Conners tops star-studded group after Round 2 from Bay Hill
Corey Conners shot a 3-under 69 in Round 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to hold a one-shot lead at the tournament's midway point with a number of notables in contention.
Conners co-led with Rory McIlroy following a 66 Thursday. He backed up his opening-round performance with another tidy trip around Bay Hill. The Canadian made only one bogey on the difficult layout while carding two birdies and an eagle to sit at 9-under for the week.
"I haven't really been in this position a lot, but I have a lot of confidence in my game and feeling really relaxed the last few days, so try and keep that going," Conners said, according to ASAP Sports. "I feel like I have a lot of energy, I had an off week last week and really excited for the weekend."
Conners' lone PGA Tour victory came at the 2019 Texas Open.
While Martin Laird leads the chase for Conners, McIlroy and Viktor Hovland - both sitting at 7-under par - headline a star-studded group who are within four shots of the lead with 36 holes remaining.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard sits going into Saturday:
| Place | Player | To Par | R2 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Conners | -9 | 69 |
| 2 | Martin Laird | -8 | 67 |
| T3 | Viktor Hovland | -7 | 68 |
| T3 | Rory McIlroy | -7 | 71 |
| T3 | Lanto Griffin | -7 | 68 |
| 6 | Bryson DeChambeau | -6 | 71 |
| T7 | Paul Casey | -5 | 69 |
| T7 | Sungjae Im | -5 | 70 |
| T7 | Justin Rose | -5 | 68 |
| T7 | Jordan Spieth | -5 | 69 |
Defending champion Tyrrell Hatton fired a 5-under round to climb inside the 2-over cutline, and Rickie Fowler birdied three of his final six holes to make the cut on the number.
Patrick Reed, Billy Horschel, Marc Leishman, and Francesco Molinari are among those heading home early.
Round 3 from Bay Hill begins at 7:30 a.m. The final pairing tees off at 1:45 p.m., and Golf Channel's coverage starts at 12:30 p.m.