2012 Players Cup
July 12-15, 2012
Winnipeg, MB
Pine Ridge Golf Club (36-35) Par 71
Purse: $150,000
Winner's share: $24,000

Weather
31 degrees Celsius, felt like 36, wind 5km/h

Second Round Leaderboard (Bold denotes Canadian)
Chris Killmer, Bellingham, WA 66-64 (-12)
Vince Covello, Philadelphia, PA 66-68 (-8)
Darren Wallace, Langley, BC 69-65 (-8)
Jon McLean, Weston, FL 67-68 (-7)
Mark Hubbard, San Jose, CA 68-67 (-7)
Micah Burke, Los Angeles, CA 68-67 (-7)
Matt Richardson, England 69-67 (6)
David Lang, Toronto, ON 68-68 (-6)
6 players tied at 5-under

(Winnipeg, MB - July 13, 2012) - Chris Killmer of Bellingham, WA posted a 7-under 64 on day two in Winnipeg, MB to take a commanding four shot lead at The 2012 Players Cup. The University of Washington graduate credited a hot putter for his stellar play on day two at Pine Ridge Golf Club.

"I made a lot of putts today," said Killmer. "I hit a lot of good iron shots, but mainly just got the putter rolling and allowed myself to keep moving in the right direction," added Killmer, who finished 22nd on the 2011 Canadian Tour Order of Merit.

The 25-year old finished in a tie for 13th at the 2011 Players Cup and is in search of first win on the Canadian Tour since joining the Tour in 2011.

"I definitely feel like I can win, but I also know it's a process. The harder you try, the worse your results will get. I won't say that I wasn't trying to win the last two weeks, but I was putting too much pressure on myself to play well," admitted Killmer, who missed the cut in his two previous Canadian Tour starts after missing just two cuts all of last season.

Former Canadian Amateur champion Darren Wallace fired a second round six-under 65 and is currently tied for second along with American Vince Covello. The Langley, BC native is looking to become the next of a number of young Canadians to capture their first Canadian Tour win this season.

"I grew up playing with these guys a lot," said Wallace of contemporaries that include college teammate Nick Taylor and last week's winner Matt Hill. "Seeing them have the success they've had this year makes you want to push yourself to keep up with them."

Wallace is best known for being the youngest winner of the Canadian Amateur Championship at age 15 in 2004. In four events this season, Wallace has made three cuts, with his best finish is a tie for 12th in Edmonton.

"This year I feel like my game has been close," added Wallace. "Today was a day where I feel like I broke through a little bit."

Tied with Wallace at eight-under par is Covello, who had a chance to win here in 2010 before finishing tied for fifth. Covello made six birdies and three bogeys for a round of three-under 68.

"I hit a lot of quality golf shots out there and managed to make a few up-and-downs," said Covello. The 29-year old Philadelphia native said he's looking forward to having another chance to win this weekend.

"There's only so many times a year when you get yourself a chance to win," admitted Covello. "That's what we play for."

A trio of Americans are tied for fourth spot including Micah Burke, who is bogey free through two rounds. Jon McLean and Canadian Tour rookie Mark Hubbard round out the players deadlocked in fourth.

Monday qualifier David Lang of Toronto, ON posted his second straight round of 3-under to sit in a tie for seventh spot at 6-under par for the tournament. Lang, who recently turned pro, is looking to become the second straight Monday qualifier to win The Players Cup since Tom Hoge did so in 2011.

First round leader Alex Quiroz struggled on day two in Winnipeg posting a 7-over 78 to miss the cut in his ninth start at The Players Cup. 2006 winner Josh Habig posted a 1-over par 72 and is tied for 15th.

Sarnia, ON's Matt Hill, who won last week in Saskatoon, posted a second round 4-under 67 to move into a tie for ninth spot with five others including Matt Makinson of Coquitlam, BC.

With Hill's made cut he is virtually a lock to secure one of the two RBC Canadian Open exemptions afforded to the top two players on the Order of Merit following The Players Cup. Three players who were mathematically eliminated after missing the cut today were Americans Scott Harrington, Will Strickler and Matt Marshall.  Cory Renfrew of Victoria, BC who currently occupies the second spot on the Order of Merit helped his chances today with a 5-under par 66 which keeps him in the tournament mix at 3-under and tied for 21st.

Josh Wytinck of Winnipeg was the only amateur to make the cut this week and the first amateur to do so since current Canadia Tour member Matt Johnston of Winnipeg accomplished the rare feat in 2007.