It was a good day for golfers on the PGA Tour with a Pea Patch background — especially for the one named Andrew Landry.

Landry went on a birdie tear on the back nine of the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday en route to a seven-under-par 65 that sent him soaring to the top of the leaderboard in the Career Builder Challenge in La Quinta, California. On the heels of an opening 63 at La Quinta Country Club, his 128 leads Jon Rahm by one stroke and three others by two shots.

While Landry was authoring a second consecutive day of bogey-free golf, fellow Pea Patch alum and Port Neches-Groves ex Chris Stroud shot four-under-par 68 at La Quinta CC. He stands at 138. Stroud birdied three of his final five holes to move up 27 spots to a tie for 67th.

It is not the first time for Landry’s name to be atop a PGA tournament leaderboard. He famously led the U.S. Open after a first-round 66 at Oakmont in 2016. But it is the first time for him to lead at the 36-hole mark.

Landry started his second round with a birdie, but didn’t knock another shot off par until the par 5, seventh. He was only two under through 10 holes and had fallen three shots off the lead when the fireworks began.

He birdied the par-5 11th, the par-3, 12th and the par-4 13th to grab a share of the lead, seized the top spot with another birdie on the par-5 15th and added his seventh of the day on the par-4 16th. That stretched his lead to two strokes. Rahm, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, narrowed the gap with a birdie on his 17th hole.

“I got off to a slow start, then picked it up on the back nine,” said Landry. “I am really playing well, really doing a lot of good stuff. I am especially pleased with my iron play. When I am that sharp with my irons, I usually score well.”

Ironically, Landry’s 65 was not the low score in his own group. Lanto Griffin, a 29-year-old PGA Tour rookie, rolled in seven straight birdies from the ninth through the 15th holes and shot 64. Landry said Griffin’s hot streak helped him got on a roll.

“We put on quite a show on the back,” he said. “It always helps when somebody in your group is playing well. We kind of fed off each other.”

Landry, who has an eagle, 14 birdies and 21 pars through 36 holes, said he did not know he had taken the lead until he saw a scoreboard on the 17th hole.

“I am not a big scoreboard watcher,” he said. “I did see where I was two strokes ahead of Rahm and wanted to make it three. I thought my birdie putt on 17th was in but the putt took a break I didn’t see. The greens out here are really tricky.”

Another bit of irony for Landry ties into the fact that one year ago this week he won the Web.Tour’s Great Abaco Classic in the Bahamas. Wins on two different tours exactly a year-to-the day apart would be remarkable.

“That would be pretty cool,” he said. “I had not thought about that until somebody mentioned it to me after the round. But there is so much golf left. I can’t get ahead of myself. I have to keep making birdies because I know some of the guys behind me are going to be posting low numbers.”

Landry will be tackling the toughest of the three courses in the Career Builders rotation Saturday when he tees it up the TPC Stadium Course. He’s played it several times and says he feels comfortable on it.

“It is similar to the Nicklaus course, but more demanding off the tee,” he said. “The last four holes can be a problem. It is important to get through the first 14 holes in good shape. I come out here every winter to play several rounds, so there is familiarity.”

Television coverage begins at 3 p.m. on the Golf Channel. There is a pregame show on the Golf Channel that starts at 2 p.m. and Landry figures to receive considerable exposure on it.