Two late-round drops prevented Charl Schwartzel from starting the weekend just a single shot off the pace as he settled for an even-par 70 at the Honda Classic.
A 67 in the opening round left the South African well-placed to move into a strong position heading into the weekend. Friday’s second round got off to a good start with three pars on 10, 11 and 12 being followed by a 19-foot birdie at his next.
The former Masters champion was in trouble on the next, but rescued par with a 20+ foot putt.
Inexplicably, he dunked his tee shot at the short par-3 15th into the water and failed to limit the damage as he two-putted for a double bogey.
Schwartzel managed to make the turn level, thanks to a birdie at 18 from similar range to his earlier birdie try, before birdies at two and three moved the South African flag further up the first page of the leaderboard.
Two missed greens in regulation on 6 and 8 saw the 34-year-old drop back to level-par which resulted in a seven-place drop to a share of 13 and three behind leaders Kevin Mitchell and Sungjae Im. Lucas Glover is third alone at -5.
An imposing figure in the group at -4 is two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka, who fired a 69 to back up his opening 67.
Schwartzel’s countryman, Ernie Els, started the day at -4, but a three-over par 73 saw him drop 30 places to share 32nd place.
The Big Easy started with seven pars thanks to some fine scrambling, but recorded his first bogey after his bunker effort on the eighth ran out into the fringe. He under-burrowed on the putt, which saw him move to over par for the day. That disappointment was erased on the next as he rolled in a 17-footer for his first birdie of the day.
Els couldn’t capitalise on that birdie, as he started his back nine bogey, double bogey to throw his round off colour.
Els managed to get one back with a short putt on the 13th, but a bogey at the 17th after a missed green in regulation saw him finish the day +3.
Dylan Frittelli missed the cut after rounds of 72-73.
