Harrington leads at halfway

A 69 from Padraig Harrington kept the field at bay as the Irishman maintained his lead after the second round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

Three-time major winner Harrington had produced his best round of the year with a 64 at Firestone on Thursday to lead by two from Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, Tim Clark of South Africa and American Scott Verplank.

The Irishman picked up where he left off as he began his second round well, moving to seven under par after five holes, he bogeyed the par-four eighth, the only blemish on his round, but rebounded at the 13th courtesy of a birdie from 30 feet.

"Shooting that score yesterday gave me a great chance for the tournament," Harrington said on Friday night.

"Anything under 70 from here on in is going forward so I'm quite pleased to have shot 69."

The Dubliner admitted his second round had been less aggressive than his first but added: "I normally play the first rounds cautiously.

"I was a bit cautious. I was more worried about my misses rather than having that sort of confident attitude and going after a few more pins.

"You know that if you shortside yourself you're going to have difficulty getting up and down. But you've got to make some birdies.

"My short game has been good enough, so I probably should be a little bit more aggressive over the weekend."