There's some International flavor to the Texarkana Children Charities Open this summer.
Four players finished tied for first place after Friday's second round, including Toni Hakula of Espoo, Finland, and Fernando Mechereffe of Pelotos, Brazil.
Sharing the top spot with those two at 8-under-par 135 are Brax McCarthy of Fort Worth, Texas, and Landon Lyons of Baton Rouge, La.
Because rain washed out play Thursday, the third round of the tournament teed off Friday at 4:30 p.m., and play will resume today at 8 a.m. The final round will start somewhere around noon.
Exactly 46 players made the cut, which came at even par 143. Hometown golfers Trumann Nugent and Sean Romero, missed by two shots and four, respectively.
All four leaders played their second round at Texarkana Country Club, with Lyons and Hakula posting the tournament's best scores at 8-under 64. Mechereffe shot 65, with McCarthy posting a 66.
McCarthy came in to this event as the hottest player on the Adams Tour after winning the Texas Open earlier this month in Dallas.
"I started this year a bit shaky, missing a handful of cuts in Louisiana," McCarthy said. "Then I had one really good round in the Adams event in Garland, Texas, getting a top ten finish.
"I've just got this feeling of playing well right now. I'm putting with a lot of confidence, and I think my course management has gotten better the last two weeks. I got a new driver in the middle of the summer, and I'm pretty comfortable with it. I feel like I can hit the fairways and that helps."
All four of the leaders got off to a good start Friday.
Mechereffe had four birdies and an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole to make the turn at 30. He added birdies at the two par-5s on the back, but finished his round with a bogey.
Lyons enjoyed a solid front side with two birdies, adding five on the final nine, including four in a row at 13, 14, 15 and 16.
Haukua put together a clean round with three birdies on the front and four more on the back, including the difficult par-4 18th.
A bogey at the par-4 14th prevented McCarthy from holding the lead by himself.
"I got off to a nice start with birdies at the first two holes, and had a nice up and down at the third hole (227-yard par-3)," McCarthy said. "I had birdies at four and seven, and kept things pretty simple after that. I was just trying to hit fairways and greens.
"It's probably going to be harder in the third round; It's definitely going to be interesting to see how I handle stopping in the middle of a round. Everybody is going to have to deal with it. It's going to be tough, and that's what I hoping. I want to sustain my momentum starting the third round, and continue it in the morning."
McCarthy had hoped to be paired with his college teammate Hakula.
"Toni is a good buddy of mine," he said. "Hopefully we can be in the final pairing for the last round."
A complete list of players making the cut can be found in today's section.