DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Through the first two rounds of the 58th Daikin Spirit of America golf tournament, we’ve seen two different young men with deep roots to the state of Alabama sit at the top of the leaderboard.

Hoover native and former UNA golfer Carter Goodwin finished round two sitting at ten under par after finishing with a 65 on Thursday. Goodwin heads into the third round with an impressive seven-stroke lead.

There’s a lot of golf left to be played at Burningtree Country Club, so how is Goodwin keeping his head on straight and focusing mentally on the rest of the tournament?

“Fortunately in my career I’ve been in positions like this before so really drawing on that experience and really staying present. One shot at a time and not getting worried about the next hole or the next shot… it’s just focus on the shot that’s in front of you, give it the best effort you can, get the best shot you can at the moment, go find the next one and do it again,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin is a veteran of the Daikin Spirit of America tournament and he gave high praise to the tournament and the course.

“I’ve played this course a lot. I went to Wallace State Community College first and then I played at North Alabama as well so since I got to Wallace State I’ve been playing in this tournament. We played a lot of college tournaments out here as well and I’ve gotten to know this course really well. I love this place. I think it fits my game really well and when the putter gets hot it’s a lot of fun.”

News 19’s coverage of the Daikin Spirit of America continues with round three on Friday.