Graham DeLaet followed up his career-best 6-under-par 65 in the first round with a 67 on Friday to share the lead with Luke Donald midway through the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C.
Donald also shot 67 to reach 10-under 132, two in front of Ian Poulter and Webb Simpson.
Poulter and Simpson each shot 68.
DeLaet was 1 over on his first seven holes of the second round until a birdie on the difficult par-4 eighth hole and an eagle on the par 4 ninth, where the Canadian bounced his approach shot into the cup.
DeLaet had never finished better than 14th in six previous trips to Hilton Head and had only twice broken 70 in his last 10 rounds before this week. DeLaet said his top-15 finish a year ago — his first and only one — continued to fan his flame for Harbour Town. ‘‘And my love and enjoyment of playing this golf course turned into, ‘Maybe I could play well here,’’’ he said.
DeLaet plodded through the first part of his round until dropping his approach on the 461-yard eighth hole within 15 feet and made the putt. On the next hole, DeLaet sent a wedge from 109 yards out into the green, simply hoping to spin it back left toward the pin. Instead, it hopped in the cup to put DeLaet out front.
‘‘We couldn’t see the bottom of the pin, but there was reaction from the crowd so we figured it was in,’’ DeLaet said.
The Canadian has won four times worldwide (three in his home nation and once in South Africa), but has never done better than three second places (the last in the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open) on the PGA Tour. DeLaet doesn’t plan to change his approach with a big weekend ahead. ‘‘I’m looking forward to not getting up at 4:45 a.m. again like I did this morning,’’ he said with laugh.
Donald has finished second or third in six of his past eight visits to the RBC Heritage — and put himself in position for another stellar finish this time, too. Donald’s round took off with three straight birdies on the front nine. He held off a spate of wild drives after the turn — Donald drove way right on No. 10, played a provisional, found his first ball and made par — before chipping in for birdie on the closing, lighthouse hole at No. 18.
It was the second straight day Donald made birdie at the iconic hole. He’s shot in the 60s in 21 of his 42 career rounds here. About the only thing he hasn’t done is win, something he looks to remedy this week.
‘‘I’ve been in this position before and I’ve got to go out there and be aggressive and make some birdies,’’ Donald said. ‘‘Certainly playing for pars won’t get it done out there.’’
Poulter, playing on a major medical extension, is on the clock to keep his card and needs about $145,000 in his next two events to maintain his playing status and is off to a strong start. His 66-68 is the just the second time in seven career visits to Harbour Town he’s opened with two sub-70 rounds. His eligibility? Not on his mind at all. ‘‘I’m playing golf like I really don’t care, to be honest,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve had to work on clearing everything out of my mind to go play good golf.’’
Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, continued his strong play at Harbour Town’s first nine, notching four more birdies to go along with the five straight he made there in the opening round Thursday.
First-round leader Bud Cauley followed his 63 with a 72 and was in a group of five at 7-under that included former PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner and Sam Saunders, the grandson of golf’s late king, Arnold Palmer.
Kevin Kisner had the round’s best score, a 7-under 64, and was among six players four strokes behind the leaders.
There were 74 golfers who made cut of 1-under par — anyone over par or even was leaving — which was lowest cutline ever at Harbour Town. Those going home included Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett and Charley Hoffman, who contended at Augusta National for much of the week before falling off the pace.
Champions — Bob Tway bogeyed two of the last three holes for a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Duluth, Ga. David Frost was second after a bogey-free 66.
Tway, 57, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour who is winless on the 50-and-over circuit, birdied the par-5 sixth to reach 9 under, then dropped shots on the par-4 seventh and ninth at TPC Sugarloaf. He holed out for eagle from the fairway on the par-4 12th and played the opening nine in 6-under 30.
Larry Mize, the only one of the six players from the Masters in the Mitsubishi field to make the cut at Augusta National, was two strokes back at 67 along with Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames, Kevin Sutherland, Mike Goodes and Jeff Maggert.
Langer has shot par or better in a record 36 straight rounds on the PGA Tour Champions. He won the inaugural tournament in 2013 and was second each of the next two years.
Defending champion Woody Austin opened with a 69.
Miguel Angel Jimenez and fellow Spanish star Jose Maria Olazabal also shot 69. Jimenez won in 2014 at TPC Sugarloaf and is coming off a victory in the Mississippi Golf Resort Classic.
LPGA — After weathering a 1½-hour lightning delay, Ariya Jutanugarn and In-Kyung Kim each birdied their final hole to share the lead on Thursday during the suspended second round of the LPGA Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii.
Jutanugarn, who was named the LPGA’s player of the year after winning five times last season, had a bogey-free 6-under 66, and Kim shot 64 to reach 9-under 135 at Ko Olina Golf Club.
Su-Yeon Jang, among the 15 players still on the course when play was halted due to darkness, was also at 9-under with two holes remaining.
European — Gregory Havret took the outright lead at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco as he moved to 6 under par after the second round.
The Frenchman made four birdies and an eagle at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to fashion a 3-under 70, opening a one-shot lead over Lucas Bjerregaard (2-under 71) and Trevor Fisher Jr (3-under 70).
