After a first round which saw five players finish the day tied atop the leader board at 5-under, the field has started to thin at the Georgia Sports Orthopedic Specialists Classic in Gainesville.

Kyle Ellis carded a 4-under-par (67) and Garrett Jones shot a 5-under (66) to leave the two players tied atop the leader board at 9-under par (133) Friday after the second round of play in the four-day Hooters Tour event at Chattahoochee.

Ellis, from Senatobia, Miss., had been among those tied at the top of the leader board after the first round, but the co-leaders after Day 1 have fallen back in the field.

Jones had four birdies on the back nine Friday to inch forward after a first-round score of 4-under to move himself into contention going into the weekend.

Ellis had three birdies on the day, including an eagle on the Par-5 No.17, but a bogey on No.4 kept him from taking the outright lead.
Josh Bunch, from Murrayville, birdied five of the first eight holes Friday to move into a tie for eighth place with a 6-under 65.

Other players tied for eight are Will Wilcox, Chip Deason, Santiago Rivas, Jon Mansfield and Richard Swift.

Bunch also had two birdies on the back nine, but an early bogey on No.3 kept him from moving into a tie for fifth with three other players at 7-under par (Matthew Anderson, Ben Briscoe and Brian Lamberti).

Will Claxton (Swainsboro) and Travis Bertoni (Paso Robles, Calif.) sit in a tie for third place at 8-under. Claxton carded a second-round score of 65 with nine birdies to go with three bogeys to improve on his first-round score of 69.

Ellis and Garrett will be playing together in today’s third round in a threesome with Claxton. The final threesome will tee-off at 9:48 a.m.

Bunch steps to the tee at 9:30 a.m. in a threesome with Wilcox and Lamberti.