Padraig Harrington put himself in the mix at the SAS Championship in North Carolina despite "low expectations" pre-tournament.
The three-time major winner carded a six-under 66 in the PGA Champions Tour event on Friday to sit second overall and within one shot of Billy Andrade, who used a late string of birdies to secure the first-round lead.
The regular-season finale at Prestonwood Country Club is the final chance for players to improve their standing before the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs. After Sunday's final round, the top 72 players will qualify for the playoffs.
Harrington, who is ninth in the Charles Schwab standings, made his move on the back nine, where he shot five-under 32 while also keeping his card bogey-free.
"I came in here pretty low on confidence, strangely," he said.
"(I) worked quite hard Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday here. It's a lot tighter golf course than I've been playing the last couple of weeks.
"It puts me under a bit more pressure off the tee. As I said, you have to hit the fairways. So I wasn't very confident at all, and maybe my low expectations helped."
Last week, the Dubliner finished in a ten-way tie for 25th which included Rory McIlroy at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Additional reporting: Reuters
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