Berger shoots another 65, moves atop Honda leaderboard
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Daniel Berger no longer needs to answer questions about how his back is feeling. The scorecard is telling the story.
Berger — playing what amounts to a home tournament for him, with his residence a 15-minute drive away in Jupiter — had a three-shot lead through two rounds of the Honda Classic, after a second consecutive round of 5-under 65 on Friday.
“You get your mom’s cooking, you get to sleep in your own bed,” Berger said. “It’s pretty comfortable.”
First-round leader Kurt Kitayama eagled the par-5 18th as darkness was closing in, finishing a round of 69 and ending the day tied for second at 7 under with Chris Kirk (68). Mark Hubbard (64) was another shot back at 6 under, as was Adam Svensson — who hit all 18 greens on his way to a 65 and finished with a par at 6:41 p.m., 22 minutes after sundown.
“This course is crazy,” Hubbard said. “There’s so much trouble. Anything can happen on any given hole, so you really cannot get ahead of yourself.”
Berger’s 10-under 130 tied the third-lowest score through 36 holes since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007; Aaron Wise was 12 under through two rounds last year, Rory McIlroy was 11 under at the midway point in 2014 and Brendon De Jonge was 10 under that same year.
None of them went on to win. McIlroy lost in a playoff to Russell Henley, Wise shot 75-73 on the weekend to tie for 13th and De Jonge went 76-78 on the weekend to freefall all the way to a tie for 63rd.