Golf

2014 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Adam Scott increases lead to 7 strokes

He didn’t match his opening-round 62, but Adam Scott did increase his lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Mar 22, 2014, 1:15 AM UTC

A day after tying the course record with a 10-under 62, Adam Scott made a little more history at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Friday. He closed the round strong to shoot a 4-under 68 and at 14-under, which tied the 36-hole tournament record. Scott has a 7-stroke lead heading into the weekend.

Compared to the first round, Scott got off to a slow start on Friday. He parred the first five holes before a birdie at No. 6. He didn’t stay in the red for the round long, however, with a bogey at No. 7. He finished the front side with a par and birdie to make the turn at 1-under. The solid front nine was a far cry from the 5-under 31 he shot on the first nine on Thursday. It appeared Scott was on his way to a modest 36-hole lead, but then he got rolling. Like he did in the opening round, the reigning Masters champ began reeling off birdies. He birdied Nos. 11, 12, 15 and 16 to drop to 5-under on the round and 15-under overall. A three-putt bogey on No. 18 was his only blemish on the back nine.

The course played much harder in the second round, with players struggling to card a round in the 60s. Keegan Bradley’s 67 was the best round of the day, and only 12 players shot 69 or better. On Thursday, 25 players shot 69 or better.

“This course will really start to bare its teeth,” Scott said, via PGA Tour.com. “Hopefully, if I can I can keep striking the ball like I am, I’ll give myself enough chances for birdie -- and hopefully, more birdies than bogeys.”

J.B. Holmes, Chesson Hadley and Francesco Molinari will open the weekend at Scott’s biggest challengers. The three are tied for second place at 7-under. Bradley jumped to 6-under, joining four others in a tie for fifth. Those players aren’t playing for second place just yet, but could be if Scott avoids issue and turns in another solid round on Saturday.

A few notable names won’t be around to see if Scott can make any more history. Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Lee Westwood were among the players who missed the cut. Rose shot a 71 in the opening round, but really struggled to make his way around Bay Hill on Friday, finishing with six bogeys and two doubles on his way to a 79. Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 36 holes.

