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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
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