The USA's Justin Suh leads the Honda Classic at the halfway stage, with Shane Lowry six shots adrift of the lead.
Lowry, who was runner-up last year, holed a monster put on 17 for birdie as he carded a successive round of 68. Earlier birdies on three and eight came after he dropped a shot on the second, leaving the Offalyman at four-under par.
Suh carded a 64 to lie on 10-under, a shot clear of Chris Kirk, who had bogey-free round of 62.
With the projected cut line at one-over par, Pádraig Harrington's round of 68 sees him around for the weekend, as he stands at level par.
The Dubliner's round included four birdies and two bogeys.
Suh recovered from an early bogey by making six birdies between holes 6-13, then added an 8-footer at the par-5 18th for his seventh and final birdie of the day at PGA National Resort.
That last putt allowed him to enter the weekend at 10-under 130, one stroke ahead of Chris Kirk, who posted the low round of the day with an 8-under 62 to reach 9-under 131.
"I think we played it pretty conservative, but aggressive to our spots," Suh said. "We definitely left ourselves some opportunities, but I thought we just hit it to the right spots on the green.
"We made some long lag putts that fortunately just went in, and that's always a key to some good weeks, so hopefully we just keep it rolling."
Suh, 25, won the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last September to earn full status for this PGA Tour season. The rookie's best finish this season was aT20 at last month's Farmers Insurance Open.
"It feels good," Suh said of leading the tournament. "You know, I think we've been trending in the right direction. Every week I've been improving and just certain spots, and I think it's gratifying just to see the progressive work pay off."
From WAY downtown!@ShaneLowryGolf drains it from 57 feet with some help from a coin @TheHondaClassic 🪙 pic.twitter.com/IJ39bIBTsz
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 24, 2023
