SCOT MATCHES RORY'S FIRST-ROUND, SEVEN-UNDER-PAR SCORE

                                   Russell Knox, bogey-free round of seven birdies

McILROY STILL LEADS BUT KNOX (63)

MOVES INTO HONDA PICTURE

Rory McIlroy continues to lead the US PGA Tour's Honda Classic ... but Russell Knox matched the Ulsterman's first-round, seven-under-par 63 with the same score in the second round.
Knox had a bogey-free card today at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida with birdies at thelong third, short fifth, minth, 11th, 12th, 13th and 18th in halves of 32 (three under par) and 31 (four under).
McILroy shot a four-under 66 today and is in the No 1 position at halfway with an 11-under-par tally of 129.
He leds by one shot from South Africa's Brendon de Jonge (66-69). 
Russell Henry (USA) is third on 132 (64-68) then come Lee Westwood (68-65) and Russell Knox (70-63) sharing fourth place on 133.
To get into the weekend action a player had to score level par 140 or better for the first 36 holes.
Among the big name "failures" was Phil Mickelson
He scored 70-71 for 141, one stroke too many.
Padraig Harrington missed out on 142 (68-74) and Stephen Gallacher on 143 (72-71) and so too did South African ace Charl Schwartzel, surprisingly well down the also-rans with a total of seven-over 147 (74-73). (Scroll down to read GolfWeek story about Schwartzel parting company with ISM and Chubby Chandler).And even below him was Sweden's star of the past year, Henrik Stenson, with 73-76 for 149 and a share of 136th place!

RORY HAS HAD ONLY 49 PUTTS SO FAR!
 
FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
Two years ago, Rory McIlroy won The Honda Classic to reach No. 1 in the world. Through two rounds of this year’s tournament, his game appears to be headed in that direction again.
McIlroy shot a 4-under 66 Friday morning to get to 11 under and a one-shot lead going into the weekend at PGA National.
South African Brendon de Jonge had a chance to gain a share of the top spot with McIlroy late in the day until he failed to get up-and-down for par on his final hole of the day, the par-4 ninth.
“I've putted beautifully the first two rounds,” said de Jonge, the beneficiary of a putting tip from good friend Nick Price earlier in the week.
Price helped him square his head at address to give him a better eye line.
McIlroy, meanwhile, was nearly flawless for a second straight day. The Ulsteman, bogey-free in his first-round 63, bounced back from two early second-round bogeys with six birdies over his final 12 holes, including a couple from long distance.
A year after walking off the course in frustration in the middle of his second round here, McIlroy looked in complete control of all parts of his game -- especially his putter. He took just 24 putts and through the first two rounds has 49 in all.
“When you're not quite in control of your swing, your confidence can sort of go in peaks and troughs,” McIlroy said. “When you hit a few good shots, your confidence can go up quite quickly but then you hit one bad one, it can sort of go down again and that's where I was sort of most of last year.
“Now I feel I'm happy with where my swing is, and even if I do hit a loose shot, I can get over it much quicker and much easier because I have the confidence in what I'm doing.”
Russell Henley is alone in third three shots off the lead, while England's Lee Westwood and Scotland's Russell Knox are tied for fourth.



HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
before the end of play on Friday
par 140 (2x70). Players from USA unless stated
129 Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 63 66.
130 Brendon de Jonge (S Africa) 66 64.
132 Russell Henley 64 68
133 Lee Westwood (England) 68 65, Russell Knox (Scotland) 70 63. 
134 Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 65 69, Ryan Palmer 68 66
135 Daniel Summerhays 70 65, Chris Stroud 69 66, Boo Weekley 68 67, John Senden (Australia) 72 63, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 69 66, Luke Donald (England) 67 68, Derek Ernst 66 69, Will Mackenzie 67 68, Brendon Steele 69 66.
136 Jason Kokrak 70 66, Jhonattan Vegas 70 66, Mark Wilson 67 69, Chris Kirk 69 67, Rory Sabbatini (S Africa) 65 71 (T18)

SELECTED SCORES
137 Adam Scott (Australia) 68 69, Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 70 67, David Lingmerth (Sweden) 69 68 (T23)
138 Matteo Manassero (Itraly) 67 71 (T38)
140 Gonzalo Fernandez Castano (Spain) 71 69, Paul Casey (England) 72 68, Sergio Garcia (Spain) 72 68, Tiger Woods71 69 (T66)

MISSED THE CUT MARK
141 Phil Mickelson 70 71142 Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 70 72, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 72 70, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 68 74 
143 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 72 71
144 David Lynn (England) 69 75, Peter Uihlein 73 71
145 Brian Davis (England) 74 71, Retief Goosen (S Africa) 72 73
147 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 74 73.
149 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 73 76. 
155 Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 77 78.

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

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SCHWARTZEL LEAVES CHUBBY

CHANDLER'S ISM STABLE

FROM GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
After 13 years, 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and agent Chubby Chandler are calling it quits.
Schwartzel, 29, made the decision sometime before the Northern Trust Open and after Saturday’s third round gave the news to Chandler, CEO of International Sports Management.
“Just felt like a change,” Schwartzel said of the move. “It was nothing personal, nothing anyone did wrong.”
Chandler was surprised by the decision of a player he had mentored since his days as a young amateur back in South Africa, but completely understood his desire to look at options.
“At the end of the day, whether it be right or wrong, some people are different,” Chandler, said of the move. “Some people like the way we do things and they're going to be there forever, but sometimes you need to just have a change, and sometimes the change might be us, and unfortunately this time it's us. It's not a coach, it's not a caddie.”
Schwartzel’s financial advertiser met with Chandler on Wednesday night before the Honda Classic and the remaining points of the separation were hammered out – leaving Schwartzel a prized free agent.
“I'll just give it a bit of time,” Schwartzel said. “See exactly what other guys have got to offer and see what's out there and how I feel about it. I come from a really good management company, and nothing anyone did or didn't do. Sometimes in life you've got to maybe give yourself an opportunity to try something else.”
Chandler is well aware the word is out about Schwartzel and the 12-year pro is being courted by many of the likely candidates.
“Obviously now everybody has heard, so everybody is all over him,” Chandler said. “(Mark) Steinberg has met with him.
The loss of Schwartzel is not the only defection from the Chandler camp. Stuart Cage, the Head of Golf for ISM, and Ian Garbutt an agent for ISM, have also recently left the company.
Cage has taken a position at Octagon in Europe and Garbutt is working for Callaway Europe.
Because of the changes in staffing, Chandler is going to take a more hands-on role with the company he founded in 1989 after his professional golf career was over; he is not planning to replace the two staffers at this point.
“Suddenly I'm the man again,” Chandler said about his new role. “I know exactly what's going on. I've got everybody reporting to me. I know what everybody's deal is. I know what everybody's relationship is, talking to all the guys in South Africa this week, and I'm right involved. I'm actually sad I'm here. I'd actually rather be in South Africa."
+Scott Jamieson signed up with ISM earlier this week.