Chesson Hadley posted an 11-under 131 to hold the first 36-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA Tour career after Day 2 of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree on Friday.
Dustin Johnson was tied for the lead on the 18th hole before closing with a double bogey.
Brooks Koepka missed his sixth cut of the 2020-21 season, marking the most missed cuts in one season of his career.
Byeong Hun An carded a 73 for T20 position, 9 shots behind the leader. He made one eagle, two bogeys and one double bogey. Anirban Lahiri shot a 73 to level out his Day 1 69 and is T44.
Hadley tied his career-best 36-hole total at 131: 2013 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (finished T5), 2016 The RSM Classic (finished T45).
He recorded back-to-back rounds in the 60s to start a tournament for the first time since the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (69-69/MC).
Hadley has held at least a share of second place through 36 holes three times in his career, including the 2014 Puerto Rico Open where he notched his lone victory.
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Johnson birdied the par-4 16th to tie the lead at 11-under par before double-bogeying the par-4 18th; assessed a one-stroke penalty after taking relief from an unplayable lie left of the fairway on No. 18.
He has stood solo-second or T2 through 36 holes 10 previous times in his career; has two wins coming from that position, both of which were events shortened to 54 holes (2009 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 2011 The Northern Trust).
Johnson played his first 30 holes bogey-free before ending the streak on the par-4 13th; marked the third-longest bogey-free streak to open a tournament of his Tour career (45/2019 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship, 32/2010 The Genesis Invitational).
He was the last player in the field to record his first bogey for the week.
The 24-time Tour winner is looking for his first win in his home state of South Carolina, where he has just one top-25 (T13, RBC Heritage) in his last seven starts.
Johnson has no top-10s on the PGA Tour in his last seven starts (most recent top-10: T8/The Genesis Invitational).
Text courtesy: PGA Tour
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