( CNN ) -- American Tommy Gainey led by three shots at the halfway stage of the Wyndham Championship at Greater Greensboro with South African star Ernie Els in the four-strong chasing group . Gainey carded a five-under par 65 Friday for a 12-under total of 128 , with Els sharing second on nine-under with Australian Stewart Appleby , Daniel Summerhays and Webb Simpson . Els is battling for a tournament win but also to clinch his place in the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs which start next week . He is currently 126th in the standings , with only the top 125 to qualify so three birdies in five holes on his back nine on the way to a 66 helped his cause . `` I 've got quite a large goal for me this week , and you know , I 'm feeling like , fine , my game is turning around a little bit , '' Els told the official PGA Tour website . Four players shared sixth on 132 , Jim Furyk ( 67 ) , Brazil 's Alexandre Rocha ( 66 ) , England 's Paul Casey ( 67 ) and South African Retief Goosen ( 65 ) . Gainey , who is chasing his first win on the PGA Tour , was still not satisfied as he followed his opening 63 with a 65 . `` I hit it worse today than I did yesterday off the tee . I hit my irons worse than I did yesterday , '' he said . But only the remarkable 125 of Sweden 's Carl Pettersson in 2008 has bettered Gainey 's score on the par-70 Sedgefield course . Colombian Camilo Villegas , 125th on the FedEx list , went a long way to wrapping up his place at The Barclays next week with a 64 for 134 . But three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland , 130th in the rankings , has work to do as he birdied two of his last four holes for a 68 to make the cut at three-under 137 . Defending Wyndham champion Arjun Atwal of India will not be playing the weekend after missing the cut , while joint first round leader Jeff Quinney carded a level-par 70 to fall five behind Gainey .
Tommy Gainey leads at halfway stage of Wyndham Championship . Gainey cards a second round 65 to follow his opening seven-under 63 . Day two - Justin Rose wins the first playoff hole on Sunday and is in contention for victory after three rounds. Els , Camilo Villegas and Padraig Harrington battling for FedEx Cup playoffs spots .