Harrington halfway leader by two at

WGC - Bridgestone Invitational

FROM THE SCOTSMAN SPORTS WEBSITE
By Simon Lewis in Akron, Ohio
A 69 from Padraig Harrington kept the field at bay as the Irishman maintained his lead after the second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
Three-time major winner Harrington had produced his best round of the year with a 64 at Firestone on Thursday to lead by two from Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, Tim Clark of South Africa and American Scott Verplank.
The Irishman picked up on Friday where he left off as he began his second round well, moving to seven under par after five holes.He bogeyed the par-4 eighth, the only blemish on his round, but rebounded at the 13th courtesy of a birdie from 30 feet.
"Shooting that score yesterday (on Thursday) gave me a great chance for the tournament," Harrington said. "Anything under 70 from here on in is going forward so I'm quite pleased to have shot 69."
Harrington will take a one-shot lead into Saturday's third round, with Clark on six under following a 68.
Verplank matched Harrington with a 69 that left him at five under while Marksaeng moved into a share of the lead at seven under before falling off the pace on the way to a which left him at four under.
Also four under are Americans Steve Stricker, who carded a 69, and Jerry Kelly, who hit a 65.
In a field reduced to 79 players following the withdrawal through injury of Paul Casey during the first round, Spain's Alvaro Quiros made a big move into contention with a 65 to move from two over to three under.
American Woody Austin was also on three under following a 68, as was former Masters champion Zach Johnson.
World No 1 Tiger Woods, a six-time winner at Firestone, returned a 70 to stay at two under par, while playing partner Sergio Garcia carded a 72 to fall back to level par.
Four birdies in his first 12 holes moved England's Oliver Wilson to five under par for the week but three bogeys on his back nine left the Ryder Cup player with a 69, two under for the tournament.
Open champion Stewart Cink and US Open winner Lucas Glover also finished two under.
World No 2 Phil Mickelson added a 69 to his opening 70 while England's Nick Dougherty and Lee Westwood both shot 71 to move to level par.
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, the 2003 champion, will start round three at one over following a 70.
England's Ian Poulter slumped to a four-over 74 that left him at one over while Clarke's compatriots, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, were also over par, as were England's Ross Fisher, Luke Donald and Justin Rose and Ireland's Shane Lowry.
Rose's 68 moved him to three over alongside Vijay Singh, while Fisher's 71 took him to one over, Donald was at two over following a 72 and McDowell finished at four over after a 71. McIlroy shot 70 to stay at five over.
Meanwhile, it has been announced that Harrington will launch the defence of his US PGA Championship title next week alongside Tiger Woods and Rich Beem. European 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, who will play an American major for the first time this year, has been paired with Argentina's Andres Romero and American Kevin Sutherland.
*The full article above contains 560 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 140 (2x70)
133 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 64 69
134 Tim Clark (Rsa) 66 68
135 Scott Verplank 66 69
136 Jerry Kelly 71 65, Steve Stricker 67 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 66 70
137 Hunter Mahan 68 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 69, Zach Johnson 67 70, Mike Weir (Can) 71 66, Woody Austin 69 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 65
138 Tiger Woods 68 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 67, Lucas Glover 69 69, Davis Love III 72 66, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 69 69, David Toms 69 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 68, Stewart Cink 69 69, Boo Weekley 69 69
139 Phil Mickelson 70 69, Chad Campbell 71 68, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 72 67
140 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 72, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 71, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 69 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 71, Kenny Perry 69 71, Anthony Kim 72 68, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 68 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 69 71
141 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71, Ross Fisher (Eng) 70 71, Darren Clarke (NIrl) 71 70, Danny Lee (Nzl) 68 73, Dustin Johnson 70 71, Justin Leonard 70 71, Sean O'Hair 69 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 74, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 70 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 73 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 72
142 Nick Watney 74 68, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 70, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 71, Pat Perez 70 72, J.B. Holmes 70 72, Cameron Beckman 71 71, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 72
143 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 73, Justin Rose (Eng) 75 68, Ernie Els (Rsa) 71 72, Charles Howell III 71 72
144 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 71, Jim Furyk 73 71, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 73 71, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 71, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 72 72
145 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 75 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 74 71, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 75 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 78 67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 73
146 K J Choi (Kor) 74 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 74, Ben Curtis 77 69, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 74 72
147 Anthony Kang 71 76
149 Brian Gay 75 74, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 74 75
150 Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 77
151 Marc Turnesa 76 75
156 Shane Lowry (Irl) 78 78
157 Yuji Igarashi (Jpn) 74 83