PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Padraig Harrington felt like a three-time major champion long enough to take the lead after 36 holes of the Honda Classic.
Harrington hit the ball where he was looking, capitalized on his putting and stretched his lead to three shots until ending with a pair of bogeys in the rain-delayed second round Saturday morning. He shot 66 and was one shot ahead of Patrick Reed going into the third round.
Harrington won the Indonesian Open on the Asian Tour at the end of last year, ending a four-year drought from his previous win, also on the Asian Tour. He has not won on the PGA Tour since his second straight major at the 2008 PGA Championship.
He was at 7-under 133, his first time with at least a share of the 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour in nearly five years.
“It’s nice to be in contention,” Harrington said. “I’m very positive about my game coming in here this week. I don’t know what’s going to happen the next 36 holes, but I have a good idea where I’m going. I’m pretty confident.”
Reed finished his 67 on Friday, which featured a four-hour rain delay.
Ian Poulter matched the low round of the week at PGA National with a 64 and was two shots back, along with Brendan Steele, who had a wild ride. Steele didn’t make a par until the 10th hole — he opened with six birdies and three bogeys — and then made nothing but pars on the back nine except for a double bogey on the 16th. He wound up with a steady-looking 69 and joined Poulter at 135.
Luke Donald finished his 67 on Friday and was another shot back.
The cut was at 4-over 144 and didn’t include Rory McIlroy. His first tournament in America in five months lasted only two days for the world’s No. 1 player. McIlroy bogeyed three of his last four holes on Friday for a 74 and missed the cut by three shots.
Phil Mickelson, who had missed two straight cuts on the West Coast swing, finished up at 67 on Saturday and was five shots behind.
Harrington certainly looked like a three-time major winner in the wind and rain. He started his round on the 16th hole and went birdie-birdie, and then picked up another birdie on the first hole. But he started to look shaky off the tee.
He pulled his tee shot into the left rough and had to scramble for par from a bunker. And on the par-5 third hole, the easiest at PGA National in the second round, he hooked his drive so badly to the left that he had to pitch out to the second fairway, couldn’t reach the green and made bogey. Harrington followed with a wedge from the rough to 4 feet for birdie, a 7-iron to 10 feet for birdie on the water-guarded, par-3 fifth hole, and a 6-iron to 12 feet for birdie on the sixth.
The poor tee shots caught up to him on the eighth and ninth. The rough was so thick and wet that he couldn’t reach the green and made bogey on both.
“Certainly for the first 27 holes I was really feeling very positive about my game,” Harrington said. “I struggled coming home. That was disappointing. I suppose it’s only to be expected. You can’t get everything going your way. But I’m in a good place going through to the weekend, and feel like I have to play better than I played my first 27 holes. Who knows? Keep your head on and get up-and-down when you need to. It’ll be a tough weekend no matter what.”
Poulter has gone 52 tournaments worldwide since his last win at the 2012 HSBC Champions.
He holed out with a sand wedge for eagle on No. 4 and played the front nine in 30, and then dropped only one shot on the back nine for his 64. Brooks Koepka, who opened with a 78, shot a 64 on Friday.
“If I play half as good as I’ve obviously played today, then I’m going to have a chance come Sunday,” Poulter said.
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