Wells Fargo Championship 2016: Friday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Andrew Loupe shared the lead at the Wells Fargo Championship following Thursday's opening round, but he now has it all to himself after shooting one under Friday at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

Joining Loupe in a crowded top five are Roberto Castro, Chesson Hadley, Mark Hubbard and Phil Mickelson—who resides in a crowded pack at five-under par with Thursday co-leader Steve Wheatcroft. 

In search of his first career PGA Tour win, Loupe demonstrated plenty of composure Friday en route to maintaining his perch atop the leaderboard. 

While the 27-year-old didn't encounter much adversity Thursday as he shot a bogey-free round of seven-under par, his scorecard wasn't as clean Friday despite finishing in red figures. 

Loupe, who teed off on the 10th, opened things up steady enough with four pars and two birdies on his first six holes.

However, he encountered trouble with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 before making the turn at an even-par 36. And although a bogey on the par-four eighth threatened to send Loupe into the clubhouse on a sour note, he quickly rebounded by carding a birdie on the ninth. 

It was hardly the cleanest round by any means, but combating struggles with high-profile names in pursuit should give Loupe an extra boost of confidence as he heads into the weekend. 

Speaking of high-profile names, Mickelson continued his climb up the leaderboard after shooting three under Thursday. 

Coming off consecutive missed cuts at the Masters and Valero Texas Open, Mickelson ensured he would be contending through the weekend as he finished two under for the round in difficult surroundings, according to Fox 46's Logan Sherrill: 

The most impressive part of Mickelson's round, though, was that he was able to overcome shaky production off the tee, as ESPN.com's Bob Harig explained: 

Even though his driver and irons were far from reliable Friday, Mickelson flashed some vintage short-game strokes in order to stabilize things.

Lefty's impressive sequence of the day came when he hit a 69-foot chip shot to within a foot of the cup to save par on No. 12:

If Mickelson can tighten things up off the tee this weekend, the rest of the field should start sweating bullets. The five-time major winner has historically thrived at Quail Hollow, with 20 rounds in the 60s to his name all-time at the Wells Fargo Championship. According to Golf Channel's Justin Ray, that mark is five better than any other player in tournament history. 

As if that wasn't impressive enough, Mickelson also recorded his 34th career round under par at the Wells Fargo on Friday—seven more than any other player in tournament history, per Ray.  

Friday also represented a resurgent day of sorts for Rory McIlroy.   

After carding three bogeys and a double-bogey in Round 1, McIlroy finished the day three-under, thanks, in part to a tremendous chip-in for eagles on the par-five seventh, as the PGA Tour documented on Twitter: 

The eagle appeared to spark McIlroy, as he followed up the long-range conversion with a pair of birdies to close out the front nine and another birdie on No. 10 to kick off his back nine in style. 

But as Ray noted, the back nine generally hasn't been kind to McIlroy, who's now two-under for the championship after going bogey-bogey to close things out: 

McIlroy's playing partner, Rickie Fowler, was also a big winner Friday. A run-of-the-mill one-under showing Thursday didn't represent a particularly encouraging start to Fowler's week, but he rebounded with a four-under performance to move just three shots off the lead. 

Loupe should feel good about his chances of contending through the weekend after stringing together a quality Thursday and Friday, but with McIlroy, Mickelson and Fowler just starting to heat up, the top of the leaderboard could be in for a major shakeup on moving day.  

And after McIlroy captured a coveted title at Quail Hollow last year, he already has a championship blueprint in tow that figures to be deployed this weekend. 

Post-Round Reaction

Following his two-under effort Friday, Mickelson broke down areas in which he can improve, as the PGA Tour on Twitter documented: 

"I scrapped it around,'' Mickelson said of his round, per Harig. "I missed the ball in the right spot a number of times. My short game is sharp. I hit a lot of good irons shots, but I had to play for par a little too many times because I didn't put in play off the tee."

"I think I'll get that turned around for the weekend and, if so, the way I've been hitting my irons, I think it's going to be a good weekend," he added, according to Reuters' Andrew Both. 

Loupe, meanwhile, took a measured approach despite being halfway to his first Tour victory: "It's halftime," he said, per Both.