Watch the weekend action live on Sky Sports Golf. Saturday's third round coverage begins at 6pm
Saturday 1 February 2020 07:16, UK
JB Holmes put himself on course for a third victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open after claiming a one-shot lead at the halfway stage in Arizona.
Holmes scored his first two PGA Tour victories at TPC Scottsdale in 2006 and 2008, and he now has a great chance to complete a hat-trick as he added a 65 to his opening 64 to climb to 13 under, one clear of overnight-leader Wyndham Clark.
The 37-year-old, who's first round featured a hole-in-one at the short fourth, began at the 10th on day two and, after three pars to start, he birdied three of the next four holes before slamming a huge 320-yard drive to six feet at the short par-four 17th and converting the putt for eagle.
Holmes blocked his drive into a fairway bunker at 18, a mistake which led to his first bogey of the day, but he got back on track with birdies at the first and third before holing from over the back of the sixth green to race two clear of the field on 14 under.
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
With light fading, he bunkered his approach to the ninth and could not complete a sand-save from eight feet, but he had done enough to ensure the outright lead heading into the weekend.
Clark did not come close to matching the heights of his opening 61, but he did birdie the final two holes to break 70 and close on 12 under, one ahead of Billy Horschel (68), and Byeong Hun An, who parred the first 11 holes and then birdied five of the last eight to return a 66.
Scott Piercy recorded the second hole-in-one of the week when he aced the 194-yard seventh, although a bogey two holes later completed a 65 which moved him to 10 under par.
South African Open winner Branden Grace (67) is five off the pace alongside Xander Schauffele (67) and Webb Simpson, who birdied six of his last eight holes to cap a front-nine 29 and a superb round of 63.
Jon Rahm will need something special over the weekend to pull off the victory he needs to have a chance to go to world No 1, although the Spaniard could be left to rue a poor finish following a sparkling run of five consecutive birdies.
Rahm's quiet front-nine of eight pars and a birdie was the polar opposite to his inward half, in which he bogeyed the 10th, birdied the next five before dropping shots on 16 and 18 to hand in a colourful 68.
The current world No 3 closed on seven under with Bubba Watson and Tony Finau, with Justin Thomas a further stroke behind after a pair of 68s, while defending champion Rickie Fowler did well to avoid back-to-back missed cuts as he responded to his opening 74 with a 65.
Fowler needed a fast start to lift his spirits, and he duly obliged with two eagles in three holes - holing from over 30 feet on the 13th green and from 10-feet closer at the long 15th, while also adding birdies on 17 and 18.
Bryson DeChambeau is alongside Fowler on three under, but the torment continues for Jordan Spieth after he bogeyed the final hole to miss the halfway cut by a single stroke just a week after dropping out of the world's top 50 for the first time since 2013.
