HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Luke Donald moved a step closer to the No. 1 ranking Friday, shooting a 6-under-par 65 to take the lead halfway through The Heritage.
Donald is ranked third now, behind No. 1 Martin Kaymer and No. 2 Lee Westwood. However, Donald would jump to the top with a victory at Harbour Town, no matter how Westwood fares this weekend at the Indonesian Masters. Westwood was tied for the lead in Jakarta, where the second round was suspended by rain. Kaymer isn’t playing this week.
The 33-year-old Donald hasn’t let talk of No. 1 distract him through two rounds, finishing at 10-under 132 for a one-shot edge over first-round leader Garrett Willis (69).
“I guess it’s always in the back of your mind,” the Englishman said. “It’s hard to get away from knowing that with Twitter and Facebook and the media and everything, you obviously know what’s at stake.”
Masters runner-up Jason Day (65), defending champion Jim Furyk (66), Camilo Villegas (68) and Chad Campbell (69) were 8-under. Ben Crane (66) and Ian Poulter (66) were three strokes behind Donald.
Footnotes.
Tom Kite and Gil Morgan shot a 10-under 62 in better-ball play for a share of the first-round lead with Ted Schulz and Gary Hallberg in the Champions Tour’s Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in Savannah, Ga.
• Jamie Donaldson made 11 birdies for a second-round 61 at the China Open, taking a one-stroke lead over seven players tied at 12-under 132 in Chengdu.
