Séamus Power kept himself at the top end of the leaderboard with a second round 68 at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas but it was Sam Burns who seized the initiative with a round of 62 to get to 17 under par.
With birdies aplenty at TPC Craig Ranch – the cut fell at a remarkable six under par – Power picked up three shots in his first five holes to move right into contention.
However, a run of pars and a bogey at the Par 3 fourth – his 13th – saw the Waterford man drop back before he picked up birdies at the seventh and the ninth to close a round of 68 and get to 11 under for the tournament, six shots behind Burns.
After an opening round of 66 Pádraig Harrington endured a dismal Friday with five bogeys and just two birdies making up a round of 75 for the Dubliner which saw him miss the cut at three under.
But it’s Burns – who recently claimed his first PGA Tour win at the Valspar Championship – who leads by two going into the weekend.
After making the turn at four under for the day, the 24-year-old birdied six of his last eight holes, starting with a 28-foot putt on the 11th, to move to 17-under for the tournament.
Swede Alex Noren shot a blemish-free eight-under 64 to sit in second place, a shot ahead of South Korea’s Lee Kyoung-Hoon, who carded a second successive 65.
Englishman Lee Westwood birdied five of his first six holes to make a charge up the leaderboard, finishing with an eight-under 64 to be in equal 22nd, eight shots off the pace.
Second round scores from the AT&T Byron Nelson, TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas (USA unless stated, Par 72):
127 Sam Burns 65 62
129 Alexander Noren (Swe) 65 64
130 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 65 65
131 Doc Redman 64 67
132 J. J. Spaun 63 69
133 Patton Kizzire 69 64, Matt Kuchar 67 66, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 67 66, Séamus Power (Irl) 65 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 65 68, Jordan Spieth 63 70
134 Joseph Bramlett 64 70, Bronson Burgoon 68 66, Wyndham Clark 66 68, Hank Lebioda 67 67, Ben Martin 65 69, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 66 68, Ted Potter Jr. 66 68, Roger Sloan (Can) 66 68, Brandt Snedeker 66 68, Vincent Whaley 69 65
135 Rafael Cabrera (Spa) 64 71, Charles Howell III 65 70, Marc Leishman (Aus) 66 69, Sepp Straka (Aut) 68 67, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 64
136 Ryan Armour 70 66, Daniel Berger 69 67, Austin Cook 68 68, Mark Hubbard 65 71, Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor) 67 69, Michael Kim 69 67, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 66 70, Russell Knox (Sco) 69 67, Nelson Ledesma (Arg) 68 68, Sean O’Hair 67 69, Ryan Palmer 67 69, Adam Schenk 66 70, Aaron Wise 64 72
137 Mark Anderson 68 69, Scott Brown 66 71, Bryson DeChambeau 69 68, Brice Garnett 68 69, Michael Gligic (Can) 65 72, Bo Hoag 66 71, Luke List 68 69, Rob Oppenheim 68 69, Pat Perez 70 67, Jon Rahm (Spa) 68 69, Patrick Rodgers 71 66, Scottie Scheffler 67 70, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 65 72
138 Wesley Bryan 67 71, Cameron Champ 72 66, Luke Donald (Eng) 65 73, Harris English 70 68, Michael Gellerman 67 71, Talor Gooch 69 69, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 67 71, Martin Laird (Sco) 72 66, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 68 70, Troy Merritt 68 70, Keith Mitchell 67 71, Cameron Percy (Aus) 68 70, Wes Roach 68 70, Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 67 71, Scott Stallings 67 71, Brian Stuard 69 69, D. J. Trahan 69 69, Johnson Wagner 67 71, Will Zalatoris 70 68, Dylan Meyer 66 72
