GREENSBORO – The last four Wyndham Championship winners started the week at Sedgefield.

Three are headed home before the weekend, failing to shoot the 3-under par total needed to make the 78-player cut at Greensboro’s 71st PGA Tour event.

The fourth shares the lead.

Brandt Snedeker, golf’s rookie of the year when he won at Forest Oaks in 2007, shot a bogey-free 65 to get to 12-under par at Sedgefield on Friday.

“I feel comfortable (in Greensboro),” Snedeker said of playing well on different courses. “I like both. Although the golf courses are different, they’re the same kind of grass and greens. It’s the stuff I grew up on, very similar.”

The blonde-haired 29-year-old from Nashville, Tenn., shares the lead with Monday qualifier Arjun Atwal, who followed his first-round 61 with a steady 67.

“I feel pretty good about my swing,” Atwal said. “Obviously I didn’t hit it as good as yesterday, but they say that it’s hard to back up a really low number with another one. I missed a couple of fairways today. &ellipses; That’s why I made a couple of bogeys.”

Three players — local favorite Lucas Glover, Duke alum Kevin Streelman and John Rollins — are all one stroke off the lead after second-round 65s. Wake Forest alum Webb Simpson is alone in sixth.

Justin Leonard, one of the last players to join the field, shot a 7-under 63 for the low score of the day. The former British Open champ is tied for seventh with Boo Weekley and Tim Herron, three strokes off the lead.

“I felt like my game was on the verge of really turning a corner,” Leonard said. “So I decided to come play, and obviously I’m very happy with my decision. … We all want to feel like we’ve got a chance to win the golf tournament, and I’ve done that with these first two days.”

Among the players who didn’t do that were four of the six former Sam Snead Cup winners in the field.

Defending champ Ryan Moore shot an even-par 70 and missed the cut by a stroke. Grimsley and N.C. State alumnus Carl Pettersson (2008) had back-to-back 69s and also missed by one.

Two-time champ Davis Love III (1992, 2006) shot a second-round 71 and missed by two. Mark Brooks (1991) missed by three.

That leaves Snedeker and happy-go-lucky Rocco Mediate (1993, 2002) as the only past champions left in the field. Mediate shot 67 and made the cut on the number.

But it’s been the second round’s leader or co-leader who has gone on to win the Wyndham both years since the tournament moved back to Sedgefield.

And that bodes well for Snedeker — especially considering the PGA Tour’s top-ranked putter believes he hasn’t putted well yet.

“It’s probably the best back-to-back ball-striking rounds I’ve had in a while,” Snedeker said. “It’s nice to see that come together. It gives me a lot of hope for the weekend.”

Snedeker had 25 putts in the first round and 26 in the second — better than his tour-leading 27.99 average. But on Sedgefield’s slow greens, he said he should be better.

“I left quite a few (strokes) out there,” Snedeker said. “I missed four putts inside about eight feet, which is very unlike me. The speed is a little bit off, and when your speed gets off you start searching a little bit, worrying about your stroke when it’s just a matter of speed.”

Glover understands. The 2009 U.S. Open winner is staying with family this week, and he played Sedgefield often as a child visiting family.

Glover has changed the way he grips his putter and tweaked his swing leading up to this week. He was in the top-eight in the Ryder Cup standings, but fell out last week. At No. 10, the only way he makes the U.S. team is as a captain’s pick.

“Corey (Pavin) knows how bad I want to play and make the team,” Glover said. “To do that, I’ve got to relax, play good golf, work hard and shoot good scores. If I do that, I’ll make it.”

And if his swing is indeed fixed, if the draw returns to his ball flight, then Glover could be in position to join that list of Wyndham Championship winners.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com