Weather: Mostly cloudy with afternoon sprinkles. Temperatures in the mid 70s. Winds E at 10-20 mph.
Joe Durant, a 45-year-old native of Pensacola, Fla., hung on to the top spot at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun after a 5-under 66 on Friday. He equaled the 36-hole tournament record with a 12-under 130, taking a two-stroke cushion over J.P. Hayes (67) and three-shot lead over Cameron Beckman (68). Mark Wilson and Kevin Na both posted 10-under 130 last year when the El Camaleon Golf Club played as a par-70.
Durant has four wins on TOUR (1998 Motorola Western Open, 2001 Bob Hope Classic, 2001 Genuity Championship, 2006 Children's Miracle Network Classic) and one Nationwide Tour title (1996 Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic).
This marks the sixth time Durant has held at least a share of the 36-hole lead. He won two of the previous five events when leading: 1998 Motorola Western Open (1), 2001 Bob Hope Classic (1), 2005 THE PLAYERS Championship (5th), 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans (T4) and the 2006 THE TOUR Championship (3rd).
Durant is making just his second start of the year (T48 at Bob Hope Classic) and his third start at the Mayakoba Golf Classic (finishing T12 in 2008 and T28 in 2009).
Hayes, a 44-year-old native of Appleton, Wisc., is making his fourth start of 2010, with two made cuts and a season-best T5 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This is his second start at the Mayakoba Golf Classic (T65/2009).
The 36-hole leader/co-leader has gone on to win two of six events on the 2010 PGA TOUR: Ryan Palmer (Sony Open in Hawaii) and Dustin Johnson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am). At the Mayakoba Golf Classic, the 36-hole leader/co-leader has won two of three times (Fred Funk in 2007 and Mark Wilson in 2009).
The cut came at 1-under-par 141, with 76 players advancing to the weekend. One of those was John Daly (68-69), who birdied his last two holes to move to 5-under 137. It is his first cut of the season in four starts.
The 2009 Spanish Open winner Thomas Levet (70) moved to 6-under 136, making the most of his sponsor's exemption.
Hispanic leaderboard: Alejandro Canizares (69-69 -- 138), Santiago Luna (71-70 -- 141), Carlos Franco (71-73 -- MC), Jose Trauwitz (72-72 -- MC), Pablo Martin (75-70 -- MC), Jorge Campillo (70-76 -- MC), Pedro Oriol (76-70 -- MC), Esteban Toledo (74-72 -- MC), Alejandro Quiroz (78-76 -- MC) and Guillermo Davila (84-82 -- MC).
Defending champion Mark Wilson, the only past champion participating, moved to 2-under 140 after a 2-under 69 on Friday. Wilson, No. 70 in FedExCup points, has one top-20 finish this season in five starts (T20 at the Sony Open).
Monday qualifier and two-time heart-transplant recipient Erik Compton recorded a 1-over 72 on Friday, but at 3-under 139 still easily made his ninth career cut in 18 starts on TOUR. His career-best finish is a T40 at the 2002 B.C. Open.
Bogey-free rounds: Thursday: Joe Durant (64), Briny Baird (65), Thomas Levet (66); Friday: Billy Mayfair (65), Michael Connell (67), Brendon de Jonge (68), Tom Pernice Jr. (68), Chris Riley (68), Kirk Triplett (69), Michael Clark II (70).
The par-4 third hole played the most difficult at 4.234. The par-5 eighth hole played the easiest at 4.492.
Scoring Averages at the par-71 El Camaleon Golf Club:
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Cameron Percy withdrew prior to the start of the second round.