Furyk builds big lead at Firestone

Danny Lee has relinquished his lead at the lucrative WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a two-over 72 during the second round of the PGA Tour event.

Fellow Englishmen Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are a shot behind, alongside Victor Dubuisson and Henrik Stenson.

McDowell burst from the blocks with four birdies in his opening seven holes in ideal conditions on the Firestone County Club course and remained near the top of the board after firing an impressive 66 in the no-cut, 77-player event.

Jim Furyk hit his second shot from the fairway rough, on the third hole, during the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament, in Akron, Ohio, Thursday, August 6, 2015.

Reigning Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth, who is trying to dethrone Rory McIlroy as the No. 1 ranked player in the world, climbed the leaderboard with a two-under 68 and is tied for eighth, six strokes adrift of Furyk.

He is out of the top 50 in the world ranking for the first time in five years, and he is No. 159 in the FedEx Cup and in serious danger of missing the playoffs.

“Obviously I’m happy with back-to-back 66s”, the 45-year-old American told said.

“It gives me confidence that I was under par”.

A booming 300 yard drive down the 11th left an approach of just 111 yards and he would spin that in to six feet to roll in another birdie and move into second place on his own. “Yesterday I felt like I played a really good round”. Last year, Couples chipped in for eagle for a course-record 61, then beat Billy Andrade with a tap-in birdie on the first hole of a playoff. I kind of regret not going to see maybe like Dick LeBeau get in and some of the Steelers while I was here.

In his first start since his Canadian Open win, Jason Day carded a 69 to be tied for 14th – level with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Francesco Molinari and Brooks Koepka.

Johnson is hoping to add to a strong season that includes seven top-10 finishes and his last two victories came in World Golf Championships-the 2013 HSBC Champions in China and the Cadillac Championship at Doral in March.

A tap-in birdie at the first was followed by three further gains to help Rickie Fowler to a three-under 67, with the recent Scottish Open winner’s only dropped shot coming via a bogey at the fourth. I’m hitting the ball a lot longer than in my youth. It required getting the ball in play, some good wedge work around the greens and making putts.

“It’s a battle, but it’s one that I’m looking forward to because I’m not out of it”, he said.

The wind was swirling, and Spieth says he didn’t miss a shot during a four-hole stretch when he made two bogeys.