WGC-Bridgestone Invitational update: Paul McGinley made a move up the leaderboard to get within four shots of Vijay Singh's lead on the second day of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
McGinley raced out of the blocks with birdies on the opening two holes before his momentum was temporarily stalled with a bogey at the sixth.
However, a third birdie of the round followed at the eighth before a pair of birdie twos at the 12th and 15th propelled the Dubliner up into the business end of proceedings. Despite dropping a shot at the par-five 16th he remains firmly in contention on three-under after signing for a 67.
Starting on the back nine, Singh reached the turn in three-under before adding further birdies at the second and third, his 11th and 12th. The Fijian, with four holes to play, currently leads by one on seven-under from Phil Mickelson.
World number two Mickelson set the early clubhouse target on six-under after carding a second round 66. The American played flawless golf and recorded five birdies before a solitary bogey on his penultimate hole, the eighth, took some of the shine of his round.
"I gave myself a number of good opportunities out there and thankfully I was able to take some of them today," said Mickelson.
"My short game and putting was the instrumental to the round and I hope to continue that through to the weekend."
The American pair of Sean O'Hair (67) and Zach Johnson (68), Australian Peter Lonard (66) and England's Lee Westwood (65) are tied third on five-under.
British Open champion Pádraig Harrington had very erratic day playing alongside Darren Clarke, the 2003 champion. Despite birdies at the second and 14th the Dubliner had no less than seven bogeys in his round as he signed for a disappointing 75 to drop back into a tie for 62nd on four-over.
Clarke struggled to find momentum and traded one birdie with two bogeys to card 71 for a one-over halfway aggregate, the same as Graeme McDowell.
McDowell flattered to deceive somewhat as his strong start came undone with a run of bogeys. The recent Scottish Open champion fired three birdies in his opening four holes after starting his round at the 10th. From there he dropped shots at the 15th, 18th, fourth and his final hole, the ninth, before settling for a 71.
There is no cut in the €5million event so players like Harrington will at least get the chance to make up ground over the weekend.
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