MJ Daffue followed a good start with an equally good second round on Friday as he carded a five-under-par 65 in the second round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Visit Knoxville Open in Tennessee to take a share of the halfway lead.
Daffue made an eagle, four birdies and a bogey in his round, and joined Anders Albertson at the top of the leaderboard at 11-under for the tournament as the round was suspended due to darkness – there was no-one out on the course still to threaten their lead of two strokes over Rob Oppenheim, George Cunningham and Eric Cole.
Daffue entered the day two strokes behind Albertson and pulled even with the 18-hole leader as he played his last six holes at five-under par, highlighted by his eagle on the par-five fifth.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well this week and my proximity has been really close,” stated Daffue, who also made birdies at 18, four, six, and nine. “I put a lot of work into my short game and doing certain drills to work speed with my putter. I’m putting it together with eight birdies yesterday, then four birdies and an eagle today. I’m trying to not get ahead of myself and hit the middle of the green then move forward.”
Daffue turned professional out of Lamar University in 2012, but struggled to obtain status for the first seven years of his career. Daffue finished T138 at Final Stage of the 2017 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, leaving him buried in the priority ranking and for the 2018 season. His first Korn Ferry Tour start came in 2019 after he successfully Monday qualified. Daffue Monday qualified into five of his 10 career Korn Ferry Tour starts prior to the 2022 season, while another three were via top-25s following a successful Monday qualifier.
Daffue returned to Final Stage of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament last November, but he finished T50 and missed the top 40 – which left him without guaranteed starts for the 2022 season – by a single stroke. After a battle with COVID in January, Daffue was the seventh-to-last player in the field at the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay, where he finished T15 and positioned himself to climb the priority ranking following the reorder.
In 10 starts this season, Daffue has three top-10s, including a T2 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic back in February. If the clubhouse lead stands, it will mark Daffue’s first 36-hole lead or co-lead, and his second lead in a Korn Ferry Tour event, as he held the outright 18-hole lead at last month’s Veritex Bank Championship.
“This isn’t the first time that I’m tied for the lead this season, I’ve been in this position quite a few times so I’m getting used to it,” Daffue said. “I’m trying to learn from my past experiences, I’ve seen myself be patient and today is a great example. I’ve learned over the past tournaments this season where I was in contention that I don’t have to do anything special to win. I need to stick to my routines and stay committed and then trust in my ability.”
