Ryan Ruffels overcomes elements to make cut, excited for 'two more cracks' at Myrtle Beach

Stay aggressive, pedal down. Ryan Ruffels and his caddie Duane Smith were at an intersection coming off a birdie on the par-5 15th at Dunes Golf and Beach Club during the front nine of Friday's second round of the Myrtle Beach Classic and had a decision to make off the next tee: lay back or pull out the driver. It might have been unfamiliar territory for the YouTube golf star who’s last Tour event was the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open that was met with the correct decision.

"We've got to stay aggressive. If I'm out here, we're here for one week, may as well try to win it and make a ton of birdies and see where that leaves us," Ruffels recounted the conversation with Smith to reporters after his 1-under 70 that left him T-15 on the leaderboard heading into Saturday's third round. "I'm proud of myself sending driver down 16 and giving myself a real good look at birdie and then converting birdie from there," he added.

ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic - Rd 3 Don’t miss the third round of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S. C. The back-to-back birdies offset a sluggish start that saw the 28-year-old Australian bogey two of his first five holes.

Earlier in the week, Ruffels noted he was "not much of a tinkerer" and said he was confident in his short game but admitted switching to a mallet putter at the start of the year — breaking of a 10-year stretch with his previous shortstick. "This putter seems to just give me a little bit better speed on mis-hits, so just keeps the speed up a little bit," he said. That change also seemed like a prudent, vital choice for Ruffels during the round Friday.