(Reuters) - PGA tour rookie Charlie Beljan was taken to hospital with heart palpitations after shooting a 64 to seize the second-round lead in the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic in Lake Buena Vista in Florida on Friday.
Beljan, fighting for a place on the tour for 2013, was also fighting his health with an elevated heart rate and shortness of breath forcing him to lay or sit down between shots as he posted two eagles, six birdies and two bogeys on the way to a three-shot lead at 12-under 132.
Seven players were tied on 135.
It remains to be seen whether or not the 28-year-old American will return to play the weekend.
"A couple times when he was putting, I thought he might just pass out," his caddie, Rick Adcox, told reporters. "On 16, he put the ball down to putt, marked it and walked away. I thought maybe he was going to get sick there."
Beljan complained of breathing difficulties before his round and called for a paramedic halfway through but battled on to claim top spot on the leaderboard.
Late last year, Beljan acknowledged having a bout with valley fever, a fungal infection that can cause shortness of breath, rash and joint aches.
"I've got to give Charlie credit for what he did," Adcox said. "I thought he was going to quit out there a few times. He sat down on the bag a few times. He laid down a few times."
Beljan, who won the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur, was number 139 on the money list entering the event, with only the top 125 assured of keeping their full cards for next year.
Current projections have Beljan needing to finish somewhere inside the top 10 to reclaim a job for next season.
Three shots back on nine-under were fellow Americans Charles Howell III (67), Harris English (67) and Mark Anderson (67), along with Japan's Ryuji Imada (66), Swede Henrik Stenson (67), Korean Charlie Wi (71) and Australian Matt Jones (64).
Anderson, Imada and Jones all entered the week outside the top 125 and needed to remain high on the leaderboard to have a chance at reclaiming a tour card.
"I finally made some putts. First time this year, it feels like," said Jones, who matched Beljan's 64. "It was a good time to do it. Better late than never, so hopefully we can keep going."
Several players on the money list bubble missed the cut leaving them with nervous weekends.
American James Driscoll (120th) and Billy Mayfair (125th) plus Australian Rod Pampling (124th) have left their fates in the hands of others.
Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton of the United States missed his last chance to automatically qualify by adding a 76 to his opening 71 to miss the cut set at one-under 143.
"One good weekend can mean a lot," said Imada, a PGA Tour winner four years ago. "It can turn your whole year around. I'm in position to do that, but still got a long ways to go."
(Reporting by Ben Everill in Los Angeles, Editing by Larry Fine)
