Daniel Berger has extended his lead to five shots at the halfway stage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, as Rory McIlroy moved up the leaderboard after an improved second round at Bay Hill.
Berger followed a stunning opening-round 63 with a four-under 68 on Friday, matching five birdies with a lone bogey to move to 13 under and extend his lead over closest challenger Akshay Bhatia.
Ludvig Åberg recovered from a mid-round wobble to post a second-round 71 and share third spot with Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala, with Rickie Fowler seven back in sixth spot after back-to-back 69s.
Ryder Cup players Xander Schauffele and Russell Henley both sit in a share of seventh place, as McIlroy – the 2018 champion – climbed inside the top-10 after bouncing back from a slow start to post a four-under 68.
McIlroy makes move before Berger extends lead
Looking for a fast start after a level-par 72, McIlroy opened with three straight pars and made a two-putt birdie at the par-five fourth, then bogeyed the par-four eighth after finding water with his second shot.
McIlroy opened his back nine with a 12-foot birdie – having hit a 338-yard drive over spectators off the tee – and posted back-to-back gains from the 12th, then took advantage of the par-five 14th to move to five under and head into the weekend nine strokes back.
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Rory McIlroy hit a 338-yard drive over the heads of the fans surrounding the tee box at the par-four 10th hole
“Very pleased,” McIlroy said. “Hit it in the water on the eighth but made a good putt for bogey there. I really felt like that kept any momentum that I had for the round going.
“I played the last 10 holes really, really well. Overall, real really pleased. A very controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here – a good day’s work.”
Rory McIlroy will defend his title at The Players next week, live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday
McIlroy is joined on nine under by Bud Cauley, Chris Gotterup, Cameron Young, Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee, although Berger remains the man to catch as he chases a first PGA Tour win since 2021.
“I feel like I hit them better today and the score wasn’t quite as low,” Berger said. “It’s just one of those courses. It’s treacherous. You just got to stay patient and take what the course gives you, and when you have an opportunity, you got to take advantage because there’s not that many of them out there.”
Daniel Berger’s last PGA Tour win came at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is in tied-15th after rounds of 70 and 71, as Tommy Fleetwood avoided missing the cut after rebounding from a four-over 76 on Thursday to post a second-round 69.
Shane Lowry – who squandered a late lead at the Cognizant Classic last week – missed the cut by a shot after a one-over 73, while Justin Rose struggled to an eight-over 80 and Justin Thomas propped up the leaderboard with successive 79s on his return to PGA Tour action.
Coverage from the Arnold Palmer Invitational continues Saturday from 2.30pm on Sky Sports Golf and 5.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event. Stream the PGA Tour and more with no contract.
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