Place	Player	Score	1st Round	2nd Round	Total
1	Adam Scott	-14	62	68	130
T2	J.B. Holmes	-7	68	69	137
T2	Chesson Hadley	-7	69	68	137
T2	Francesco Molinari	-7	67	70	137
T5	Keegan Bradley	-6	71	67	138
T5	Jason Kokrak	-6	67	71	138
T5	Jamie Donaldson	-6	67	71	138
T5	Brandt Snedeker	-6	67	71	138
T5	Morgan Hoffmann	-6	67	71	138
T10	Matt Every	-5	69	70	139
T10	Freddie Jacobson	-5	71	68	139
T10	Ryo Ishikawa	-5	65	74	139
T10	Ian Poulter	-5	68	71	139
T10	John Merrick	-5	65	74	139
T10	Charles Howell III	-5	68	71	139
T16	Padraig Harrington	-4	70	70	140
T16	Erik Compton	-4	72	68	140
T16	Aaron Baddeley	-4	70	70	140
T16	Harris English	-4	69	71	140
T16	Sam Saunders	-4	69	71	140
T16	Seung-yul Noh	-4	72	68	140
T16	Pat Perez	-4	70	70	140
T16	Ryan Moore	-4	68	72	140
T24	Kevin Chappell	-3	71	70	141
T24	Chris Kirk	-3	69	72	141
T24	Stewart Cink	-3	71	70	141
T24	Kevin Na	-3	70	71	141
T24	Trevor Immelman	-3	69	72	141
T29	Brendan Steele	-2	68	74	142
T29	Henrik Stenson	-2	69	73	142
T29	Zach Johnson	-2	71	71	142
T29	David Hearn	-2	70	72	142
T29	Matt Jones	-2	71	71	142
T29	Chris Stroud	-2	73	69	142
T29	Russell Knox	-2	71	71	142
T29	Luke Guthrie	-2	71	71	142
T29	Patrick Reed	-2	69	73	142
T29	Jhonattan Vegas	-2	70	72	142
T39	George McNeill	-1	71	72	143
T39	Martin Laird	-1	71	72	143
T39	Woody Austin	-1	72	71	143
T39	Danny Lee	-1	71	72	143
T39	Briny Baird	-1	72	71	143
T39	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	-1	66	77	143
T39	Davis Love III	-1	70	73	143
T46	Camilo Villegas	E	71	73	144
T46	Gary Woodland	E	73	71	144
T46	Charlie Beljan	E	72	72	144
T46	Brian Davis	E	70	74	144
T46	Zachary Olsen	E	73	71	144
T46	Brooks Koepka	E	74	70	144
T46	Peter Hanson	E	75	69	144
T46	Bryce Molder	E	72	72	144
T46	Billy Horschel	E	70	74	144
T46	Nicholas Thompson	E	71	73	144
T46	Cameron Tringale	E	70	74	144
T57	Graeme McDowell	1	68	77	145
T57	Hunter Mahan	1	70	75	145
T57	Retief Goosen	1	70	75	145
T57	Rod Pampling	1	73	72	145
T57	Michael Putnam	1	70	75	145
T57	Lee Janzen	1	72	73	145
T57	Vijay Singh	1	72	73	145
T57	Greg Owen	1	76	69	145
T57	Tim Wilkinson	1	71	74	145
T66	Marc Leishman	2	72	74	146
T66	Will MacKenzie	2	71	75	146
T66	Sean O'Hair	2	71	75	146
T66	Jason Bohn	2	73	73	146
T66	Chad Campbell	2	69	77	146
T66	Justin Hicks	2	78	68	146
T66	Brian Stuard	2	72	74	146
T66	David Lingmerth	2	75	71	146
T66	John Senden	2	72	74	146
T66	K.J. Choi	2	70	76	146
T66	Lucas Glover	2	72	74	146
T66	Paul Casey	2	67	79	146
*Cut Line 2-over*
Cut	David Lynn	3	72	75	147
Cut	Brian Harman	3	71	76	147
Cut	Stuart Appleby	3	74	73	147
Cut	Angel Cabrera	3	71	76	147
Cut	Ben Martin	3	71	76	147
Cut	Dicky Pride	3	72	75	147
Cut	Tyrone van Aswegen	4	73	75	148
Cut	Rod Perry	4	76	72	148
Cut	Jim Renner	4	74	74	148
Cut	Tim Herron	5	80	69	149
Cut	Nicolas Colsaerts	5	74	75	149
Cut	Daniel Chopra	5	74	75	149
Cut	Rickie Fowler	5	73	76	149
Cut	Russell Henley	5	76	73	149
Cut	D.A. Points	5	73	76	149
Cut	J.J. Henry	5	74	75	149
Cut	Ken Duke	5	72	77	149
Cut	Justin Rose	6	71	79	150
Cut	David Duval	6	75	75	150
Cut	Daniel Summerhays	7	75	76	151
Cut	Brice Garnett	7	73	78	151
Cut	Boo Weekley	7	73	78	151
Cut	Chad Collins	7	75	76	151
Cut	Scott Stallings	7	73	78	151
Cut	Lee Westwood	7	75	76	151
Cut	Billy Hurley III	7	74	77	151
Cut	Greg Chalmers	8	77	75	152
Cut	Robert Garrigus	8	76	76	152
Cut	Brendon Todd	8	79	73	152
Cut	Scott Brown	8	73	79	152
Cut	Matthew Fitzpatrick	8	71	81	152
Cut	Darren Clarke	9	75	78	153
Cut	Paul Goydos	9	73	80	153
Cut	Hudson Swafford	10	73	81	154
Cut	Sang-Moon Bae	10	76	78	154
Cut	William McGirt	10	76	78	154
Cut	Brian Gay	11	76	79	155
Cut	Robert Gamez	11	77	78	155
Cut	Derek Ernst	14	80	78	158
WD	Jeff Overton	7	75	-	75
WD	Bubba Watson	11	83	-	83
WD	Rory Sabbatini	12	81	-	81
WD	Nathan Smith	6	73	-	73