Golf - PGA Tour:Australia's Robert Allenby wielded a red-hot putter and defied a painful foot for the second day in a row to sit just one shot off the lead after yesterday's second round at the Sony Open.
The four-times PGA Tour winner, who twisted his right ankle on Monday while walking with his wife, fired a three-under-par 67 at Waialae Country Club for an eight-under total of 132.
That left Allenby tied for second with Americans Chad Campbell (64) and defending champion Zach Johnson (67), a stroke behind pacesetting Ryan Palmer who birdied three of the last four holes for a 66.
World number three Steve Stricker carded a 67 to share fifth place with John Merrick (68) and Jeff Quinney (67) while Masters champion Angel Cabrera (68) was among a group of four bunched at six under.
Despite finding only five fairways off the tee, Allenby scrambled superbly on another breezy day of sunshine at Waialae, saving par three times from bunkers and needing only 26 putts to stay in touch with the lead.
"I struggled off the tee," said the 38-year-old, who is bidding for his first victory on the PGA circuit since the 2001 Pennsylvania Classic.
"That makes it pretty hard to hit the greens when you are coming out of this rough, it's a bit of a guessing game.
"I was happy with the way I managed myself around the course. I relied on my short game and so far that has been really good. I've been putting really well."
Long regarded as one of the best ball-strikers in the game, Allenby was the hottest player coming into this year, having won the Australian PGA championship and the Sun City Challenge in South Africa in successive weeks last month.
"Coming into this tournament, I was hitting the ball as good as I could possibly hit it," he said. "I only had two weeks off over Christmas and the last two weeks I've been hitting balls and putting and chipping."
His bruised right ankle is still a problem for him, though.
"It's still the same. It's still there and it's still annoying," he said. "It just stops me from making normal swings so a lot of my swings are abbreviated.
"But I'm managing. I'm not expecting too much, just managing my way around the golf course."
Twice winner Ernie Els carded a 70 to lie eight strokes off the pace while 2005 champion Vijay Singh battled to a 72 to make the cut right on the number at one-over 141.
Among those failing to advance were US Open champion Lucas Glover, Luke Donald and double major winner John Daly.