FALMOUTH — Ryan Gay trudged down the 15th hole, his white visor clutched between two of his fingers and his blond goatee shimmering in the lowering afternoon sunlight. His face told the tale of a weary golfer with a forgettable score.

His scorecard said otherwise, even as he sauntered up to his ball in the rough, some 15 yards wide left of the fairway.

“That’s about as close to the fairway as I’ve been all day,” Gay said as he walked by.

“Sometimes being in the fairway is overrated,” one of the MSGA’s volunteers quipped back.

“That’s what I say, too,” Gay said.

He launched his second shot long of the green, put a difficult, downhill chip two feet from the flag and drained his par putt.

Just another routine par for Gay, who carded only two pars on the back nine, and only five all day while missing all 14 fairways off the tee.

But his second-round 69 on Wednesday was still good enough for a two-day total of 138 — and the outright lead — at the 92nd Maine Amateur golf championship at Portland Country Club in Falmouth.

Gay began the day at 1-under after a 69 in Tuesday’s opening round, one back of Maine State Golf Association junior program director Mike Doran.

Things didn’t start off too well for Gay, either. The 20-year-old junior-to-be at the University of New Mexico made the first of six bogeys on the day right out of the gate.

“I felt weird on the first tee; my swing was off,” Gay said. “Then I put the steering wheel on it and was trying to force it, and that never works. I hit it down by the ninth tee box on the first hole and I was like, ‘All right, game on.'”

The adventure was only beginning. He made four bogeys and three birdies on the front. He used a putter for his second shot on the 10th hole, where he was up against a wooden fence in the right woods, made birdie out of the trees on the 12th, and added another birdie on the 16th hole — from the rough beyond the trees dividing 16 and 18.

But he offset his six total bogeys with seven birdies.

“Any time I got into a semi-playable position, I made birdie,” Gay said. “You never want to make doubles. If you can salvage bogeys when you get into trouble, that’s how you keep rounds together.”

Doran, playing in the second group off the tee Wednesday morning, stumbled a bit to a 5-over 75, giving him a two-day total of 143.

“I just wasn’t hitting my wedges anywhere near the pin,” Doran said. “Yesterday I was painting the flag sticks, and today I left my brush at home, I guess.”

The early rounds Wednesday proved tougher than the later rounds. Most of the first wave of golfers shot a score equal to or worse than their rounds on Tuesday.

“It was gusting a little bit more,” Doran said. “It was cooler, but just a little bit of wind. The hole locations were about the same, and it played a little bit shorter, but it wasn’t that tough.”

Jason Gall, last year a runner-up to Gay at Kebo Valley in Bar Harbor, shot a solid 72 despite bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes, and held the lead in the clubhouse for most of the afternoon with a two-day total of 141 (1-over).

“I think the greens are getting firmer,” Gall said. “There were a lot of fast putts out there. You never felt like you could just hit it. But that’s OK, I’m happy. Glad it’s over.

“It was a bit more of a struggle today,” Gall added.

Joining Gay and Gall in the final group Thursday will be Jason ‘J.J.’ Harris, playing out of Falmouth Country Club. A Morse High School (Bath) grad, Harris will be a junior at Johnson and Wales University of Miami, Fla. Harris carded a 72 on Wednesday after an even-par 70 on Tuesday and starts the final round four back of Gay, and one behind Gall.

“My putting got me today,” Harris said. “I had two three putts today. The greens were a little tough. They didn’t seem too quick, but they put them in the right spot where it was tough.”

Joe Baker of Norway Country Club posted one of the best early rounds, using only 28 putts to card a 71 for a two-day total of 146, putting him eight back of Gay.

“I didn’t hit the ball that well, but I got up and down good,” Baker said. “I made a lot of key putts.”

Craig Briggs of York Golf and Tennis Club also posted a 1-under 69 later in the afternoon, moving himself to 144 for the tourney, six back of Gay.

Other area golfers still in the mix include Brian Bilodeau of Martindale (149), who backed up a bit after an opening-round 71 with a 78 on Wednesday. Curtis Jordan, an Auburn native now playing out of the Woodlands Club in Falmouth, rebounded after an 82 on the first day to post a 71 Wednesday and eke into the final round, also earning exempt status for next year’s tourney.

Andrew Slattery of Fox Ridge followed a 73 with a 74 to post a 147, nine back of Gay.

In all, 46 players made the cut, which fell at 153. Tee times for Thursday’s final round begin at 7:30 a.m.