England's Harry Hole and the in-form Hideki Matsuyama fell back as Patrick Fishburne and Denny McCarthy tied for the lead at the halfway point of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Hall dropped an early share of the lead to find himself tied for 18th after an even-par second round left him four behind the leader at six under, while Japan's Matsuyama, who enjoyed a record-breaking victory at The Sentry last week, is tied for 42nd at four under. .
American Fishburne had three straight birdies on the back nine early in his round and made a birdie putt on the fifth hole, closing with a final birdie for a five-under 65 to lead him at 10 under for the tournament.
He shares the lead at the halfway mark with compatriot McCarthy, who finished fourth with a 25-foot birdie on the fifth hole, his highlight en route to a 66. McCarthy, considered one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, though, missed a par. An eight-foot birdie attempt on the closing hole that would have given him the complete lead.
The American duo tied at 10-under, finishing one shot ahead of Kensei Hirata (63) and Eric Cole (67), who had a chance to tie for the lead until he missed a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th at Waialae. .
Also among them is 36-year-old up-and-comer Paul Peterson, who played on five previous tours around the world before earning a PGA Tour card this year. He chose to end his round on the par-5, two-birdie 67 ninth hole in near darkness.
Among those shots behind them were Austrian Sepp Straka and Zach Johnson.
Will there be a first-time PGA Tour victor on Sunday?
The top five players going into the weekend have never won on the PGA Tour, which could be key since an invitation to The Masters in April is at stake. But victory is elusive with 25 players within four shots of the lead and 36 holes to play.
The 32-year-old Fishburne has passed a pair of five-under rounds so far and said the key to his performance is “probably just keeping the ball in the fairway.”
“I hit a lot of fairways and feel very comfortable with the putter,” he said. “In the first round I did some long runs and today I felt like everything was going well as I wanted it to be on the grass.
“Just a matter of judging the wind and the break. I feel like I'm rolling the ball really well, and I'm very excited for the next couple of days.”
A week after recording the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history last week, Matsuyama is now six off the lead here after posting a one-under 69, although he remains in the outside mix to try to become the third player to win the Hawaiian Championship . Championships in the same year.
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