Sabbatini out in front

Rory Sabbatini set a target for the rest of the field to chase at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational with a blistering finish to his second round in Akron, Ohio.

South Africa’s Sabbatini shared the one-shot overnight lead with England’s Paul Casey and American Hunter Mahan on three under par at the Firestone Country Club’s testing par-70 South Course.

But while Casey was one of the many to struggle in difficult early conditions, carding a three-over round of 73, Sabbatini recorded a second consecutive 67.

Mahan went out among the afternoon starters and was two under after 12 holes having birdied the eighth.

Sabbatini was one of the handful of players out on the course who was actually improving his score in humid, 85-degree heat with a breeze that started out light but caused problems in spells throughout the day.

The South African made the turn in 34, with birdies at the first and fifth holes before a bogey at the sixth.

Another dropped shot stalled Sabbatini at the 14th but he bounced straight back with birdies at 15, 16 and 17 before closing with par to leave him at six under for the tournament.

“It’s a matter of picking and choosing your targets out there,” Sabbatini said.

“There are just opportunities that you have that you can be aggressive but you have to kind of back down and just give the course respect, otherwise it’ll hit you pretty quickly.

“I didn’t quite hit the ball as well as I did yesterday. I hit a couple more drives in that hay they call rough out there but it was a little more of a grind today, a little more work.

“I think the positive thing I can take out of it is that I did battle out there and came out on top.”

Sabbatini was two shots ahead of Masters champion Zach Johnson, who shot the lowest round of the day with a five-under 65, later matched by Davis Love III to take the former USPGA champion to one under.

Scott Verplank was in the clubhouse in third place on two under following a 68.

Boo Weekley had joined Johnson on four under with an eagle three at the par-five second before three bogeys and a double bogey at the ninth derailed his charge.

Casey, though, had a day-long battle to stay in touch and finished the day at level par for the tournament, six shots adrift of Sabbatini.

Three bogeys and three birdies on the front nine set the trend and a birdie at 11th was followed by a bogey five at the 13th before a birdie at the par-three 15th sent him back to three under.

Then it fell apart again for the Ryder Cup star as Casey bogeyed the 16th and double-bogeyed the 18th for a disappointing end to a tough day.

“I struggled a bit today and found the rough and when you find the rough around this golf course it’s very penal and tough to recover from,” Casey said.

“However, we carry on. I’m even par and not completely out of this thing yet. If I get it going over the weekend we will see what happens.”

Lee Westwood had an inauspicious start to his second round, bogeying his first two holes having teed off at the 10th hole.

The Worksop golfer had started the day one off the overnight lead at two under in a group of six players that also included five-time event winner Tiger Woods.

The world number one started his round with a bogey and a birdie, and added another of each on his front nine and was still at two under for the tournament after 11 holes.

Westwood bogeyed his first two holes at 10 and 11 but steadied himself with a run of six pars before birdies at the 18th, first and third took him to within a shot of Sabbatini, only to card bogeys at the fourth and sixth to end the day with a 71 at one under for the tournament.

“The course played tough today,” Westwood said. “A bit more breeze and that makes it harder to hit the fairways.

“The ninth fairway is almost impossible to hit so it’s not easy and there won’t be many low scores.”

In the circumstances, Westwood said he was “quite pleased”.

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts with two bogeys and I had to hole from eight feet at the first to avoid a four-putt. That wasn’t great but I played pretty solidly.”

Playing partner Sergio Garcia, however, was less successful. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since his blowing his fourth-round lead at the Open at Carnoustie two weeks ago, started the day at one over par and birdied his first hole at the 10th.

A bogey at the 16th, though, was followed by a quadruple-bogey eight at the 18th and Garcia began his inward nine with a run of bogey, birdie, birdie, bogey before a double bogey at the sixth left him at eight over for the tournament with a round of 77.