Allenby well placed in US PGA event
Robert Allenby has an ideal chance to snap a long victory drought on the US PGA Tour, moving into a share of the lead after the second round of the Honda Classic.
The Australian recovered from a shaky start to shoot a two-under par 68, moving to five-under overall, equal with South Korean Charlie Wi who carded an even par 70.
Allenby is winless in his last 139 PGA Tour events, but has started the year impressively with four consecutive top-10 finishes already in 2007.
"I think five-under is a pretty good score after two days," the Victorian said.
"This golf course is only going to get tougher from this moment on."
Starting his round on the back nine at Palm Beach Garden, Allenby bogeyed his first two holes, but added five birdies and one more bogey to complete a solid round after Thursday's 67.
"It wasn't the greatest start in the world," Allenby said.
"I hit a lot of good shots after those couple of holes and sort of knuckled down a bit."
While the wind abated somewhat from Thursday, the breeze did pick up as the second round went along and par remained a very solid score.
The cut was four-over par and only 30 broke par, with 71.9 being the average score for the round.
Will MacKenzie and Steve Stricker were tied for third at three-under after 69s and Daniel Copra, Joe Ogilvie, Mathias Gronberg, Camilo Villegas and Mark Wilson were another shot back.
Peter Lonard is the next best Australian, moving to a tie for 15th after a 69, equal with compatriot Jarrod Lyle.
"These pin positions aren't as tough as they would be at a major, but tee-to-green, it's set up like a US PGA," said 2005 winner Padraig Harrington, who was among a group at one-under.
Fortunately for Allenby, his game is in good enough shape to handle the demands of PGA National.
He leads the tour in birdies per round and ranks second in scoring average.
"At the start of the week, I thought 10-under, 11-under would probably win this tournament," Allenby said.
"I'm five-under at the moment. I can definitely shoot five-under on the weekend, even if it blows like this, if I'm on my game and if I can play the way I know I can play."
His round was relatively problem-free after the poor start but Wi could hardly say the same.
He fell out of the lead by making triple bogey on No.11, his second hole, after balls found hazards and bunkers with such regularity that he actually thought he made an eight instead of a seven.
A run of three straight birdies - starting with a chip-in from just off the green at 12 - immediately undid the damage caused by the triple bogey.
He made back-to-back birdies to pass Allenby with two holes left, but dropped another shot on the par-4 ninth, his last of the day.
"The way I hung in there today, I'm really happy," Wi said.
"I think I probably could have done a little better. But to shoot 70 after the way I started, I'm really pleased."
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