Kang, Hatton n share halfway ay lead at windy y Bay Hill

MIAMI: Tyrrell Hatton kept his return from wrist surgery right on course on Friday, firing a three-under par 69 to share the halfway lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational with South Korea’s Kang Sung.

England’s Hatton, playing just his second tournament since right wrist surgery in November, notched his sixth straight round in the 60s and was tied with Kang on seven-under par 137.

Kang, who relished the chilly winds whipping across the Bay Hill course in Orlando, Florida, fired a four-under par 68. The leading duo were one stroke in front of New Zealand’s Danny Lee, whose four-under 67 was the round of the day.

World number one Rory Mcilroy settled for a one-over 73 and headed a trio of players on 139 along with South Korean Im Sung-jae (69) and Harris English (70).

Hatton said his return tournament, the WGC Mexico Championship, was an ideal comeback event since it guaranteed him four rounds.

Hatton fired five birdies in his three-under round, hitting seven of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens in regulation.

Hatton, who teed off on 10, was two-under through his first nine after three birdies and a bogey, but said he “lost” his swing coming in.

“I’m just happy to get in the clubhouse with kind of no damage done,” added Hatton, who bounced back from a bogey at the third with a birdie from off the green at the fourth and a 13-foot birdie at the eighth, his penultimate hole. Kang had six birdies and two bogeys in his four-under effort.

Mcilroy, who was one off the first-round lead of Matt Every, was atop the leaderboard by the time he teed off thanks to the erratic American’s second-round 83.

“It was a grind,” Mcilroy said of a round that included three bogeys and a double bogey as well as four birdies. “I made it more of a grind than I needed to.” Mcilroy balanced an early bogey with a four-foot birdie at the par-five sixth.

But after a three-putt bogey at the seventh he put up a double bogey six at the eighth -- where it took him four shots to reach the green.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Andrew Dodt shot a four-under-par 68 to hold a slim lead at the weather disrupted Malaysia Open on Friday, keeping China’s Liu Yanwei at bay with a single shot advantage.

American duo Jarin Todd and Trevor Simsby are in close contention as they trail Dodt two shots adrift in tied-third, while South Korea’s Charlie Wi is four shots behind Dodt, the overnight leader, in fifth.