Leishman leads by one midway through Byron Nelson

LOS ANGELES, California: Australian Marc Leishman followed up his career-best 61 with a five-under-par 66 on Friday to stay atop the Byron Nelson leaderboard with a tournament-record 36-hole score of 15-under par 127.

Leishman broke the 36-hole record of 12-under 128 achieved on six prior occasions at the tournament’s former home of TPC Four Seasons, including twice by Tiger Woods and most recently by Jason Kokrak last year.

Leishman fired six birdies with one bogey on the par-71 Trinity Forest course south of downtown Dallas and will take a one-shot lead over US PGA Tour rookie Aaron Wise into the weekend.

Wise jumped up the leaderboard with a 63 for 128, edging ahead of veteran Brian Gay who fired 10 birdies in a nine-under par 62 for 129.

Leishman was delighted to deliver another solid round at Trinity Forest, the first-time host of the tournament held for 35 years in suburban Irving.

“When you shoot a really low one like I did yesterday it’s hard to back it up,” said Leishman, who had a 15-under-par total of 127 and a two-shot lead with the afternoon starters still on the course.

Leishman teed off on 10 and kick-started his round with a 56-foot birdie putt at the par-three 12th.

“My speed has been really great,” said Leishman after enjoying another stellar day on the greens. “Last week at The Players I hit a lot of really good putts that lipped out, and this week they’re going in.

“Some weeks you read them really well, and some weeks you’re not sure if a 10-footer is slightly uphill or downhill, and that affects your speed and line and everything.”