Matthew Stephens competes in the 48th Tanos Exploration II/Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open at The Cascades Golf & Country Club on Wednesday Aug. 1, 2018. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Vive la France!

Or maybe dial up long distance information and give me Memphis, Tennessee.

That could be the theme as a Frenchman and a Tennessean are atop the field after Wednesday’s second round of the 48th Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open at The Cascades Golf & Country Club.

Cyril Bouniol, of Willow Park by the way of Pau, France and Abilene Christian University, and Robert Hudson, of Memphis, are tied for first with 8-under 132.

The third round of the 72-event is scheduled for Thursday. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. on hole No. 1. Bouniol and Hudson are the final pairing of the day at 12:16 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Parking is available near Mewbourne Field on the All Saints Episcopal School campus. Shuttles will take fans to the course.

Bouniol had the best round of the day with a 7-under 63, while Hudson had a 5-under 65.

The two are one stroke ahead of Drew Evans of Dallas (67-66—133) and amateur Ryan Grider of Lewisville (67-66—133). Both had second round scores of 4-under. Grider will be a sophomore in the fall at Baylor University.

Bouniol started the second round on hole No. 10 and notched two early eagles on hole Nos. 14 and 18, both par 5s. He added three birdies on the front nine (Nos. 1, 6 and 8) and completed the round with no bogeys.

“I would say, overall, my whole game was there today,” Bouniol said. “You’ve got to put the ball in play here, especially on some of those longer par 4s. I put the ball in play really nicely and putted much better today.”

Hudson notched six birdies with five coming on the back nine. He had an impressive finish with birdies on hole Nos. 16, 17 and 18. He also had birdies on Nos. 8, 11 and 14. He had a bogey on the fifth hole.

The field was cut to the low 55 and ties at even par 140, thus 59 players will play the final two days.

A record 11 amateurs survived the cut with the other 48 professionals.

Former champion Mikel Martinson of Arlington, 2017 Low PGA Professional Ben Kern of Georgetown and amateur Pierceson Coody of Plano are all two strokes back of Bouniol and Hudson at 6-under 134.

Next week, Kern, who is the PGA head professional at Georgetown Country Club, will be competing as one of 20 PGA club professionals in the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, Missouri, near St. Louis.

Martinson was grouped with two other former champions Terry Snodgrass and Casey Devoll.

Martinson, who won the event in 2009 in Tyler, shot a 4-under 66 on Wednesday. Martinson had six birdies but recorded a double bogey on the 18th hole.

“The last hole kind of bit me a little bit,” Martinson said. “I felt comfortable with the tee ball, but I’ve hit it in the water the last two days. I’m comfortable on these greens and this golf course. I can play it aggressive kind of like I did last week at the Adams event. I’m looking forward to the next two days.”

Martinson won the Adams Pro Tour’s Bogey Hills Invitational last week in St. Charles, Missouri.

Devoll, who won the event in 2003, shot a 5-over 75 on Wednesday to finish at 7-over.

Snodgrass — a two-time winner of the TSO in 1981 and 1985 — shot a 6-over 76 over Wednesday to move to 10-over for the tournament.

“It felt good to be back out here,” Snodgrass said. “This course played long for me. It was fun to play in this tournament again. I’ve been playing in it for quite a few years. It was fun to get out and compete against these young guys.”

Tyler’s Bobby Massa shot a 1-over 71 on Wednesday and is at 1-under for the tournament. His brother Cody Massa, of Grand Prairie, is also at 1-under.

“This is my first real tournament in four years, so it’s been fun to get out there and feel the nerves again and play,” said Bobby Massa, who is now a personal trainer. “When they said it was coming back here, I was pretty anxious to play. I kind of struggled a little big, but all in all, I’m not too mad about it.”

Other locals along with Massa making the cut were former Jacksonville resident Hunter Shattuck (71-67—138) of College Station, Tyler amateur Bryan Baker (71-68—139) and Bullard amateur Blake Elliott (71-69—140)

Twenty PGA club professionals started in the field, but only three survived the cut. Kern currently leads the division at 6-under par. Gabe Reynolds, PGA Director of Instruction at TopGolf Dallas, is at 3-under 137, while Matt Lohmeyer, PGA Teaching Professional at GolfTEC – Montgomery Plaza is at 1-under 139. 

Grider will continue to battle a strong field of amateur competitors over the next two days who are vying to earn Low Amateur honors. Coody sits just one shot back of Grider.

First-round leaders Camden DeBonis, an amateur from Allen, carded a 73 is now at 2-under 138, while Trent Whitekiller of Arlington scored a 74 and is at 1-under.

The purse for the Tanos Exploration II / Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open is a record $205,000, one of the largest state open purses in the country. The champion will win $42,500.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation’s scholarship program with the creation of the Tanos Exploration II/Patterson-UTI Drilling Texas State Open Scholarship. Emma French, of Bullard, Texas was awarded the scholarship. This year the NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation awarded more than $307,500 in scholarships to 44 high school seniors from North Texas.