Mueller makes right call.

Byline: NOTEBOOK By Adam Jude and Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

JUNCTION CITY - Jesse Mueller is never quite sure when the Nationwide Tour will call again.

So instead of waiting for the phone to ring this week, Mueller initiated his entry into the Oregon Classic with a phone call to the head of the tournament's biggest sponsor.

And, boy, is he glad he did.

Mueller fired a 6-under 66 in the second round Friday to sit in a tie for seventh place at 8 under heading into today's third round at Shadow Hills Country Club, making the most of a sponsor's exemption he was awarded through a connection with Paul Skillern, the CEO of the Kendall Auto Group.

Mueller was a roommate and teammate at Arizona State - he's a 2005 graduate - with Skillern's son, Mike.

With conditional status on the Nationwide Tour this year, Mueller has made sporadic appearances in tour tournaments. He's been invited to six events, making the cut only once before this week.

"You never know when you're getting in (with conditional status)," Mueller said. "They just call you last minute. So this one I knew I was in at least a week prior."

A Mesa, Ariz., native, Mueller has spent much of the year splitting time on the Nationwide and the Gateway tours.

He carded one bogey and seven birdies Friday, sinking a 40-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 11th.

"I played fairly solid all day," he said. "I kept it in play and made a few good putts. These greens are so nice that once you get the ball rolling, they'll fall in."

A withdrawal, and a DQ

Illness forced former Ryder Cup team member Chris Riley to withdraw from the Oregon Classic on Friday, after he opened with a 2 under 70 on Thursday.

Riley, a former PGA Tour winner, has been playing events on both the Nationwide and PGA tours this year as he seeks to regain his card for the latter tour. He said recently that he intends to focus on Nationwide Tour events for the remainder of the season; he'd played three before the Oregon Classic, with one victory, to rank No. 50 on the Nationwide money list.

Meanwhile, Chris Baryla, who opened with a 77 on Thursday, was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after the end of his round Friday. According to a tournament official, Baryla signed for a 6 when he'd made a 5 on his final hole, realized his mistake later when he saw the official scoring on his computer and called rules officials to report the mistake.

Scoring stats

The field's scoring average of 70.955 Friday was the lowest second round in Oregon Classic history, and one of the four best scoring days the tournament has ever had. There were 12 eagles Friday, seven on the 18th hole alone, after the course surrendered just five eagles in Thursday's first round. Toughest hole Friday was the 17th, a par 4 that played to an average score of 4.266 strokes, drawing 35 bogeys. Toughest par 3 was the fourth hole, which surrendered only 16 birdies.

Over the two days of the tournament, the toughest hole has been No. 14, a par 4 over water - top contender Jason Day has bogeyed it both days - playing to .303 over par. There were 48 rounds under 70 Friday, compared with 33 on Thursday, and 96 rounds below par; there were 70 on Thursday.