It hasn’t been a great season for Charley Hoffman for the most part.
The man in the green glove hasn’t held any sort of lead until Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Hoffman, who has missed three cuts in the seven events he’s played this year, including last week at the Valspar, found his form at Bay Hill with a six-under par 66 that got him to double-digits under par after 36 holes of the event honoring the late icon.
Hoffman’s 10-under par, a shot in front of Emiliano Grillo and two ahead of young Matthew Fitzpatrick from the European Tour.
The day didn’t start that well for Hoffman, who bogeyed the first but he rattled off seven birdies around the difficult layout including one at the 18th that separated him from Grillo. Hoffman drove it 314 yards then stuck a wedge within 10 feet and holed his birdie putt and signed for the low round of the tournament. Tommy Fleetwood equaled the 66 and he needed it to make the cut after an opening 78.
The first two days have not been kind to the big names. Second-ranked Jason Day does have himself in contention, however but at three-under par, he’s got seven shots to make up going into the weekend. Hideki Matsuyama’s in at two-under. Rory McIlroy hasn’t had a good outing thus far, he’s one-over and tied for 46th. Fifth-ranked Henrik Stenson won’t be around for the weekend after shooting rounds of 75-74, five-over.
The 36-hole cut came at three over par and Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, was a casualty. a pair of 74s left Saunders in a ceremonial role, standing in and presiding over the trophy presentation on Sunday.
