NORTON — Fresh off his 6-under-par 65 in the Deutsche Bank Championship’s second round Saturday, Brian Harman had Georgia on his mind.
Potential gusts and rain from Tropical Storm Hermine were threatening the tournament’s schedule, but had yet to arrive up north in Norton. Harman’s hometown of St. Simons Island, however, already had been hit hard Friday night.
“I’m thinking about everybody down there and hoping everybody’s all right,’’ Harman said.
The 29-year-old Georgia alum was less worried about his Bulldogs, and excited to have gotten off the course with plenty of time to go watch Georgia play North Carolina on college football’s opening weekend.
“I think Georgia covers the line. Three and a half? That ain’t cutting it,’’ Harman said.
With his easygoing manner, Harman didn’t give off the air of a man mounting a fight to continue a run in the FedExCup playoffs or to win his second PGA Tour event.
His round propelled him toward the top of the leaderboard at 9 under after a 3-under first round. He held the top spot for much of the afternoon, but Kevin Chappell, Paul Casey, and Jimmy Walker pushed him into fourth with strong rounds in the later groups. Harman made par or better on every hole until he finished with a bogey on No. 9, which he also bogeyed during his first round.
Saturday, Harman pulled his approach left on No. 9. The hole doglegs in that direction, but Harman’s fade hooked too far and landed just off the green where a young spectator snatched his ball.
“I had a perfect 7-iron in there, and I flared it way left, and they said a little young’un just came and picked the ball up, which happens. They don’t know any better, it’s totally fine,’’ Harman said.
Harman, his caddie, and the officials consulted with people nearby to figure out where the ball had landed and then dropped another one in that spot. The kid scampered away with the ball, leaving the bogeyman no one to come for but Harman, who missed his putt.
“I putted great all day so I can’t complain about missing a 7-footer on the last hole, but that bogey was made from the fairway,’’ Harman said.
All things considered, the damage was minimal. Harman started the week 67th in the FedExCup standings after moving up 21 spots at The Barclays, where he finished T22. He’s making noise at the Deutsche Bank Championship for the first time, with his best finish coming last year when he shot a final-round 67 to finish T12.
“I’ve made a bunch of cuts here, just haven’t really contended. That’s what I sign up to do, I want to contend in tournaments, so it’s nice,’’ Harman said.
“It’s kind of funny, this place has given me fits in the past, especially that back nine. Get to it a couple days in a row and play well, worked out nice.’’
Harman has 10 birdies on the back nine through two rounds. He said that his putting has been consistently good and that his drives have improved. Harman said he’d had a difficult year with his irons, generally “overcomplicating’’ things in the same way he said he did on the ninth hole.
Harman would benefit if play is cut short because of wind or rain, but he said it was also windy on his final day when he played well here last year.
“Hopefully it will blow my ball right where it’s supposed to be, man,’’ Harman said. “I don’t know. I don’t remember one year here where we didn’t get some winds. It seems like it always rains one day and is pretty windy one day here.’’ (Welcome to New England, Brian.)
Another one of Harman’s eccentricities? He is a righty for everything else but plays golf lefthanded. Should he win the Deutsche Bank Championship he would be the second lefthanded winner, joining Phil Mickelson who won in 2007.
“I forget I’m lefthanded. Whenever I see somebody hitting lefthanded, I’m like, man, look at that goofball over there.’’
Anyone walking the manicured grounds at TPC Boston could think the same of Harman, whose camouflage hunting belt sticks out among the rainbow of pastels more common around the course. But that goofball over there could be on his way to a strong finish, which would make him a contender for the FedExCup championship.
The top 70 golfers in the standings advance to the BMW Championship next weekend in Indiana, and only the top 30 make it to the Tour Championship, which happens to be held in Atlanta, a four-hour drive from his hometown.
If Harman had stayed in the same place he was at the start of the playoffs, he wouldn’t make it out of Norton. Now, he’s contending for a win and in good position to make it all the way back home to Georgia.
Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @NoraPrinciotti.
