Golf roundup: Daniel Berger opens 5-shot lead at Arnold Palmer tourney

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Daniel Berger opened up a five-shot lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a steady round Friday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.

Berger built on Thursday's 63 with a 4-under-par 68 to climb to 13 under at the halfway mark of the $20 million signature event. Akshay Bhatia posted a 66 to take sole possession of second at 8 under.

Arnold Palmer Invitational scoreboard

Also in striking distance are Sahith Theegala (67), Collin Morikawa (71) and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg (71), who are tied for third at 7 under, and Rickie Fowler, who's alone in sixth at 6 under after his second consecutive 69. Xander Schauffele (71) and defending champion Russell Henley (69) are tied at 5 under.

Berger, a former World No. 12 and 2021 Ryder Cup winner, hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He missed 18 months with a back injury and struggled to regain his old form once he returned.

On Friday, he rolled in five birdies while limiting himself to one bogey. He ranks second this week in strokes gained approaching the green and third in strokes gained putting.

Bhatia is the closest to chasing him down after he poured in seven birdies on Friday and saved par from the bunker at the difficult par-4 18th.

Rory McIlroy improved on his opening round by four shots, the Northern Irishman's 68 vaulting him to 4 under and part of a tie for ninth. Scottie Scheffler (71) is at 3 under.

This is one of three signature events with a 36-hole cut. Only the top 50 and ties will make the weekend. U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun (3 over), Irishman Shane Lowry (3 over), Australia's Jason Day (4 over), Patrick Cantlay (4 over) and Keegan Bradley (5 over) are among those in line to miss the cut, projected to be 2 over par.

Justin Thomas shot two straight rounds of 79 in his first start of the season following November back surgery. He finished in dead last among 72 players at 14 over.

Burmester, Ortiz top LIV scoreboard​

Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz hold the 36-hole lead at LIV Golf Hong Kong, up by one stroke over Thomas Detry and two over a surging Jon Rahm heading into the weekend.

Burmester, of South Africa, and Mexico's Ortiz are tied at 14-under 126. After firing an opening-round 60, Ortiz followed with a 66 on Friday. Burmester carded seven birdies and a bogey to finish at 64.

Detry, who earlier this week was evacuated from the Middle East and was a late arrival in Hong Kong, shot a bogey-free 63 to stand at 13-under. Rahm, of Spain, mixed seven birdies, an eagle and a bogey to finish with a 62 and move up the leaderboard to fourth place at 12-under.

They are being pursued by a group of three players at 11-under and two more at 10-under.

Ortiz was not as sharp as he was in the first round, recording seven birdies and three bogeys. He said he is still trying to get the feel for a modified swing.

"It was kind of a rough start," he said. "I wasn't in position a lot in the first few holes. Had to scramble. I made a few bogeys. But honestly, I'm just trying to get good reps. My swing has changed a little bit and the feels have changed. I'm just getting really comfortable with the new swing. It's also I'm getting a little bit uncomfortable to feel how it's holding, and it's actually holding pretty good."

Burmester opened with a 62 on Thursday and said after the second round that the Hong Kong course is to his liking.

"I feel like I've been swinging it nicely for a while. I do tend to try and hit it a little too hard at times, and that's when I get out of rhythm and out of sync," he said.

"But when I get to a golf course like this, I love it so much because you don't have to hit it that far. You've just got to position your ball right. Obviously, my distance does help every now and again, but it's all about positional play and second shots."

Rahm began play at No. 6 and birdied four out of his final four holes for his 8-under 62.

"Really good day of golf. There's no other way of saying it," Rahm said. "Did OK off the tee, which I think is one of the keys out here. It's not the longest golf course, so you can put those tee shots in the fairway and you're going to have a lot of opportunities to attack, and did just that.

"If I had to say an MVP of the day, it's the putter. Made a lot of good putts, made a lot of mid-range putts from 15 to 20 feet, which can't be taken for granted. It's a fun day on the greens."

In the team competition, Smash GC – Talor *****, Jason Kokrak, Graeme McDowell and Harold Varner III – combined to go 16-under on the round, moving to 35-under for the tournament. Smash has a five-stroke lead over captain Joaquin Niemann's Torque GC.

Mi Hyang Lee leads LPGA in China​

Mi Hyang Lee has a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the Blue Bay LPGA, overcoming windy conditions to play a bogey-free round on Friday at Hainan Island, China.

The South Korean posted a 6-under 66 at the notoriously breezy Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course as she chases her first LPGA title since winning the 2017 Women's Scottish Open.

"Wind is blowing more than I expected this morning, but still better than yesterday afternoon," Lee told reporters. "Pretty similar the direction as well, so it wasn't that hard to play for me I think."

Though the wind didn't prevent Lee from making birdies on three of the four par 5s and wasn't as strong as in the first round, it was a factor.

"This golf course is a lot different, depends on wind for sure," Lee said. "That's why I need to play smarter. Also I think No. 5, like left dogleg, if into the wind I cannot carry the left bunker; if no wind, carry the bunker. That's almost five clubs difference so that's huge difference, that hole."

Lee sits at 11-under 133 after two rounds, one shot ahead of former Duke player Yu Liu, who is looking to become only the second Chinese player to win the tournament since its inception in 2014.

Liu sprinkled eight birdies and two bogeys on her way to a 6-under-66.

"I wouldn't say it's a flawless round, especially out here. It's inevitable to make mistakes," Liu said. "I'm very happy about the score that I turned in and also the way that I handled myself out there. I feel like once you're out there on the course there is no other choice but to trust the game."

Auston Kim of the United States made eagle on the par-5 eighth hole and made her only bogey on the ninth before settling for pars until a birdie on the par-5 18th.

"A little frustrating but managed to finish with a good birdie so overall … it was a good round," said Kim, who is looking for her first LPGA title. "It got really windy out there so like I knew that – I just knew to stay strong and hit good shots and I would be fine."

Kim shot 68 to finish two strokes behind Lee for third in the standings.

A Lim Kim (67) of South Korea, Ayaka Furue (69) and Weiwei Zhang (71) of China are tied for fourth at 7-under 137 and four strokes off the lead.

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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Golf roundup: Daniel Berger opens 5-shot lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational

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