Canada's Nick Taylor in contention at Safeway Open

Bryson DeChambeau shot an 8-under-par 64 on Friday, and he sits atop the leaderboard at the midpoint of the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.

Despite pulling his 20-foot eagle putt just short on the 18th hole, DeChambeau sank the ensuing birdie tap-in to close the second round at 12-under 132.

DeChambeau, a Northern California native who grew up in Clovis, cruised through his bogey-free round unharmed with eight birdies — including a run of seven birdies in 10 holes from the fifth through 14th holes.

"I knew if I could go work on my swing like I did yesterday and come out and feel comfortable like I did today, I'd come out and shoot a low number," said the 26-year-old DeChambeau, who has won five times on the PGA Tour.

DeChambeau showed no signs early that he was about to charge up the leaderboard, opening with a silent series of pars on the first four holes. After a birdie on No. 5 got him started, he sank a 36-footer on the next hole and knocked in a tap-in for birdie on No. 8 — before a trio of birdies kick-started his back nine.

DeChambeau pleased with performance

After shooting a quiet 68 on Thursday, DeChambeau was pleased with his dominant day.

"It's always fun to come out and play to the potential you know you can," he said. "The greens got a little bumpy this afternoon, but they're still rolling nice enough to make some putts. I was able to control my line, control my speed and have a couple of them drop in."

Nick Watney, who shot a 69 a day earlier, finished Friday one stroke behind DeChambeau for the second straight day with a 65, leaving him in second place at 10 under. Although he did have one bogey (on No. 8), Watney also drained eight birdies, knocking down six birdies in one seven-hole stretch.

Five players sit tied for third at 9 under: Justin Thomas (whose 64 matched DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa for the low round Friday), Adam Long (68), Cameron Champ (68), Canada's Nick Taylor (66) and South Africa's Dylan Frittelli (65).

Morikawa and John Oda (66) rest at 8 under through 36 holes to round out the top 10.

Round one co-leaders Adam Scott of Australia and Andrew Landry both struggled, with Scott's 73 leaving him tied for 15th at 6 under and Scott's 74 grouping him with five others at 5 under for the tournament.

Kevin Tway, the tournament's defending champion, missed the cut by just one shot after ending his day with a bogey on No. 18. Phil Mickelson also fell below the cutline, despite shooting 69 following a 75 on Thursday.

Tony Romo misses cut

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo saw his bid to make a PGA cut fall apart on the front nine. The CBS NFL broadcaster, playing the tournament on a sponsor's exemption, made bogeys on six of his first nine holes.

Romo, who shot a 2-under-par 70 on Thursday, finished his Friday round at 6-over 78 to leave him at 4-over 148 for the tourney, tied for 129th in the 144-player field.

Canadians

Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C. is one of six Canadians to make the cut at the Safeway Open. Adam Hadwin, Roger Sloan, Corey Conners, Michael Gligic and David Hearn all made the cut. Mackenzie Hughes was the lone Cancuck to miss the cut as he was 4-over-par.

Taylor will tee off on Saturday at 4:50 p.m. ET with Dylan Frittelli in the second to last group.