Greensboro, NC – Scott Brown of North Augusta, SC was likely the benefactor of two things on Thursday: Perfect scoring conditions and a threesome that made High Point Country Club's Willow Creek course look like their own personal playground. Brown carded a second-round 64 to beat his playing partners by one shot and grab the 36-hole lead heading into Friday's final round of the Forest Oaks Classic.

Brown, playing with Scott Weatherly and Jhared Hack, used nine birdies and a lone bogey at the par-3 11th to tie the week's low score with an 8-under 64 at the Willard Byrd-designed Willow Creek course. Coupled with his opening-round 65 at Forest Oaks Country Club on Wednesday, Brown sits at an astounding 15-under 129 with 18 holes left to play.

"I've been driving it well this week," said Brown, who won on tour earlier this year at the Bushnell Championship. "I've just hit it close a lot and have been able to make some putts."

Making "some" putts is clearly an understatement for Brown, arguably one of the most consistent threats on tour. Through 36 holes, the former USC-Aiken Pacer has 17 birdies on his scorecard. That doesn't happen without rolling the pill.

An underlying key to Brown's second-round success was likely the pairing with Weatherly and Hack. All told, the threesome recorded 23 birdies in Thursday's second round, with Weatherly and Hack losing medalist honors to Brown after matching rounds of 7-under 65.

"We were definitely feeding off of each other out there. We got off to a good start as a group and it just kept going," said Brown. "It felt as if we birdied every hole."

Trailing Brown by a single shot is former PGA TOUR player Matt Hendrix of Aiken, SC. Through 36 holes, Hendrix is at 14-under 130 after rounds of 66-64, the latter of which came at Willow Creek today. Much like Brown, the former Clemson standout was able to benefit from his pairing through the first two rounds.

When Hendrix's Clemson teammate Brent Delahoussaye Monday qualified for the Nationwide Tour's Cox Classic this week, it left him first off in a twosome with last week's winner Clint Jensen.

"Playing with Clint helped a ton," said Hendrix. "Being in a twosome, we played at a fast pace and we were both playing very well. We just kept pushing each other with birdies. That definitely played a factor in the scoring."

Hendrix, who spent 2007 on the PGA TOUR after spending 2006 on the Nationwide Tour, missed the cut when he played Forest Oaks at the Wyndham Championship that year, but was able to recall a few good thoughts heading into the final round.

"I like the course," Hendrix said. "I remember some shots from 2007, other than a few tee shots I couldn't remember. It's a very good golf course. Big greens, big fairways, it's just a matter of giving yourself some looks at birdie because they're out there."

Like many players, Hendrix's year on TOUR was marked by limited starts early on and a game of catch up for the remainder of the season.

"I just got off to a slow start on TOUR in 2007. I didn't get a lot of starts on the West coast, then they moved to Florida and I didn't get any starts. I finally got into a few events around The Masters and by then I was just pushing too hard. By the time I was forced to go back to the second stage of Q-School, I was worn out mentally," said Hendrix, who has been playing the eGolf Tour full-time this years in hopes of returning to the big stage.

Overnight leader Kyle Dobbs of Tequesta, FL battled back from a front-nine 36 at Willow Creek to come home in 5-under 31 and card a second-round 67 to finish at 13-under 131.

Dobbs bogeyed the first two holes, but then quickly recovered with birdies at Nos. 4 and 5 before going on his back nine tear, which included five birdies. A winner at the season-opening FairwayStyles.com Open, Dobbs is in good position to possibly collect his second title of the season tomorrow.

Weatherly, Gregg Jones and Chip Lynn each sit at 10-under 134, tied for fourth.

When wrapping up the daily game story on tour, the author usually likes to collect some words of wisdom from the leader heading into the final round. Scott Brown, a soft-spoken Southerner who likes to keep things simple and somewhat less than complicated, certainly delivered when asked what he had to do in order to win.

"I just need to keep doing the same thing."

Brown might just be on to something with that idea.

The 36-hole cut fell at 3-under 141 with 78 players making it to Friday's final round at Forest Oaks. Players will begin the final round in threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10 at 8:00 AM.