Tommy Fleetwood fired a brilliant second round of 64 to lead a three-pronged bid for an extremely rare English success in the US PGA Championship in San Francisco.
China's Li Haotong held the halfway lead at Harding Park on eight under par, with Fleetwood sharing second place with compatriot Justin Rose, defending champion Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Daniel Berger and France's Mike Lorenzo-Vera.
Fleetwood's fellow Englishman and Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey was a shot further back on five under, while Rory McIlroy lies seven shots off the pace after a frustrating 69, a stroke ahead of playing partner Tiger Woods.
Jim Barnes (1916 and 1919) is the only Englishman to have lifted the Wanamaker Trophy, but Fleetwood, Rose and Casey will have high hopes of ending the 101-year wait for an English winner on Sunday.
Tweet of the day
Snap! Shane Lowry will finish his round with one less club in the bag! 😤
Follow live updates from the second round of the #PGAChamp and watch live on Sky Sports Golf: https://t.co/dV37iugYh2 pic.twitter.com/q9K0IbehUL
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) August 8, 2020
Open champion Shane Lowry's frustrations boiled over on the 13th hole and left him with 13 clubs in the bag.
Quote of the day
"I was playing quite well today, so I thought I'll keep it on; I didn't want to test anything and just go down to a tee shirt" – Tommy Fleetwood plans to stick with his "lucky" cardigan.
Shot of the day
This hole is not easy.@HomelessHubbs played it perfectly. 🦅pic.twitter.com/WDWkXgRCug
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2020
Mark Hubbard made the cut on the mark of one over par thanks to a second round 71 which included a spectacular eagle from 238 yards from a fairway bunker on the ninth.
Round of the day
Just two back.@TommyFleetwood1 got off to a fast start on Friday. pic.twitter.com/ENsR0AYXQm
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2020
Fleetwood began the day on level par but ended it on six under thanks to a superb 64 containing seven birdies and just one bogey.
Statistic of the day
Each of the top two players on the current leaderboard played with a PGA club professional during the opening two rounds.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 8, 2020
Being "drawn" with a club professional means you are not considered a big name, but Li Haotong and Mike Lorenzo-Vera defied their lowly status at Harding Park.
On the up
Through 36 holes of the @PGAChampionship:
1. @haotong_li (-8)2. @TommyFleetwood1 (-6)2. @JDayGolf 2. @DanielBerger59 2. @BKoepka 2. @JustinRose99 2. @MikeMlv 8. @Cameron__Champ (-5)8. @Paul_Casey 8. Brendon Todd
Full leaderboard: https://t.co/eyfq0iOcwl pic.twitter.com/LRxT6CvpQd
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 8, 2020
The prospects of a first English winner since 1919 with Fleetwood, Rose and Casey all in contention.
On the slide
Siiiiicccckkkkk @NoLayingUp @TronCarterNLU @BigRandyNLU @DJPie pic.twitter.com/GlmhqRhzNG
— Matthew Lawless (@Lawless2Lawless) August 7, 2020
Rickie Fowler's confidence over short putts after a stubbed attempt from six inches saw the American miss the cut by a single shot.
