Cromwell, CT (Best E Casino) - Stewart Cink was one-over par in his round when he glanced at the leaderboard on the sixth hole and noticed he wasn't among the top 50 players.
"It got my attention," Cink said. "I made an eagle there and it was off to the races."
Having perhaps the best season among the players who haven't won on the PGA Tour this year, Cink rode a hot putter to a six-under 64 on Friday and took the second-round lead at the Travelers Championship.
His round included two eagles, four birdies and just one bogey in the last 13 holes -- all after he glanced at that leaderboard.
Cink, who claimed his first career win at this tournament in 1997, overcame a bogey-bogey start to finish at 10-under 130 for a one-shot lead on Hunter Mahan, Ken Duke and Lucas Glover.
"I just buckled down," said Cink.
Mahan, the defending champion, shot a bogey-free 63 and moved up from a tie for 53rd place into a share of second with Duke (66) and Glover (66) at nine- under 131.
Michael H. Thompson, the low amateur at the U.S. Open last week, shot a 67 and was tied with Kevin Sutherland (65) and Brad Adamonis (68) at eight-under 132.
There were 36 players overall within five shots of Cink's lead, including Kenny Perry, Fred Funk, Vijay Singh, Corey Pavin, Steve Elkington, Stuart Appleby and Chris DiMarco.
Cink is the leading point-winner on the FedEx Cup standings among the players without a victory on tour this season, sitting No. 7 overall. It's a dubious distinction for the four-time PGA Tour winner, who has four runner-up finishes since he won twice in 2004.
His six top-10 finishes this season include a runner-up to Tiger Woods in the Accenture Match Play Championship in February -- when the world No. 1 rolled to an 8 & 7 win -- and a tie for second place at the PODS Championship two weeks later.
Cink also tied for third at the Masters, then shared 14th place at the U.S. Open on Sunday after shooting a spectacular 67 in the final round.
He learned a lot about his putting on the tough Torrey Pines greens. And with a new mind set this week, Cink has needed just 53 putts through two rounds. But it took him six holes to get going on Friday after his opening bogeys.
"My focus wobbled and I just had to buckle down," he said. It was a wakeup call."
He birdied No. 3, then hit his driver twice to set up a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 6. Back-to-back birdies on the next two holes gave him some momentum, but it was stalled by a bogey at the 10th.
Cink went onto eagle the 13th on a long, right-to-left putt from about 50 feet. He tied Mahan and Duke for the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt at the 15th, then moved atop the leaderboard by himself with a 16-footer for birdie at the 17th.
It marks the first time in nearly four years that Cink has held the 36-hole lead.
"What feels good is to start off the way I did today and then come back and end up posting a good score," said Cink. "You can never totally get rid of what you already have done ... But when you're able to come back, make a couple of eagles, take advantage of some pretty benign holes, then that feels good, and definitely leads to confidence into the weekend."
The cut line fell at three-under 137 with 72 players making the number.
