Séamus Power is within three shots of the lead at the halfway point of the John Deere Classic in Illinois after continuing to build on his solid start.
The Waterford native had carded a four-under 67 in Thursday's first round and went even better on Friday as he finished with a 66 that leaves him on nine under overall in a tie for 13th.
Power was in excellent form, starting the back nine with a birdie on the 10th, followed up by further gains on 12, 14 and 18.
He had a quieter time of it after the turn but a birdie on his last hole of the day, the par-4 ninth left him well placed for Saturday's third round which he is due to tee off at 3.11pm Irish time.
At the top of the leaderboard, Doug Ghim shot a three-under-par 68 to hold onto a one-stroke lead over Max Homa and a group of contenders.
Homa is part of a five-way tie for second after also posting a 68 late Friday afternoon. He matched Ghim at 12 under with a birdie at the par-5 17th hole, but after finding a bunker off the 18th tee he failed to save par and dropped back a shot.
Ghim, a 29-year-old Illinois native, is hoping to land his maiden PGA Tour victory in his home state.
"They couldn't make it today but I'm anticipating family coming (Saturday), and I'm excited about that," Ghim said.
He made an eagle for the second straight round, holing out from 179 yards away at the par-4 15th.
"I guess holing out two days in a row is always nice," he said. "It's been a couple years since I think I holed out from the fairway. To get two back-to-back days is a great."
He reached 13 under for the tournament with back-to-back birdies at four and five, but Ghim bogeyed his closing hole, the ninth.
Homa entered the week an abysmal No. 122 in the FedEx Cup standings amid a disappointing season, but now he's in the mix for his first win since 2023.
The round of the day belonged to defending champion Davis Thompson, whose bogey-free 63 catapulted him to 11 under. Tied with Homa and Thompson are Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67) and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (66).
Colombia's Camilo Villegas (66) and Si Woo Kim of South Korea (67) are part of a group at 10 under as the second round finished up late Friday.
Rickie Fowler dropped four shots in a four-hole span on his back nine, with two bogeys and a double bogey, but he birdied 17 to finish up a one-over 72 and get to five under, which wound up being the cut line at the end of the day.
Notable names who missed the cut included Tom Kim of South Korea (four under), Australian Jason Day (two under), JT Poston (one under) and Canadian Adam Hadwin (two over).
Additional reporting: Reuters
