Berger extends lead as McIlroy rallies at Bay Hill

March 7, 2026 No Comments

Berger extends lead as McIlroy rallies at Bay HillImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Daniel Berger was part of the US team which won the 2021 Ryder CupPublished14 minutes agoArnold Palmer Invitational – second-round leaderboard-13 D Berger (US); -8 A Bhatia (US); -7 S Theegala (US), L Aberg (Swe), C Morikawa (US); -6 R Fowler (US); -5 X Schauffele (US), R Henley (US)Selected others: -4 R McIlroy (NI); -3 S Scheffler (US); -2 H Hall (Eng) -1 J Spieth (US); E R MacIntyre (Sco), M Fitzpatrick (Eng); +1 T FleetwoodFull leaderboard

Daniel Berger extended his lead to five shots at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, as Rory McIlroy rallied in the second round.

Berger, 32, followed up his superb opening 63 – just one short of the Bay Hill course record – by shooting a four-under-par 68 on Friday.

It is five years since the American recorded the most recent of his four PGA Tour wins at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2021.

Berger’s closest challenger at the halfway stage was fellow American Akshay Bhatia, who moved to eight under following a best-of-the-day score of 66.

Compatriots Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa were joined by Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg one shot further back, with Ricky Fowler sixth at six under.

Following a level-par opening round, Northern Irishman McIlroy will begin the third round tied ninth after he improved to four under.

McIlroy remained even as he reached the back nine but birdied four of the next seven holes to post 68 and climb up the leaderboard.

World number one Scottie Scheffler appeared set to match his opening round 70 but the American slipped to three under after bogeying the 18th.

Tommy Fleetwood rallied with three birdies on the back nine to get back to one over par and inside the weekend cut-off.

Berger has suffered a run of injuries, including a back issue which sidelined him for 18 months and fractured a finger at the BMW Championship in August last year.

He put himself on course for a long-awaited victory – and the £3m top prize – after a clean run on the back nine included three birdies to strengthen his position.

“I actually feel like I played better [today], the course was a little tougher,” Berger reported.

“I’m looking forward to the next couple of days and seeing the challenge they bring.”