29 total putts. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old from California finds himself in unfamiliar territory.

"You can see it on the leaderboards. I guess you think about it a little bit," he said. "Obviously I haven't been in this position on this Tour before. All I was trying to do was play my game. I know that's very cliché."

Miller, a first-year pro from Stanford University, got off to a rocky start with a double-bogey on the par-5 11th, his second hole of the day.

"That hole I've picked out to attack and I just haven't taken advantage of it," he said. "I put my tee shot so far right I was in the adjacent fairway. I was in the trees and tried to get too aggressive. Three shots and three trees later I finally got it by the green. I flubbed my chip shot and made double. I hit seven mediocre to terrible shots so I totally deserved it."

Miller rallied quickly with a birdie on the next hole and added six more before being derailed by an errant tee shot on his closing hole. A quirky lie in a fairway bunker forced him try and slice a 5-iron, which he did too well.

"It's a tough tee shot for me because I like to hit more of a draw," he said of the dogleg right par-4. "I got trapped behind the lip and tried to hit a huge slice and I put myself out of position near the green and all I could do was try for bogey."

The miscue cost him a share of the lead but still left him in the final group with Smith heading into Saturday's oven-baked third round at Hardscrabble Country Club, a course that McKenzie struggles on.

"I won at Gila River (Arizona) and I didn't like that course either," he said. "The way I look at it, just because I don't like the course doesn't mean I can't play well there. There are golf courses that fit my eye better."

Second-Round Notes:

• A total of 67 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-under 139.

• Miller leads the tournament in putting thus far with 49 putts total.

• Friday's scoring average for the par-70 course was 70.403.