Saturday 14 May 2016 18:00, UK
Record continued to tumble at The Players Championship as Jason Day set a new 36-hole scoring benchmark when the second round concluded on Saturday morning.
Day led by three when play was suspended on Friday following an earlier two-hour delay due to the threat of lightning, and he returned to birdie the 15th before three finishing pars completed a flawless 66, taking him to 15 under par for the tournament.
But while the Australian prospered, playing partner and world No 2 Jordan Spieth was among a number of big names to crash out of the PGA Tour's flagship event along with defending champion Rickie Fowler, Masters winner Danny Willett and fan-favourite Phil Mickelson.
Day picked up where he had left off on Friday evening, returning to the 15th fairway and clipping a solid wedge to 15 feet before letting his red-hot putter take care of the birdie chance.
The world No 1, who equalled the course-record on 63 on day one, could not get up-and-down for birdie at the long 16th, and he two-putted from long range at 17 after narrowly making the carry to the island green.
Day could not find the 18th green in two after blocking his drive into the rough on the right, but he played a delightful pitch to a foot from the cup and tapped in to complete his 36th hole without a bogey on his card.
His 15 under par score of 129 was one better than the previous halfway record held by Lanny Wadkins (1989) and Day's fellow Aussie Greg Norman, who also recorded the tournament-best of 24 under when he strolled to the title in 1994, dropping only one shot during the week.
"I got the 36-hole scoring record, which is nice, but I can't lose focus," said Day, who missed the cut for the third time in the event last year following a second-round 81. "I've got to knuckle down and keep scoring well.
"I'd like to say I'm confident but I'm trying to focus and get the right things done out there. I've got a pretty sizeable lead now. I'm going to do my best to try and stretch that lead.
"But it's going to get tricky out there, we're not going to score as well as we have the first two days."
Day will be accompanied by Shane Lowry and Jonas Blixt in the final group for the third round, with organisers confirming three-balls and a two-tee start due to the possibility of further disruption.
But Spieth will have the weekend off after missing the cut for the second year running, bogeying the 15th on the resumption to slip to level par before failing to birdie the par-five 16th.
Spieth's birdie at the last was not enough to extend his tournament, his first appearance since his remarkable collapse over the closing stages of The Masters last month.
Willett, the man who took full advantage of Spieth's misfortune at Augusta National also bowed out at the halfway stage after his bogey at the 18th late on Friday left him one outside the cut mark.
Fowler, who completed his second round early on Friday, was also among the casualties along with 2007 champion Mickelson, who failed to find the birdie he needed over the final two holes.
Willett's playing partner Justin Rose will be around for the weekend, but his disappointing second-round 74 left him 10 shots behind Day having started the round just two off the lead following his opening 65.
