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Englishman Casey shot 66, one better that Cook,
in the second round at Palm Harbor before the Florida breezes
kicked up and the greens became trickier.
Luke Donald (70) had threatened to finish the leader, moving
ahead by one with four holes to play, but two bogeys coming home
left him in a three-way tie for third alongside Scott Stallings
(68) and Im Sung-jae (67)
Another shot back was world number one Dustin Johnson with a
second consecutive 69 leaving him in a three-way tie for sixth
with Australian Curtis Luck (68) and first-round co-leader Joel
Dahmen (72).
Casey put together an eagle and four birdies before a bogey at
his last hole, the ninth, saw him finish on a sour note.
"I’ve never (successfully) defended a professional event," he
told Golf Channel.
"I think mentally last year I was sort of hoping, obviously
hoping, I would win, wanting to win. This year, knowing that I
have won around here, I have just a slightly different approach
to it.”
Cook has turned to a new putter and liked the results as he
recorded five birdies and a bogey.
"Something as simple as changing a putter can make a big
difference sometimes," he told PGA Tour Radio.
Donald, playing in only his second tournament of the season
after back trouble in 2018, overtook Casey and Cook with a
clutch 33-foot birdie from a greenside bunker at the fifth, his
14th hole.
But a bogey at the very next hole and another at his final hole
saw him drop out of the lead.
"Maybe lost a little bit of focus down the stretch there the
last few holes, but overall I'm in a great position and thankful
that I feel good and healthy and ready for a weekend. It's been
a while," said Donald, who won the tournament in 2012 and is
playing on a major medical exemption as he makes his comeback.
Scotland's Russell Knox, tied for third after the first round,
barely made the cut after soaring from a 67 on Thursday to a 76
in windy conditions on Friday.
Australian Jason Day did fall over the cut line as the world
number 12's 71 was not enough to overcome an opening 74. He
ended on three-over par 145, two shots over the line.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by
Ken Ferris/Peter Rutherford)
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