Norton, Massachusetts – Sergio Garcia fired a 7-under 64 on Saturday to grab a 1-stroke lead after two rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Garcia finished 36 holes at 13-under-par 129. He is searching for his ninth PGA Tour title.
Henrik Stenson bettered Garcia by one as the Swede carded an 8-under 63 to jump into a share of second at minus-12. Stenson was joined there by Roberto Castro, who posted his second straight 65 on Saturday at TPC Boston.
PGA Champion Jason Dufner and Matt Kuchar both shot 66 and are tied for fourth at 10-under 132. U.S. Open winner Justin Rose (63) shares sixth place at minus-9 with Jordan Spieth (66) and Harris English (67).
The top three players on the FedExCup points list were paired together for the first two rounds. Tiger Woods, who tops that list, birdied three of his last six holes en route to a 4-under 67. He shares 20th place at 7-under 135.
Masters winner Adam Scott had five birdies in a 7-hole stretch on the front nine as he posted a 5-under 66 in round two. That helped Scott rally to make the cut at 3-under 139, which was good for a share of 53rd.
British Open champion Phil Mickelson, who is third on the points list behind Woods and Scott, managed an even-par 71 in the second round. He slid from a share of the first-round lead into a tie for ninth at 8-under 134.
Garcia rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at the first to get his round going. He made it two in row at the second when his 5-footer found the bottom of the cup.
The Spaniard moved to 9-under when he birdied the fourth from just inside five feet. Garcia sank a 9-foot birdie effort at six and followed with a short birdie putt at seven that moved him to minus-11.
After three pars in a row, Garcia converted a 10-foot birdie opportunity at the par-3 11th. He stuffed his approach at the 13th to three feet and made that for birdie as well
Garcia, however, made a mess of the 14th. From the fairway, he knocked his second shot into the left rough, then failed to reach the green with his third.
The 8-time PGA Tour winner played his fourth to about five feet, but he 2- putted for double-bogey to slide back to minus-11.
Garcia settled himself with three pars in a row from the 15th. At the par-5 18th, he knocked his second to 18 feet and poured that in for a closing eagle.
"I hit two bad shots, but got away with one of them. I hit a terrible 6-iron on 14, but the eagle on 18 kind of made up for it," Garcia stated. "The front nine was calm, so if you were hitting the ball well, you could score quite nicely. When we got to 11, the wind picked up just a little."
Stenson poured in five birdies in a 6-hole span from the second to jump to minus-9. In the nine holes from the eighth to 16th, he had eight pars and a lone birdie on the 13th.
The 2009 Players champion closed with back-to-back birdies to end one back.
Castro eagled the second, then birdied five of seven holes from the third to soar to 13-under. Around the turn, Castro dropped a shot on the 13th then stumbled to a double-bogey at the 14th. He got two of those strokes back with birdies at 16 and 18.
Brian Davis, who shared the first-round lead with Mickelson, faltered to a 1- over 72, which left him tied with Woods in 20th place
NOTES: Tim Clark entered the week 70th on the FedExCup points list, but missed the cut and will likely fail to advance in the playoffs ... The cut line fell at 1-under-par 141 with 76 players moving on to the final two rounds ... Among those that missed the cut and won't advance in the playoffs included - John Rollins, Martin Flores, Scott Brown, Luke Guthrie, Robert Garrigus, Derek Ernst, Brian Harman, Greg Chalmers, Erik Compton and William McGirt.
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