Harman takes lead with 4-under 66; Spieth (73) slides

Brian Harman shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to move to 10-under par and watched that hold up for the second-round lead in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn., thanks in part to a 10-second rule.

Harman finished a stroke ahead of Matt Jones and first round co-leader Zach Johnson, who lost a stroke during his round of 68 when his birdie putt hung on the lip of the cup at the third hole for longer than the maximum allowed 10 seconds before falling in, giving him a par.

“After 10 seconds, the ball was moving and at that point even if the ball is moving, It’s deemed to be at rest, because it’s on the lip,” Johnson said. “Don’t ask me why, but that’s just the way it is.”

Harman had his short game working for the second consecutive day, taking 26 putts after needing only 23 during the first round.

“The putter has been really good so far, but I’ve been in position a lot,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of good looks at it. I’m just able to put a little pressure on the course right now, which is nice.”

Jones hit 16 of 18 greens for the second consecutive day, following up his first round 65 with a 66.

Bryson DeChambeau (66), Paul Casey (67) and Russell Henley (65) were two strokes back going into the weekend.

Lanto Griffin and twotime Travelers champion Bubba Watson were at even par coming into Friday. But both shot a 63 to move into contention heading into the weekend, three shots behind the leader. Watson jump started his round with an eagle on his third hole, the par-5 13th.

“I had some mental mistakes yesterday, and then I didn’t make some putts,” said Watson. “Today I started out hotter. I made a good shot on 11, our second hole, made the putt, making a solid par putt on 12, and then that freed me up a little bit. Gave me some confidence going into the next hole where I made the eagle.”

Rory McIlroy also is at 7 under after a 69. McIlroy, Watson and Justin Thomas (5 under) were grouped together Thursday and Friday, drawing large galleries.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth, tied with Johnson after an opening 63, had a 73 to drop into a tie for 25th at 4 under. Masters champion Patrick Reed, coming off a fourth-place finish in the U.S. Open, shot a 67 to miss the cut by a shot at minus-1.

Champions: Steve Stricker made himself at home at the top of the leaderboard on a rainy and breezy at the American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wis.

The hometown star and tournament host shot an 8-under 64 at University Ridge to take a one-stroke lead over 63-year-old Brad Bryant. John Daly, Colin Montgomerie and Steve Flesch shot 67.

The 51-year-old Stricker had his 30th consecutive Champions round under par.

LPGA Tour: Former Arkansas star Gaby Lopez shot a career-low 8-under 63 to take the first-round lead in the NW Arkansas Championship. Lopez, a three-time All-American for the Razorbacks, was one stroke up on Moriya Jutanugarn, Minjee Lee, Catriona Matthew, Nasa Hataoka, Lizette Salas, Mirim Lee and Aditi Ashok.