Hilton Head Island, S.C. – At the halfway point of the $300,000 eGolf Tour Championship, Ryan Nelson of Charleston, S.C. looks poised to add career win No. 6 to his loaded tour resume. The five-time tour winner, who played arguably the best golf of his career this year without earning a single victory, followed up an opening-round 64 with a 5-under 67 on Thursday afternoon to reach 13-under 131, good for a two-shot lead heading into Friday’s third round of the lucrative 72-hole event.

Nelson, who was the 18-hole leader after posting an 8-under 64 on the Cupp Course at host Palmetto Hall Golf Club on Wednesday, ventured over to the Hills Course on Thursday morning to pick up where he left off the day before – but not without a bit of drama, courtesy of Mother Nature.

A two-hour fog delay greeted the 168-player field on Wednesday morning, and then re-appeared on Thursday morning after play began at 8:30 AM. With dense fog rolling in, affecting first the Hills and then the Cupp course, tour officials were forced to suspend play for approximately 50 minutes on day two while holding players on the course until the weather lifted.

As often happens in fog situations, the clubhouse and driving range area was completely perfect, leaving many to wonder exactly what was happening on the course.

Palmetto Hall Plantation

“It was kind of weird because it was nice and warm and sunny on the range, so it was hard to figure out what was going on,” said Nelson, who was halfway through his warmup routine when the horn blew. “I just figured I’d go through my normal routine since we didn’t really know what was going on out there. I just kept checking Twitter to see when the fog was gone.”

After waiting out the delay, Nelson got round two off to a slow start with three pars and a bogey on the par-3 third through his opening four holes. The sluggish start paled in comparison to his torrid start on Wednesday, where he raced out to a 5-under-par through his opening seven holes.

“I didn’t have the speed of the greens early on and wasn’t hitting it close, but I got it going on the back nine,” Ryan said. “I started hitting it closer and started getting my speed a little better.”

Birdies on Nos. 5 and 8 put the 37-year-old at 1-under on the turn and 9-under for the week, but it was the back nine where Nelson began his march towards the 36-hole lead.

Pars on 10 and 11 gave way to birdies on 12, 13, 14 and 15 to push the Pacific Northwest native to 5-under for the day and 13-under total.

Nelson pared his final three holes for a second-round 67 and a 13-under par total at the event’s halfway point, in turn marking the lowest 36-hole score ever recorded in an eGolf event at Palmetto Hall – dating back to the 2010 Palmetto Hall Championship.

“I’ve been putting well the last month or so, and my ball striking is finally coming around,” said Nelson, who has just one bogey through 36 holes. “Everything is coming together a little bit, including my driving, which is key around this place.”

Like many players before him, Nelson struggled initially at Palmetto Hall, riding a final-round 81 in the 2012 Palmetto Hall Championship to a 60th-place finish, and then missing the cut in the event’s 2013 edition.

But earlier this year, Nelson posted a T4 finish at the tournament, in turn finally figuring out some of the nuances to both layouts.

“There are some holes you just cannot play around with. I think everyone may have a different hole, especially on the Cupp Course,” he said, referring to the host of the final 36 holes. “If you get offline or start getting a bit too aggressive, you’re going to run into a big number. I had done that a few times in past years.”

Nelson’s T4 to open the year in February spawned a solid season where he posted 14 top-25 finishes in 15 starts – including a pair of runner-up efforts at the Spring Creek Classic and the Championship at River Hills.

Dating back to May’s Columbia Open, the married father of two has now carded 31 of his last 38 rounds in the 60s – a phenomenal mark that has many thinking he is poised to collect his first win since September of 2013.

Harold Varner III

Known for his ability to grab a lead a never let go, Nelson knows he has two rounds to play, but is well aware of his potential – as well as the history Palmetto Hall holds.

“If I play the way I did the first two rounds, I think I can run and hide,” said Nelson when asked directly if that was possible on the Cupp Course. “But, like I said before, one bad swing can change all of that, so you have to really play smart.”

Alex Ching of San Diego, Calif. is alone in second place at 11-under par following rounds of 68-65—133.

The 24-year-old Ching opened his week in style on Wednesday, acing the par-3 eighth on the Cupp Course on his way to a 4-under-par start.

On Thursday, the Honolulu, Hawaii native birdied five of his first nine holes on the Hills Course to turn at 5-under 31 and tied for the lead alongside Nelson at 9-under par. Ching posted a bogey-birdie stretch on 11 and 12, but eagled the par-5 15th to finish off a closing 34 and a 7-under 65 – the low round of the week on the Hills Course.

The former University of San Diego star his making his second start of the year in eGolf’s Million Dollar Championship Series following a T48 at last month’s Championship at Red Hawk outside of Reno, Nev.

Peter Malnati

Justin Martinson of Avondale, Pa., Harold Varner III of Gastonia, N.C. and Peter Malnati of Dandridge, Tenn. are tied for third, five shots back of Nelson at 8-under par.

Malnati, a former eGolf Tour winner and four-year tour member, is making just his second start of the year after competing on the PGA TOUR in the 2013-14 season.

The former University of Missouri star spent 2010 through 2013 on the eGolf Tour, winning the 2012 Championship at Wintergreen before breaking through on the Web.com Tour in 2013 with a late-season win at the News-Sentinel Open. That win, which was preceded by a torrid stretch of summer golf on the PGA TOUR’s developmental circuit, netted a 2013-14 TOUR card for the 27-year-old.

Malnati posted three top-25s in his rookie year on golf’s biggest stage, highlighted by a pair of top-15 efforts at the Puerto Rico Open (T14) and OHL Classic at Mayakoba (15th).

Varner, who starred on the eGolf Tour in 2012 and 2013, is making his first start of the year after competing on the Web.com Tour this year, where he finished 42nd on the season-ending money list – thanks to a runner-up effort at the Rex Hospital Open in May.

The former East Carolina star was a veritable ATM in two years on the eGolf Tour, posting 13 top-10s in 25 starts – including three runner-ups in 2013 alone. Varner missed the cut in his only career start at Palmetto Hall (2013).

Third-round play in the eGolf Tour Championship will begin at 8:30 AM on Friday morning, with players competing in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 on the Cupp Course. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.