Byrd soars into the lead

Second successive 66 puts 30-year-old in charge

Last updated: 17th May 2008

Jonathan Byrd

Byrd: In control

AT&T Classic leaderboard
-12 Jonathan Byrd
-9 Ryan Palmer
-9 Kenny Perry

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A second successive round of 66 saw Jonathan Byrd move into a three-shot lead at the AT&T Classic in Atlanta.

Byrd, 30, had been in a five-way share of the lead overnight, however he broke clear of the pack as his six-under-par round saw him to a 12-under 132 for the competition.

Byrd, whose last PGA Tour victory came at the John Deere Classic last year, leads the way from Ryan Palmer and Kenny Perry.

Perry bogeyed the fourth, but he responded well with birdies at six, nine, 11 and 16 to move to nine-under for the tournament.

And his performance will go someway to erasing memories of his final round of 81 at the Players' Championship on Sunday.

"I take a lot from last week," he said. "Eighty-one is disappointing, a terrible round of golf.

"I knew I was playing well, knew I was putting well so just had to be patient. I had a lot of people call me and just tell me to be patient, your game's coming. And it is. I'm playing a lot better golf."

Defending champion Zach Johnson remains in contention after his round of 70 saw him into a share of 10th on five-under - although he could have been closer to the leader if it hadn't been for a bogey at the sixth.

Johnson, the winner here in 2004 as well, said: "I've played nice for going into the weekend.

"I played pretty well, put myself in position to make some putts, made some, missed a lot, too. You can always say that I guess. The greens are perfect considering all the rain."

Brit Brian Davis kept alive his hopes of victory with a one-under 71 to move into a share of 16th.