Palm Harbor, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Robert Garrigus fired a 5-under 66 on Friday and moved three strokes clear of the field after 36 holes of the Valspar Championship.
Garrigus, who has one PGA Tour win, finished two rounds at 7-under-par 135 on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook.
Kevin Na posted a 3-under 68 to move into second place a minus-4.
Pat Perez and Matt Every, who were two of the four first-round co-leaders, managed even-par 71s. They dipped into a share of third place at 3-under 139 and were joined there by reigning U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (68) and Matteo Manassero (70).
Greg Chalmers, another first-round leader, stumbled to a 1-over 72. He fell into a tie for seventh at minus-2. He stands alongside 2010 winner Jim Furyk (69), John Merrick (70), Scott Langley (69) and Luke Guthrie (70).
Danny Lee, the final first-round co-leader, struggled to an 8-over 79 and missed the cut by two strokes at 5-over 147.
Garrigus, who lost in a playoff here in 2012, chipped to 10 feet on the par-5 first and drained that putt for an opening birdie. After three pars in a row, he dropped his third to seven feet on the par-5 fifth and converted that for his second birdie of the day.
The 2010 Children's Miracle Network Classic winner drained a 17-footer for birdie on No. 9 and was the first player to reach 5-under par for the event.
Around the turn, Garrigus found rough off the 10th tee and missed the green with his second. He chipped to 10 feet, but 2-putted for bogey to slip back to minus-4.
Garrigus erased that mistake with a 2-putt birdie on the par-5 11th. He got up and down for birdie on the par-5 14th. He made it two in a row as he drained a 27-foot birdie effort at the 15th. Garrigus closed with three pars in a row.
"Very solid putting the first two days. I hit it a little better yesterday in the wind. I hate to say it's a better round, it was 2-under to 5-under, but it was definitely a better ball striking round," said Garrigus. "Today, I had some great up and downs, made a lot of good putts and you have to do that on a golf course like this as difficult as it is."
Na played the back nine first in round two. He parred four in a row to start, then sank a 4-footer for birdie on the 14th to move to minus-2. Na parred the next four as well.
On the front nine, he just missed the green with his second, but nearly holed his third as his eagle attempt stopped within two feet of the hole. Na kicked that in for birdie.
Na ran off seven straight pars from the second to remain close to the lead. He grabbed second place by himself with a chip-in birdie on the ninth to close out a bogey-free round.
"I played very solidly today. Yesterday was tough conditions. Was much easier today. I drove it well off the tee and my misses were playable just like around the green on like nine," Na said. "You know, I made a lot of good par putts. I think the longest putt I made in two days was a 9-footer, my second putt."
NOTES: Garrigus is 8-under par through two rounds on the par-5s ... This is the third time Garrigus has had the 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour, He failed to hold the first two ... Na also has one PGA Tour win at the 2011 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open ... John Daly struggled to a 90 in round two, and that included a 12 on the par-4 16th ... Defending champion Kevin Streelman carded a 2-under 69 and is tied for 22nd at even-par 142 ... The cut fell at 3-over 145 with 84 players making in to the weekend. There will be a secondary cut to the low 70 and ties after Saturday's round ... Former major champions Ernie Els, Webb Simpson, Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy, Louis Oosthuizen and Stewart Cink were among those that missed the cut.
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