Matt Every birdied his last three holes to take the halfway point lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
A six-under round of 64 saw the Florida native end Friday’s second round on ten-under-par, two shots clear of Canada’s David Hearn and Carl Pettersson of Sweden.
Every began on the back nine and birdied the tenth before parring his way right to the turn. The front nine, however, was much more beneficial to his chances as, without sinking a bogey all afternoon, he saved five more shots beginning with back-to-back birdies at three and four. Five and six were then parred before his fine birdie-birdie-birdie finish.
He was not crowing from the rooftops just yet, however, and seemed to suggest it had been little hassle for him to get his two-day lead. The player was quoted by the official PGA Tour website as saying: “(It was) just normal stuff.
“I'm not saying like I'm going to be on top of the leaderboard every week, but it's not a surprise to me. I know that I can, you know?
"It's only two rounds, though, so it's not that big of a deal."
Hearn’s four-under 66 was rescued after he dropped shots at both the second and third. Successes at five and six had the man from Canada back level for the day before a third birdie at eight. A fine eagle then had him flying again right before the turn and he later saved a shot at the last for his share of second place.
Swede Pettersson, meanwhile, dropped the only shot of his 67 at the 18th before going on to sink three of his four Friday birdies on the front nine.
Elsewhere, Pat Perez, Brendon de Jonge and Doug Labelle II share fourth place on seven-under, while USPGA champion Keegan Bradley sits among nine players on -6. Thirteen more players, including Steve Stricker and first-round leader Graham DeLaet, are on -5 at halfway.