At the midway stage of the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, England's Aaron Rai was tied for the lead with compatriot Harry Hall, just one shot behind.
Rai, who topped the final round of last week's Rocket Mortgage Classic and finished tied for second behind Cameron Davis, shot a bogey-free, 8-under 63 on Friday in Illinois to move to 14 under for the tournament.
Pan's performance that day was equal to Lai's – the Taiwanese player played a perfect round and holed a 100-foot eagle on the 14th hole – and he and the British player remained at the top of the standings.
Britain's Harry Hall finished with five perfect birdies on Friday
Both were one shot ahead of Hall, who shot a 5-under 66, two shots ahead of six players at 12 under, including Hayden Springer and Sungjae Im.
Springer shot 59 in his opening round but had to settle for an even-par 71 a day later after missing a three-foot putt for par and taking double bogey late in the round at TPC Deerland.
He said: “It's not too bad. It was a bit windy today, so it might be a bit more difficult.”
“I had some trouble on the back nine, but it was more of just mental errors, not hitting those short putts.”
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This was Hayden Springer's best score in the first round of the John Deere Classic, with the American shooting sub-60 for only the 14th time in PGA Tour history.
Rai continues to maintain good form
Rai, Hall and Springer are all looking to capture their first PGA Tour title, although Rai has already won twice on the DP World Tour, including the 2020 Scottish Open, where he defeated Tommy Fleetwood in a play-off.
“I've been playing really well for most of the season and I've been doing that over the last few weeks,” Rai said.
Aaron Rye of England shoots 8-under 68 in the second round of the John Deere Classic
“I spent quite a bit of time on the green a few weeks ago. My dad gave me some advice.
“I've also started working with John Graham, who's a putting coach based here. Putting all that together is definitely going to make a difference on the course.”
CT Pan's only victory on the PGA Tour to date came at the 2019 RBC Heritage, when he defeated Matt Kuchar by one stroke.
Two-time John Deere Classic champion Jordan Spieth made the cut with a pair of birdies late in the tournament with a four-under 67, but he was eight shots behind at six under heading into the weekend.
The 2013 and 2015 winner said: “There was no wind yesterday morning and that was our chance to really take advantage.
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“I played 18 holes yesterday and was a couple of shots under par, and unless you play perfectly from then on, your chances of winning are slim.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re not going to go out and try to shoot 10 under the next day.”
Watch the third round of the John Deere Classic live on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm on Saturday. The final round will be live on Sunday from 5pmyes.
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