Golf: Daniel Berger grabs three-shot advantage at PGA Honda Classic

MIAMI (REUTERS) - Daniel Berger turned in his second straight round of 65 on Friday (Feb 25) to move to 10-under par and establish a three-shot lead through two rounds of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

The Florida native collected six birdies and made just one bogey at PGA National Resort and Spa's Champion Course. He opened up a comfortable advantage on first-round leader Kurt Kitayama (69) and Chris Kirk (68), who sit at seven-under par.

"Every tournament I play in, I want to win," Berger said. "But it would be especially nice to win here having so many friends and family here with me this week."

Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:37pm local time, but only one player who remained on the course, Andrew Kozan, elected not to finish his final hole and will resume his second round on Saturday instead.

Kozan, playing on a sponsor exemption, was on the projected cut line of two over and needs a par or better to make the cut.

Kirk opened his round with seven straight pars on the back nine but eventually made his move with three straight birdies.

"Really started out just kind of steady making a bunch of pars," he said."Hit one of my best shots I've hit in a while on 17 today. That hole's playing significantly more difficult than it was yesterday and for me, I draw the ball 98 per cent of my shots, I hit like a little knockdown, cut six-iron in there and made the putt. So that was a huge boost for sure."

Kitayama, the world No. 289 who surprisingly held the first-round lead, salvaged an ordinary second round on his last hole.

After two birdies and three bogeys over his first 17 holes, he drove the 18th green in two and sank a simple six-foot eagle putt.

"Anything under par on this course is good," Kitayama said. "I gave myself a lot of looks and didn't get as many to fall today, but overall I'm pretty pleased."

South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, who at world No. 13 is the highest-ranked player in the field, rebounded from an opening-day 75 with a 65 here to get to even par and ensuring he will play over the weekend.

However, Chile's Joaquin Niemann (three over), who won last week's Genesis Invitational, will miss the cut. So will Padraig Harrington of Ireland (three over), Tommy Fleetwood of England (three over) and Zach Johnson (six over), the 2023 United States Ryder Cup captain.