CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- It has been eight months since Scott Sterling walked away from Kooyonga Golf Club as the winner of the Jacob's Creek Open Championship in Australia. That victory, Sterling's first on the Nationwide Tour, was worth $113,000 and put him No. 1 on the money list at the time.
It's been even longer since Tag Ridings tasted victory.
The Oklahoma City native won his lone Nationwide Tour event in 2002 at what is now the WNB Golf Classic. Both Sterling and Ridings are poised to pick up win No. 2 as they enter the weekend at the Chattanooga Classic at Black Creek tied for the lead at 13 under.
"Yeah, that win does seem like a long time ago," Sterling said after his 5-under 67 Friday to go with his first-round 64. "I'm pleased because for the last five, six, seven weeks, I haven't done a whole lot."
Since back-to-back top-10 finishes in July at the Price Cutter Charity Championship (sixth) and the Cox Classic (tied for eighth), Sterling has missed three cuts, with a tie for 21st his best showing.
Ridings is making only his ninth Nationwide Tour start of the season, also having 17 starts on the PGA TOUR.
"This is satisfying, but there's a long way to go," Ridings said. "The weekend is where you make your money."
Both Sterling and Ridings have turned in strong performances playing beneath the changing colors of the trees on Raccoon Mountain. On a windy day, Sterling had seven birdies at Black Creek Club -- including four in a row on holes 13 through 16 -- to go with two bogeys. Ridings, after opening with a 10-under 62 Thursday to take the first-round lead, was headed in the wrong direction on his front nine, going out with a 2-over 38.
But Ridings did Sterling one better with a birdie streak of his own, reeling off five in a row on holes 4 through 8 (his 13th through 17th). He got up and down from a greenside bunker on his closing hole, draining a 15-footer to maintain a share of the lead. The duo is two strokes ahead of Bryn Parry, Aron Price, Nicholas Thompson and Ron Whittaker.
"The wind was just vicious today," Ridings added. "It was swirling all around and was a huge factor. I hit a lot of good shots that didn't end up very well because of the wind."
In the group two strokes back is Thompson. Although he has been the best Thompson on Tour this year, edging out Kyle and Chris, he'd also like to be the best Nick. But for now that honor goes to three-time winner Nick Flanagan, who has already graduated to the PGA TOUR.
Thompson, like Sterling, won this year in a different hemisphere. He was victorious at the HSBC New Zealand Championship, and also finished second at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at The Cliffs and tied for third last month at the Albertsons Boise Open. There's nothing he'd rather do than add another victory to his resume.
"It was an up-and-down day," he said of his 5-under 67 that came via six birdies, an eagle and three bogeys. "I missed five putts of 10 feet or less. I had a Nick Thompson putting day." Translation: He hit a lot of greens in regulation (15), "hit some good putts and made some."
Brenden Pappas, who entered this week No. 25 on the money list, is tied for 13th as he hopes to solidify his position in The 25. David Morland IV and Kris Blanks, No. 60 and 61 on the money chart, will miss the cut when it becomes official Saturday morning. The top-60 money winners after next week's Miccosukee Championship in Miami will qualify for the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek.
Second-Round Notes: Three players were still on the course when officials halted play due to darkness. Brian Guetz, Luke List and Jamie Frazier will complete their round Saturday at 8:00 a.m. ... Jon Mills saw his Tour-best streak of 11 consecutive made cuts end Friday. He had played on the weekend in each start since the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational in July. Mills fired rounds of 69-72 at Black Creek to miss the cut by a stroke. ... Bryn Parry, Patrick Sheehan and Omar Uresti were the only players in the field do turn in bogey-free rounds Friday. After starting the tournament par, bogey, bogey in the first round, Parry has had 13 birdies and 20 pars since. ... David Mathis was 7-under through 16 holes Friday before ending his round with a double bogey and a triple bogey on Nos. 17 and 18 to finish at 2-under 70. He is tied for 42nd.
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