Tyler Watts keeps proving he belongs on golf’s biggest stages. The Tennessee freshman and world No. 2-ranked amateur fired a 4-under-par 67 in Friday’s second round of the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville, making the cut with two shots to spare in the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Fall opener.
Playing on a sponsor exemption at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove — a Jack Nicklaus design set at 2,000 feet in the Blue Ridge Mountains — Watts opened with an even-par 71 on Thursday before catching fire in round two. His 36-hole total of 4-under 138 put him in a tie for 46th heading into the weekend, six shots behind co-leaders Jacob Bridgeman and Neal Shipley at 10 under.
“I definitely wish I did play better, but I’m happy with the two days of results,” Watts said after the round.
A weekend tee time against the pros
The Huntsville, Alabama, native is no stranger to PGA Tour competition — he teed it up at the 2025 Procore Championship in Napa and the Butterfield Bermuda Championship — but this marks his first made cut on Tour, and he’ll be the lone amateur playing the weekend in Asheville…