Golf – Honda Classic Update:Camilo Villegas grabbed the outright lead on day two of the €4million Honda Classic at PGA National in Florida where Graeme McDowell is hot on the heels of the Colombian in the early stages of his round.
Villegas fired a second consecutive 66 that was littered with no less than six birdies - including four on the spin from the third - and just two dropped shots.
The 28-year-old, who lives near the Palm Beach Gardens Resort, was more than happy with efforts up to this point.
“Trust me, it's a tough golf course, there's not too many birdies out there,” said Villegas, who lost in a play-off in 2007.
“You’ve some really tough holes and just got to be careful. I guess my big mistake of the day was hitting in the water on that 15th hole, the par three,” he added in reference to the infamous run of difficult closing holes called the “The Bear Trap”.
“But looked at my caddie, said, come on, let's make four here. A four here is bigger than a birdie somewhere else, so I did. I avoided the double bogey and I kept going.
Villegas leads by three on eight-under from Canada's Mike Weir, who looks certain to shoot the low round of the day after signing for a 64.
Impressive as Villegas' round was, Weir matched the leader's birdie count but crucially kept bogeys off the card.
Weir currently shares second on five under alongside American duo Matt Every (66), Anthony Kim, first round leader Nathan Green and McDowell with the latter three still on the course.
The Ulster professional picked up three birdies in his opening five holes to add to yesterday's 70.
Rory McIlroy is safely into the weekend after a 69 brought the 20-year-old back to level par 140 for the tournament. Two birdies in four holes, and the only dropped shot of the day coming at the seventh, were followed by 11 straight pars.
Pádraig Harrington was one of the late starters and the Dubliner parred his opening two holes to remain one-over overall, which is safely inside the projected cut mark, inside the projected cut of three over.