The 2013 Northern Trust Open got off to a fast start on Thursday with Matt Kuchar storming into the lead, but Friday saw Fredrik Jacobson and Sang-Moon Bae take over heading into the weekend with a 6-under-65.
Jacobson had his best round in over a year and was able to birdie two of the hardest holes on the course.
"That was probably the biggest bonus of the day," Jacobson said.
Bae had a strong round as well, making four straight birdies to start the round before finishing with nine in all for a 65. The two were tied for the lead at 9-under 133, one shot behind John Merrick (66) and John Rollins (65). Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Webb Simpson are all also threatening at three behind the lead.
Westwood had a strong finish and birdies the last hole to snag a 68, while Phil Mickelson put together a solid round at five strokes back.
"I had a little hiccup on the 10th," Mickelson said. "I was just trying to make 4 and I couldn't even do that. But 4 under is not a bad round, with the exception of No. 10. That took a great round and turned it into a pretty good round."
The leaderboard is tight at the top, with Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia still alive heading into the weekend. Kuchar was in the lead after Thursday, but he put up double bogeys on Friday while finishing with a 73. Garcia finished with the same after bogeying on three of the final five.
Donald hasn't played in an event this year and is in fifth place at seven back. The number three-ranked player in the world had a solid round, hitting an eagle on the 10th on Thursday and a chip on his final birdie on the fourth hole. Donald was ranked number one for a time and has worked hard on his putting game.
Dustin Johnson missed the cut after shooting a double bogey after a bad short shot, leaving him with a 69 to miss the cut by just one stroke.
The coverage starts off in the morning and television coverage is on at 1 p.m. on the Golf Channel and then will move along to CBS later in the after noon from 3 to 6 p.m. It will also be on the radio on SiriusXM from noon to 6 p.m. ET.
HERE is the LINK to the CBS coverage and HERE is the Radio XM link.
