PANAMA CITY, Panama – The bubble boy jokes returned this week and Taylor Montgomery leaned into all of them. After 36 holes at The Panama Championship, Montgomery is still laughing, as he followed an opening-round 5-under 65 with a 3-under 67 in the second round and took a one-stroke lead over a trio of pursuers.

Montgomery signed one of the five bogey-free scorecards posted Friday as Panama Golf Club – which finished four Korn Ferry Tour seasons with the highest scoring average relative to par of any course (2004, 2008, 2009, 2019) – showed its teeth. While the field averaged more than a stroke over par in the second round, Montgomery stayed out of trouble and birdied the par-5 fourth, par-4 10th, and par-4 14th.

“I've hit a lot of good shots and a lot of bad ones, but I’ve been really good off the tee so far,” Montgomery said. “I've got a couple new drills putting and it's felt really good… I've done a really good job the last two days. I have a local caddie this week and he plays out here all the time; he’s helped me a lot with green reading and shots into the green.”

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Montgomery is back on the Korn Ferry Tour following a T11 at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, far and away his highest finish in three career PGA TOUR starts. However, a birdie on the 72nd hole by Aaron Rai bumped Montgomery down from T10 position and out of a guaranteed spot in the field for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It was the latest bubble to burst for Montgomery, who finished 26th in both the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season and Korn Ferry Tour Finals Points Standings, one spot out of his first PGA TOUR card on both occasions.

“I don’t really care,” Montgomery said through laughter and a smile earlier this week. “Everybody back home keeps calling me bubble boy. Mister 26. (I’m) just going to keep on playing golf and having fun, and that’s all that matters.”

All joking aside, Montgomery had a great time last week at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, where he previously finished T57 in the 2021 U.S. Open, his major championship debut. With his family in attendance and $180,180 worth of winnings heading for his bank account, playing the Farmers Insurance Open via a sponsor exemption was an all-around positive experience for Montgomery.

“My sister came down from Houston, so I had all my relatives with me,” said Montgomery, whose father, Monte, caddied for him last week. “It was really an at-home feeling for me. (TaylorMade) helped me find a new iron set, because I’ve been struggling with my irons for a year and a half. First time I used them, I cashed the biggest paycheck I’ve ever cashed, so that was really cool.”

Following last Saturday’s final round, Montgomery drove back to Las Vegas and flew to Panama City, Panama Monday morning. Montgomery’s local caddie for this week, Paul, picked him up.

“I asked for a local caddie here for the first time two years ago, and they gave me Paul,” said Montgomery, who finished T24 at The Panama Championship in 2020 with Paul as his caddie. “I’m staying at his place. He makes it feel like a home event, too.

“I’ve definitely been having fun. There’s been a lot of joking around the last couple days.”

And Montgomery hardly cared that some of those jokes were at his expense.

Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:40 p.m., with Tain Lee and Sam Stevens both playing the final hole of their second round, the par-4 ninth. Both are even par and stand T52, right on the projected cut line. There are 17 players are 1-over par and in T66 position, one stroke off the projected 36-hole cut, meaning a bogey or worse by either Lee or Stevens Saturday morning would move the cut line.

Third-round tee times will be determined following the 36-hole cut.