Daniel Berger turned in his second straight round of 65 Friday to move to 10-under par and establish a three-shot lead through two rounds of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The Florida native collected six birdies and made just one bogey at PGA National Resort and Spa’s Champion Course. He opened up a comfortable advantage on first-round leader Kurt Kitayama (69 Friday) and Chris Kirk (68), who sit at 7 under.
“Every tournament I play in I want to win,” Berger said. “But it would be especially nice to win here having so many friends and family here with me this week.”
The second round technically isn’t over. Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:37 p.m. local time, but only one player who remained on the course, Andrew Kozan, elected not to finish his final hole and will resume Saturday instead.
Kozan, playing on a sponsor exemption, was on the projected cut line of 2 over when he hit his tee shot at the par-5 18th. He will return early Saturday to complete the hole, needing a par or better to make the cut.
Kirk opened his round with seven straight pars on the back nine but eventually made his move with three straight birdies at Nos. 1-3.
“Really started out just kind of steady making a bunch of pars,” Kirk said. “Hit one of my best shots I’ve hit in a while on 17 today. That hole’s playing significantly more difficult than it was yesterday and for me, I draw the ball 98 percent of my shots, I hit like a little knockdown, cut 6-iron in there and made the putt. So that was a huge boost for sure.”
Kitayama, the world No. 289 who surprisingly held the first-round lead, salvaged an ordinary second round on his last hole. After two birdies and three bogeys over his first 17 holes, Kitayama drove the 18th green in two and sank a simple 6-foot eagle putt.
“Anything under par on this course is good,” Kitayama said. “I gave myself a lot of looks and didn’t get as many to fall today, but overall I’m pretty pleased.”
Mark Hubbard and Austria’s Sepp Straka shot 64s for the rounds of the day. Hubbard moved into a tie for fourth at 6 under with Canada’s Adam Svensson (65) and Straka was tied for sixth with Chase Seiffert (66) at 5 under.
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked player in the field, rebounded from an opening 75 with a 65 Friday to get to even par and ensure he will play the weekend.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (3 over), who won last week’s Genesis Invitational, will miss the cut. So will Padraig Harrington of Ireland (3 over), Tommy Fleetwood of England (3 over) and Zach Johnson (6 over), recently revealed to be the 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
–Field Level Media