South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini fired a six-under par 64 to seize a share of the second round lead at the PGA’s Byron Nelson Championship on Friday.
Sabbatini is the co-leader with American John Mallinger (65) at eight under 132, but they have company with 13 players are within three strokes.
”I just gave myself a lot of opportunities at birdie, and the putter worked pretty well today,” said Sabbatini.
”I’ve been hitting a lot of good putts, and the greens were a little smoother this morning, and it’s nice to be able to take advantage of that.”
Sabbatini is seeking his first win since the 2007 Colonial. His round included four straight birdies giving him the a season best score.
Mallinger rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on his final hole and made eagle on two par-fives on Friday.
Sabbatini saved par on the 528-yard No. 3 (his 12th hole of the day after starting on No. 10) with a 96-foot approach that landed in the cup.
His birdie binge started at the fourth and ended at the seventh.
Australian first-round co-leader James Nitties shot a two-under par 68. He came out slow, making a double bogey on the first hole.
Nitties is at seven-under par in a group that also includes Dustin Johnson (65), Brian Davis (65), Briny Baird (64) and James Driscoll.
Justin Leonard had the round of the day and easily made the cut by shooting seven-under 63 after a first-round 75.
Mallinger posted the shot of the day, hitting his approach to within inches on the par-four 15th hole setting up an easy birdie.
The toughest hole of the proved to be the 455-yard par-four 12th hole with a scoring average of 4,37. A total of 50 players made bogey on the hole. — Sapa-AFP