Notes: AT&T Classic, Rd. 2

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Jonathan Byrd shot his second consecutive 66 to claim the second-round lead at 12 under.

AT&T CLASSIC, second round: Leaderboard | Groups to watch | XM radio

36-HOLE LEADER: Jonathan Byrd isn't used to having the outright lead after 36 holes at a PGA TOUR event. In fact, it's only happened one other time in his career -- and he happened to win that event. He hopes to do the same this weekend at the AT&T Classic, where he'll take a three-shot lead over Kenny Perry and Ryan Palmer going into Saturday.

Byrd has been the second-round co-leader five times in his career. Here is how Byrd has done when he's been the leader or co-leader after the second round:

THREE STRAIGHT: Jonathan Byrd is threatening to run away from the field. He ran off three straight birdies at holes 3-4-5 to go to 13 under. He gave back a shot at the par-5 sixth, but at 12 under heading into his finishing holes (he started on the back nine), Byrd, who is 6 under on his round, is still three shots clear of clubhouse co-leaders Kenny Perry and Ryan Palmer.

Here are the lowest second rounds shot at the AT&T Classic since the tournament moved to TPC Sugarloaf:

NO WEEKEND FOR NORMAN: TPC Sugarloaf course designer Greg Norman, playing the AT&T Classic for the first since 2004, had a much better second round than first. But it still wasn't enough to make the weekend.

Norman shot a 1-under 71 on Friday, rallying from a double-bogey on his opening hole, the par-4 first. He cranked it up on the back nine by holing out from just off the green at the par-5 10th.

Norman, who shot an 8-over 80 in the rainy conditions Thursday, finished at 7-over for the tournament. The expected cut is even par. -- (4:50 p.m.)

NEW LEADER: Jonathan Byrd drove the par-5 18th green in two for an easy tap-in birdie to move to a tournament-leading 10 under. Byrd, bogey-free for the day, still has the front nine to play since he started his round teeing off on No. 10. -- (4:15 p.m.)

VIDEO LINKS: From Friday's second round ...

• Kenny Perry on his early second-round lead
• Heath Slocum shooting a second-round 68
• Zach Johnson talks to XM radio after his second round

TOUGH PIN PLACEMENT: The pin on the par-5 18th is tucked into the front of the large green for the second round. That makes the hole play about 34 yards shorter than it did in the first round and basically takes the raised mound in the back of the green out of play. That's a good thing.

The bad? The pin is treacherously close to the edge of the water on the left side and trying to squeeze your ball to the left of the pin can be costly.

Just ask John Riegger. He came to the 18th at 2 under for the tournament and likely in position to make the cut, which is projected to be even par. He layed up and had just 71 yards to the pin for his third shot. But he hit it short and left, finding the water.

Riegger then took his penalty stroke and hit again from essentially the same spot. And then he essentially hit the same shot, finding the water for a second time.

By the time Riegger landed on the green and two-putted for a quadruple-bogey 9, his chances of making the cut became remote. No wonder Riegger's ball found the water a third time ... after he had thrown it there himself in disgust. -- (3:30 p.m.)

DOUBLE-DIGITS? Heath Slocum won't be surprised if the leaders playing in the afternoon get to 10-under. With soft greens and no weather problems, the conditions are ripe for scoring ... provided the wind doesn't blow.

"The greens are receptive right now and they're holding shots," Slocum said. "So if you can just predict the wind ... know what it's doing and just trust it ... you can shoot at some flags and make some putts."

Slocumn should know. He shot a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Friday to climb up the leaderboard at 7-under, just two strokes off the clubhouse lead owned by Kenny Perry. Slocum's strategy for the weekend?

"Hitting a lot of good iron shots and making putts," he said. "The course is relatively long, so I can't take advantage of all the par 5s or even any of them today. It's just going to be making putts. I've got to keep the ball in front of me. No mistakes." -- (3:05 p.m)

PERRY THE LEADER: Kenny Perry has the clubhouse lead at 9 under after shooting a 3-under 69 in Friday's second round. It was an impressive round, even more so considering he had to get up early after enduring a seven-hour first round in which it rained from his first shot to his last.

It was a tough wake-up call Friday morning to say the least.

"The first six holes I was dragging," Perry said.

But a 34-foot putt that he drained for birdie on the par-5 sixth hole "kind of woke me up a little bit," Perry said, "and I played nicely from then on.

"I hit a lot of nice, quality golf shots. I drove it beautifully and made some nice putts." -- (1:45 p.m.)

NOON REPORT: Kenny Perry, who had the only early tee time among the five first-round co-leaders, is putting together another solid round under thus-far dry skies. He's 3 under on the day -- despite posting his first bogey of the tournament when he was forced to take a penalty stroke on the par-5 fourth -- and tops the leaderboard at 9 under.

Heath Slocum and defending champion Zach Johnson also are on a steady climb up the leaderboard. Slocum is 3 under for his round (6 under overall), having drilled a 15-foot and a 20-foot putt for birdies. Johnson, who holed out from the fringe on the par-3 11th for birdie, has moved to 5 under for the tournament.

A couple of other names worth keeping an eye on: Retief Goosen and Bubba Watson. Both players are 5 under on their rounds.

The afternoon tee times have been delayed 30 minutes, with the first groups going off at 12:30 p.m. -- (Noon)

GEORGIA VS. GEORGIA TECH: Both of the big area universities are well-represented in the field this week at TPC Sugarloaf. And you can bet that the fans of the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets will be rooting hard for their guys.

We'll keep track of the friendly competition after each round. Here's how they fared in the first round:

BOGEY-FREE FIRST ROUNDS: These eight players managed to avoid making a bogey in the opening round:

PROJECTED CUTLINE: With the first round now complete, the early projected cutline is even par. -- (9:40 p.m.)

WITHDRAWS: Franklin Langham, who was 22-over and had still not finished his first round, has withdrawn, citing an injury. So has Charles Warren, who shot a 10-over 82 in his first round. Warren withdrew due to an injured wrist. Michael Letzig (79) and Roland Thatcher (78) have also withdrawn after the first round. -- (9:15 a.m.)

WEATHER: So far, the players who had to slog through rainy conditions on Thursday afternoon have received a break Friday morning. The rain has held off, despite a 30 percent chance of precipitation, and there has even been sunshine seen at TPC Sugarloaf. The wind is expected to pick up later Friday, which could play havoc with those players teeing off in the afternoon.

If the weather holds off and all the players can complete their second rounds Friday, then it should be clear sailing -- knock on wood -- for the weekend, with an encouraging forecast of sunny skies on Saturday and just a 20 percent chance of showers on Sunday. -- (9 a.m.)