(Sports Network) - Charlie Wi, 36, is making the most of his first-ever appearance in a major championship. Wi posted his second consecutive, even-par 70 and is tied with Ben Curtis as low men in the clubhouse at even-par 140 during the second round of the PGA Championship at the South Course at Oakland Hills.

Pretty impressive since he almost didn't even get an invite.

Wi was the first alternate heading into last week with a spot reserved for the winner of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Since Vijay Singh got the title there and was already eligible, that place in the field went to Wi.

Don't tell Wi this is first major though.

"It doesn't seem different than any other event on the PGA Tour," Wi said after his first 70 on Thursday. "There's a lot more people out here on Tuesday and Wednesday, but you go to a Phoenix Open, there's 100,000 some people, you know."

Wi's already got the major speak down as well.

"Especially on the PGA Tour when the rough is high, you have to hit the fairways and that's crucial in any major," Wi said on Friday.

Wi is not the average major rookie. He is well within the margins for qualification into the FedEx Cup Playoffs and is not in danger of losing his card, ranking 81st on the money list.

He came into the week with a tie for fourth four weeks ago at the John Deere Classic, then shared 14th two weeks ago at the Canadian Open.

"I've been playing very well past few weeks, so I'm very excited about the weekend," said Wi, who has held his card on the PGA Tour, European Tour, Nationwide Tour, Japanese Tour and Asian Tour. "It's only the second round and I think the course is playing a lot more difficult today than yesterday."

Instead of thinking of him as a nervous rookie, remember he finished with the third-lowest stroke average among collegians in 1995, trailing a fella named Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink.

And, Wi's also had the best major championship training in the world.

"Playing on the PGA Tour prepared me for this week."



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