PGA Tour rookie Brice Garnett takes second-round lead at Colonial

PGA Tour rookie Brice Garnett opened with an eagle Friday on way to a four-under-par 66 and the second-round lead in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.

At seven-under 133, Garnett had a one-stroke lead over Robert Streb and Chris Stroud, who made five putts from more than 20 feet in a round of 64. Streb shot 68.

Adam Scott, playing as No. 1 in the world for the first time, shot a 68 to get to one under. He has made the cut his last 34 PGA Tour events, the longest active streak. Matt Kuchar, ranked No. 4 in the world, had a chance to move to the top with a victory, but he missed the cut by a stroke after shooting 72-70.

First-round leader Dustin Johnson had a 70 drop into a tie for fourth at five under.

“I’m just keeping my head down and trying to make as many birdies as possible,” Garnett said. “I’m going to try to embrace it this weekend and have fun, and we’ll see where we stand come Sunday.”

The 30-year-old Garnett is from Gallatin, Mo., a town of about 1,800 people. He has only one top-10 finish in his 18 previous starts on the PGA Tour and has never won on the second-tier Web.com Tour. This is the first time he has even been in the top 10 after the second or third round on the PGA Tour.

“I think each and every week the rookies feel more comfortable. I know I have,” Garnett said. `You can’t get down on yourself being a rookie. … It’s been fun, and I’m learning each and every day.”

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Shane Lowry birdied his closing two holes for a two-under 70 to join Thomas Bjorn in the lead after the second round of the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England.

Lowry overcame a double bogey on the ninth hole by making four birdies on his back nine to erase a two-shot deficit to Bjorn, who carded a 72 on a day of intermittent rain showers. The duo was four shots clear of the field with 10-under totals of 134.

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello (73) and former BMW PGA winner Luke Donald (67) were tied for third at 138. Rory McIlroy was another shot back along with Swedish duo Jonas Blixt and Henrik Stenson after all three carded 71.

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Catriona Matthew remained atop the Airbus LPGA Classic leaderboard by birdieing four of the last seven holes to take a one-stroke advantage over Charley Hull going into the weekend in Mobile, Ala.

The 44-year-old Matthew had a five-under 67 to reach 13-under 131 on the Crossings Course. The 18-year-old Hull also shot 67.

Matthew had six birdies and a bogey — on the par-four ninth — in her afternoon round. The Scot won the last of her four LPGA Tour titles in 2011.

Hull also dropped a stroke on No. 9, the final hole of her morning round. The English player birdied Nos. 6-8 and had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch before closing with her lone bogey of the week.

Anna Nordqvist, Jessica Korda and Hee Young Park were 10 under. Nordqvist, the winner this year in Thailand and Carlsbad, had a 66. Korda, the Bahamas champion, shot 67, and Park had a 66.

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Tom Watson shot a three-under 68 on Friday for a share of the lead in the Senior PGA Championship at Benton Harbor, Mich., with fellow Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer as well as Colin Montgomerie and three other players.

The 64-year-old Watson, playing alongside Langer and Montgomerie, had five birdies and a double bogey — on the par-four 12th — to reach four-under 138 after two rounds at Harbor Shores. Langer also had a 68, and Montgomerie shot 69 to join Watson, Bart Bryant, Steen Tinning and Kiyoshi Murota atop the leaderboard. Bryant shot 67, Tinning 66, and Murota 65.

Steve Pate (67) was a stroke back along with Stephen Ames (68), Russ Cochran (69), Mark Brooks (71) and Dan Forsman (73). The group at two under included first-round leader Joe Durant (75), Jay Haas (71), Scott Simpson (69) and Duffy Waldorf (70).