Fleetwood, Bradley share Arnold Palmer lead

Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley earned a share of the four-stroke lead following respective scores of 66 and 68 on Friday.

Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley moved into a tie for the lead at the halfway stage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Fleetwood and Bradley earned a share of the four-stroke lead following respective scores of 66 and 68 during Friday's second round in Orlando, Florida.

Englishman Fleetwood bested his first-round performance by going six under to be nine under overall alongside Bradley after 36 holes.

Bradley – a four-time PGA Tour winner who ended his victory drought with a win at the BMW Championship in September – went four under with the help of six birdies.

Billy Horschel (71), Jhonattan Vegas (70), Francesco Molinari (70), Keith Mitchell (68), Roger Sloan (69) and Kevin Kisner (69) are tied for third heading into the penultimate round.

The likes of Bubba Watson (72), Patrick Reed (70) and first-round leader Rafa Cabrera-Bello (75) round out the top 10 in an eight-way tie for ninth place at four under.

Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson – who was a late addition to the field – did not make the cut following a six-over-par 78 at Bay Hill Golf Course.

Mickelson carded three bogeys and one double bogey and missed the cut after finishing two over for the tournament, while two-time reigning U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka (73) also missed the cut.

"Yeah, I didn't play very well today," Mickelson said after his round, via USA Today. "It's a penalising course if you don't hit very good shots, and I hit some terrible shots today. That's probably the score I deserved.

"The fairways are tight, the rough is thicker, and I start to steer it and I start to make horrific swings. I haven't hit some of the shots I hit today in a long time."

Rory McIlroy posted a two-under-par 70 to be seven shots off the pace heading into the weekend, while Rickie Fowler barely made the cut following his second-round 71.

Fowler opened his round with three bogeys in the first four holes and a double bogey on the par-five sixth hole. But, he then carded four birdies and pars the rest of the round to finish on the cut line in a tie for 62nd.