La Quinta, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Reed fired his second straight 9- under 63 on Friday to maintain the lead following two rounds of the Humana Challenge.
Reed, who is seeking his second career win on the PGA Tour, finished 36 holes at 18-under-par 126. He played his second round at La Quinta Country Club, one of three courses in play during this pro-am event.
"When you go over to La Quinta, the fairways are much more narrow than they are here, so you're really focusing on small targets," Reed said.
Brendon Todd also shot 63 to vault into second place at 16-under, while Ryan Palmer (65) is alone in third at minus-15. Todd played his second round at PGA West's Arnold Palmer Private Course and Palmer joined Reed at La Quinta.
Charley Hoffman (66) owns third at 14-under 130, one shot ahead of Bill Haas (66) and James Driscoll (63). Hoffman and Haas played in the tournament's other course, PGA West's Jack Nicklaus Private Course.
Charlie Beljan (64) is alone in seventh at 12-under.
Two-time winner this season Zach Johnson (68), Matt Every (68), Will MacKenzie (66), Justin Leonard (67), Matt Jones (67), Daniel Summerhays (69), Harris English (66) and Brian Stuard (66) share eighth at 11-under.
Every was the first to surpass Reed's overnight lead when he capped a run of four straight birdies from the second with an 18-foot eagle putt at the sixth to jump into first place at 13-under.
That run also included lengthy putts from 15 feet at the third and 14 feet at the fourth.
Summerhays then made a move with back-to-back birdies at the second and third to move into second place at 10-under before Reed, who had traded a birdie at the first with a bogey at the second to remain at minus-9, birdied the fourth to join Summerhays.
Summerhays made it three gains in a row with a short birdie putt at the fourth to reclaim sole possession of second place, but Reed answered with a 5-foot eagle at the fifth to jump ahead at 12-under.
Reed followed with a birdie at the sixth to meet Every atop the leaderboard.
But Every could not hang on to his share of first place, as he 3-putted from six feet for a double-bogey 6 at the 10th to drop to 11-under and hand Reed sole possession of first.
Reed never lost the lead from there and opened up a 3-stroke advantage with a pair of birdies at the 10th and 12th, placing him at 15-under.
Every, Summerhays and Todd shared second at 12-under at that point, and Todd pulled within a shot of Reed with back-to-back gains at the 11th and 12th.
Todd had reached the turn at 12-under with an outward 31 that included birdies at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
Reed, however, quickly pulled away from Todd with three straight birdies from the 15th to move to 18-under before closing with a par at the last to finish there.
"I just got off to a good start hitting it, so I built confidence through the first two holes," said Reed. "When you start the day with a soft sand wedge to four feet ... you can just carry that momentum straight through."
Todd would follow with birdies at the 14th and 18th to head into the clubhouse two strokes off the pace entering into the weekend.
NOTES: Reed's 18-under par total is the lowest opening 36-hole score on the PGA Tour since Pat Perez was 20-under at this event in 2009 ... Reed earned his first PGA Tour win at the Wyndham Championship in August ... Keegan Bradley recorded a hole-in-one at the third. It was his first career ace on the PGA Tour ... Hoffman won this tournament in 2007 when the event was known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic ... Johnson has collected wins at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge and Hyundai Tournament of Champions ... Todd is the only player in the field without a bogey during the first two rounds.
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