Anirban Lahiri opened his delayed second round with a string of birdies as he raced to four-under through first five holes before slowing down at the Sanderson Farms Championship here.
He was unable to finish his second round due to storms and was four-under for second round through 14 holes on Friday. At a total of seven-under Lahiri was Tied-10 and looking at a good weekend.
Lahiri was excellent with some of his long putts as he holed a 22-footer and a 29-footer besides a 10-footer and a nine-footer. He did have one bogey, but so far he has five birdies in the second round.
Daniel Chopra (69-71) was sure of making the cut and he was T-42 with a lot of players yet to complete their second round. Arjun Atwal (74-71) was sure to miss the cut, which was likely to fall at three-under.
Also missing the cut was debutant and rookie 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia, who has just turned pro. The American player of Indian origins his Indian parents settled in the US shot 70 in first round and added a 74 to go two-over.
If the weather cooperates, play should be back to schedule with a new PGA TOUR policy that reduces the cut to top 65 and ties.
Korea's star An Byeong Hun, who recently came to breaking through for his maiden PGA Tour win, played 25 holes on Friday but made a bunch of birdies even as a storm threatened to spoil his momentum.
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Lahiri opened with a birdie from 22 feet on first and had two more on third and fourth before holing a big 29-footer as he went to four-under through five holes. He parred next five before adding another birdie from nine and a half feet but dropped a shot on Par-3 after not getting his second shot right.
Korean An first finished off a 6-under 66 in the morning and then birdied four straight holes to start the second round, carrying the former U.S. Amateur champion to another 66 as he held a two-shot lead when the second round was halted by darkness.
So with two 66s, he is looking hot and ready for a shot at his maiden win on PGA.
Lying behind him was J.T. Poston, who finished his first round with a 64 and added 70 in second. Poston had a share of first round lead, but An overtook him after 36 holes.
George McNeill (67-67) was also tied second with Poston, Tom Hoge (64-70) and Scottie Scheffler (68-66), a rookie who led the Korn Ferry Tour Finals that just ended earlier this month. Scheffler also has 13 birdies through 36 holes.
Joaquin Niemann, the 20-year-old from Chile who won last week at The Greenbrier, ran into a rough patch and was hovering around the cut line until a late birdie. He was at 4 under -- two shots above the projected cut line -- with two holes remaining.