Miami (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler fired a five-under-par 67 to join a six-way tie for the lead at the halfway stage of the US PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational on Friday.
Scheffler, the 2022 Masters champion, could have taken sole possession of the lead at Bay Hill but missed a 20-foot birdie put on the 18th green.
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Nevertheless, Scheffler’s 67 was good enough to vault him alongside Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, and Wyndham Clark at the top of the leaderboard on seven under.
Scheffler’s round started inauspiciously with a bogey on the par-four first.
But the American steadied with birdies on the fourth and sixth holes to reach the turn at one under for the day.
Another bogey on the 11th dropped him back to level par, but a brilliant eagle on the par-five 12th, chipping in from just off the green, proved to be the catalyst of his round.
Scheffler notched birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to move to the top of the leaderboard.
The six-times winner on the PGA Tour was satisfied that his hat-trick of birdies down the stretch put him in the mix.
“I think I just did a great job of staying patient, and just a great finish,” Scheffler said.
“There’s a lot of names up at the top of the leaderboard right now. It’s pretty stacked going into the weekend. I’m proud of how I finished today to give myself a good chance.”
Lowry, leading by one after Thursday’s first round, shot a one-under-par 71 to remain in the hunt heading to the weekend.
Matsuyama meanwhile carded a two-under-par 70 to join the pack at the top.
Clark thrust himself into the reckoning with a six-under-par 66 in a round that contained nine birdies that were offset by three bogeys.
“Nine birdies out here didn’t seem realistic, and so I really didn’t even know I made nine birdies until someone told me,” Clark said after his roller coaster second round.
The cluster of leaders are one stroke ahead of Will Zalatoris on six under.
Zalatoris shot a second straight three-under-par 69.
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger are tied for eighth place on five under, two off the lead.
Grillo shot a two-under-par 70 while Jaeger finished with a bogey-free five-under-par 67.
Elsewhere on Friday, Rory McIlroy’s hopes of making a charge were stymied after an erratic two-under-par 70 that included six birdies and four bogeys.
But while McIlroy was preparing for the weekend, England’s Tommy Fleetwood was among those players who failed to make the cut.
Fleetwood, who began the day at one over, saw his round go up in smoke after a disastrous start that left him eight-over-par for the day after just six holes.
The nadir came on the par-five sixth hole, where Fleetwood posted a quintuple-bogey 10 after finding the water three times.
Fleetwood eventually carded an eight-over-par 80 to leave him nine over after 36 holes, six shots outside the cut.
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