Observations from Day 2 of the Final Stage

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Chris Baryla broke a course record Thursday when he shot an 11-under 61 to take the lead at q-school.

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- In the marathon that is q-school, the tournament can't be won or lost in one day. An 11-under 61 goes a long way toward the former, however.

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That's what Chris Baryla shot Thursday on Crooked Cat, the most difficult of the courses in use this week at Orange County National, where Baryla has a one-shot lead at 10-under par.

While Baryla has status on the PGA TOUR next season under a major medical exception for a hip injury he had surgery for in March, this week is all about improving his status and playing competitive rounds for the 28-year-old, who made just seven starts this year.

"I just need the competition," said Baryla, who had 11 birdies and no bogeys Thursday. "I played a couple of Nationwide Tour events at the end of the year, but I didn't want to spend the whole winter doing nothing."

Originally diagnosed with a back injury, it was discovered that Baryla actually had bone-on-bone contact in his hip. Ten years ago that would have required hip replacement surgery. Now, all it means is a lost season.

"I feel good and have full range of motion," Baryla said. "I've got a clean bill of health."

And a good start. As Baryla says, a 61 goes "a long way" toward getting to where he wants to go, even if it's just the second of six rounds.

GRINDING IT OUT: James Driscoll has been down this road before -- he made it to final stage in 2003, 2006 and 2008. Only once, however, did he come out the other end and make it to the TOUR the following year when he made 17 starts in 2009.

Driscoll

After back-to-back 68s to open this year's final stage, though, Driscoll, who is tied for fifth, is in good position to be back on TOUR next season after finishing 157th on the money list this year.

"It's all about jockeying at this point," Driscoll said. "In a four-round tournament, you spend the first two days playing as well as you can and then jockey on the weekend. This is totally different.

"It's really hard to take one shot at a time; that's the biggest challenge. It's really hard to stay totally focused on every shot."

There's also a fine line between staying focused and wearing yourself out. Unlike a normal TOUR event, for example, Driscoll doesn't plan to spend much time on the range.

"Going into the week, you prepare the same," Driscoll said. "But during the week, I won't practice much after each round. You just want to get as much rest as you can. You don't want to spend the whole day grinding."

NOTABLE NAMES: The last time Ty Tryon reached the final stage of q-school, Wikipedia had just launched and Enron was about to declare bankruptcy. That was in 2001, when Tryon was just a wide-eyed 17-year-old.

Fast forward nearly a decade and Tryon is back, now 26 years old, married and with a 4-year-old son. After a short stint on the PGA TOUR, Tryon spent most of the last nine years bouncing from one tour to another, including the Hooters, Gateway and Nationwide Tours.

Now he hopes to get back to the PGA TOUR and with rounds of 73 and 70 at least has a chance. Tryon is tied for 53rd, but he's only two strokes out of being in the top 25 -- the number of spots that will gain full status for next year.

Other notables haven't been as fortunate so far. Joe Ogilvie is tied for 147th after rounds of 74 and 76, while Peter Lonard is tied for 128th after a 75-73 start and James Nitties tied for 115th after scores of 72-75. Meanwhile, Danny Lee is tied for 94th after a 74-72 start.

On the flip side of that are Jason Gore and Erik Compton, both of whom are tied for 40th after rounds of 70-72.