MIAMI: Defending champion Paul Casey fired a five-under par 66 to grab a share of the 36-hole lead alongside American Austin Cook at the US PGA Tour Valspar Championship golf on Friday.
England’s Casey and Cook each stood on six-under 136 after two rounds at the Innisbrook Resort Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida. England’s Luke Donald, South Korean Im Sung-jae and American Scott Stallings were a stroke back on 137.
Donald had five birdies and four bogeys in his one-under 70, surrendering a one-shot lead with two bogeys in his last four holes. Im posted a 67 and Stallings a 68.
Casey, who edged Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed by a stroke last year for the crown, began on the back nine and promptly birdied three of his first four holes, sinking a 10-foot putt at 10 and landing his third shot inches from the cup before a tap-in at the par-5 11th.
Casey scored on the other par-5 holes as well, sinking a three-foot birdie putt at 14, a six-footer at the first before holing a 27-footer for eagle at the fifth.
“I feel really good about (my game) because last week was rubbish,” said Casey, who was stung by a missed cut at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
“I struggle a little bit around Sawgrass and that frustrated me, annoyed me, coming in here trying to defend my title, which I would love to do because I never defended a professional title, I’ve defended amateur titles, English Amateurs and PAC 12 titles. I would love to do that here.”
Casey’s lone bogey came on his closing ninth hole, finding bunkers with his first two shots and missing a six-footer for par.
Cook had five birdies and one bogey in his four-under 67.
He opened with a birdie from seven feet, added a tap-in birdie at the par-4 third and then ran off three birdies in a row with 12-foot putts at the ninth and par-5 11th around one half as long to begin the back nine.
His only bogey came at 12 after finding a greenside bunker.
World number one Dustin Johnson was among three players on 138 after a 69 that included a double-bogey at the par-three 13th — where his tee short tee shot found the water.
Johnson, who played alongside Casey, was two-over through nine holes but made five of his six birdies coming in to post a 69 that left him tied with Joel Dahmen (72) and Curtis Luck (68).
Meanwhile, China’s Liu Yu made the most of her early morning start, firing an eight-under par 64 on Friday to join world number one Park Sung-hyun atop the leaderboard of the LPGA Founders Cup golf tournament.
Liu matched France’s Celine Boutier — a former teammate at Duke University — for low round of the tournament to seize a share of the halfway lead on 12-under par 132.
South Korea’s Park posted her second straight 66 at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona.
She and Liu were two strokes clear of a group of eight players on 10-under 134. That group is headlined by top-15 players Amy Yang of South Korea and Lydia Ko of New Zealand. It also includes Boutier, Americans Angel Yin and Cheyenne Knight, Sweden’s Linnea Strom, Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and South Korean Hur Mi-jung.
Defending champion Park In-bee of South Korea headed a group of five players on 135.
Liu was in the first group off the tee at 10, bouncing back from an opening bogey with three straight birdies. She followed another bogey at 14 with birdies at 15 and
18, and birdied five holes coming in.