| -10 H Varner III (US), A Arnaus (Spa); -8 C Smith (Aus), M Wolff (US); -7 T Fleetwood (Eng); -6 JC Ritchie (SA), B Watson (US), R Kinoshita (Jpn) |
| Selected others:-5 X Schauffele (US), P Reed (US), M Manassero (Ita); -4 P Mickelson (US), T Hatton (Eng), D Johnson (US); -2 H Stenson (Swe), S Lowry (Ire); Level L Westwood (Eng), S Garcia (Spa), I Poulter (Eng), T Finau (US); +2 P Casey (Eng) |
American Harold Varner III and Spain’s Adri Arnaus both shot four-under-par rounds of 66 to share the halfway lead at the Saudi International at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
Varner III and Arnaus are 10 under, two ahead of Australia’s Cameron Smith (66) and American Matt Wolff (67).
England’s Tommy Fleetwood is a shot further back after following his opening 66 with a 67.
Bryson DeChambeau was forced to withdraw on Friday because of injury.
The world number nine opened with three-over 73 on Thursday, but pulled out of the tournament before the second round because of hand and hip injuries.
DeChambeau this week denied reports he has been offered $135m (£100m) to become a key player in a rumoured Saudi-backed breakaway tour.
News of a $300m investment from the Greg Norman-fronted LIV Golf Investments, which has the Saudi government’s Private Investment Fund as its majority shareholder, and the continued threat of a proposed super league dominated headlines in the build-up to the Saudi International.
Several PGA Tour and DP World Tour players have skipped events on their own tours this week for the opening event of the Asian Tour’s 2022-23 season.
While Varner III and Arnaus lead the way after both shooting 66, Fleetwood mixed five birdies with two bogeys to keep alive his hopes of a first win since November 2019.
“I’m working on the right things,” said world number 46 Fleetwood. “I’ve got a good structure, good simple structure.
“I’m focusing on a couple of key areas, trying to drive it better, and at the moment just trying to hit one shot off the tee and put it in play more and give myself a chance to play from the fairways a lot more.”
Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson, nine-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Reed and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele are both five-under, alongside overnight leader Matteo Manassero after the Italian followed his brilliant opening 62 with a disappointing 73.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, six-time major winner Phil Mickelson and England’s Tyrrell Hatton are six shots off the lead on four under, with former Open champions Henrik Stenson and Shane Lowry a further two strokes back.
