Jason Day three clear at TPC Sawgrass 

as Rory McIlroy charges into contention

SKYSPORTS.COM 

By Keith Jackson

Australian Jason Day continued his flawless progress at The Players' Championship as he extended his lead to three shots before play was suspended due to darkness on Friday.

Day matched the course-record of 63 with a nine-birdie opener on Thursday, and he was five under for his second round with four holes to complete on Saturday morning (local time) following an earlier two-hour delay due to the threat of lightning.
Rory McIlroy made a significant charge with a superb 64 in which he matched Shane Lowry's day-old record of 29 on the back-nine at TPC Sawgrass, but McIlroy missed out on an overall course record when he made a mess of the ninth - his last - and ran up a bogey 6.

Lowry managed to get his round complete before darkness fell, and the Irishman became only the sixth man to make an eagle 2 at the 18th before going on to card a 68 which lifted him into outright second on 11 under par.
Colt Knost fired the low round of the day but was left to rue three putts on the ninth green, his final hole, where a par would have seen him become the first man to record a 62 at the Stadium Course, while Will Wilcox made the first hole in one at the 17th since Miguel Angel Jimenez 14 years ago.
But Day remains the man to beat and, after almost holing his pitch for eagle at the second, he picked up another shot when he rolled in a 24-foot putt for his 11th birdie of the tournament at the fourth.
The world No 1 converted a delightful approach to six feet at the seventh, although he looked certain to drop a shot when he got into difficulty following a poor drive at the long ninth after the weather delay, only to hole from eight feet to scramble a par.
He got out of further trouble at the 12th and got back on the birdie trail at the next, where his blocked tee-shot found the high portion of the green before his slippery, downhill 40-foot putt found the centre of the cup.
Day's supreme shot-making was again evident at 14 as he smote a pure 188-yard mid-iron to within three feet to set up his fifth birdie of the round, and he will face a 100-yard second from the middle of the fairway at the 15th when he returns in the morning.

Shane Lowry is Day's closest challenger after he posted an excellent 68

Lowry started on the 10th and could not match the heights of his record-breaking performance in round one, and he was struggling at one over until his 120-yard second to the daunting 18th found the cup for a stunning eagle-two.
The Irishman then reeled off three birdies in four holes from the second and parred safely in to remain as Day's closest challenger, with Jonas Blixt, Alex Cejka and Cameron Tringale a shot further back.
Knost soared to nine under with a remarkable performance, following a birdie at the third with four in a row from the fifth before adding five more in seven holes on the inward half.
Two putts from 45 feet would have given the American the new course record, but he left his first five feet short and his effort for par grazed the lip to take a little gloss off his day.
Knost shares sixth with Jerry Kelly, Gary Woodland and former Ryder Cup players Boo Weekley and Francesco Molinari, while WGC-HSBC champion Russell Knox is also on nine under with three holes to finish.
McIlroy is one further back and would have entertained thoughts of a possible 59 when he began with four consecutive birdies, made another at 15 and then drained a huge putt from off the green for eagle at 16 to move to seven under for seven holes.
After turning in 29, the world No 3 picked up another shot with a neat up and down at the second, but he had to settle for par at the next four holes and, after his seventh birdie of the day at the seventh, his scrappy finishing hole saw him close on eight under.
Adam Scott produced an excellent response to his quadruple-bogey eight at the last on day one as the Australian posted a faultless seven-under 65 to get back to six under, but world No 2 Jordan Spieth and defending champion Rickie Fowler are both below the projected cut line.
Fowler struggled on the greens as a 71 left him hoping for mistakes from the remaining players on the course, while Spieth is also at one under with four to play alongside Day.