Daniel Berger continues to lead the way heading into the weekend rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Berger added a second round 68 to his blistering opener of 63, moving to 11-under in again very hot conditions here at Arnie’s Bay Hill host course.
Berger, 33, is seeking a fifth PGA Tour title and a first in just over five years.
In his last five rounds he’s a combined 22-under par and it prompted to the Florida-based golfer to be asked what he felt is the key to his present good scoring.
THE RECIPE IS SIMPLE ….
Declares Daniel Berger leading Arnie’s event @APinv by 5⃣ shots heading to closing rounds @APBayHill
Read: https://t.co/5erk191jS7
PGAT
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— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) March 7, 2026
“Yeah, I mean, the recipe is pretty simple“, he said. “It’s fairways and greens, and if you can do that, it’s hard for — it’s hard for guys to catch you.
“So that’s going tobe the challenge is to hit a bunch of fairways and a bunch of greens over the next couple days.
“Know heading to the weekend, you play like as if you’re starting the round at even par and you’re not playing other guys You’re playing the golf course and yourself.
“You’re controlling what you can control. And it’s not like I’ve done it a million times, so I can’t really tell you exactly how it’s going to feel, but I know what I have to do, and so if I do those things, then it will be a good week“.
Second-Round Notes – Friday, March 6, 2026
Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 86. Wind SE 10-15 mph, gusting to 20 mph.
Cut: 51 professionals and one amateur at 2-over 146 from a field of 71 professionals and one amateur
- Low 50 players and ties and any additional players “within 10 strokes of the 36-hole lead
- First over par 36-hole cut on TOUR since the 2025 Open Championship (1-over)
Second-Round Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | Total |
| 1 | Daniel Berger | 63 | 68 | 131 (-13) |
| 2 | Akshay Bhatia | 70 | 66 | 136 (-8) |
| T3 | Ludvig Åberg | 66 | 71 | 137 (-7) |
| T3 | Sahith Theegala | 70 | 67 | 137 (-7) |
| T3 | Collin Morikawa | 66 | 71 | 137 (-7) |
Daniel Berger (1st/-13)
- Follows opening-round 63 with a 4-under 68 and holds a five-stroke lead over Akshay Bhatia
- Marks the largest 36-hole lead on TOUR since Robert MacIntyre at the 2025 BMW Championship (5 strokes)
- Second-largest 36-hole lead in tournament history (7/Adam Scott/2014)
- Holds fourth career 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and first since 2022 (Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches/4th)
- 1-for-3 converting 36-hole lead/co-lead to victory on TOUR (2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic)
- First-round leader seeks to become the fourth 18-hole leader/co-leader to win on TOUR this season
- PGA TOUR wins (4): 2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic, 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic, 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
- Making his 235th start on the PGA TOUR and 83rd since most recent victory (2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am)
- Leads the field in Birdies (14) and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (8.742)
- Making fourth start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T13/2015, MC/2019, T15/2025)
- Stands at No. 45 in the FedExCup standings and has one top-10 in six starts this season (T6/Sony Open in Hawaii)
- Won the Arnold Palmer Award for PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in 2015
Miscellaneous Notes
- Making his second start at the event, Akshay Bhatia (2nd/-8) cards a second round 66, the low round of the day; leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (7.930), his most gained thru 36-holes in his TOUR career (previous: +5.33/2025 PGA Championship)
- Sahith Theegala (T3/-7) cards 5-under 67, his lowest score in 14 rounds at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge and the only bogey-free round of the day; qualified this week via the Aon Next 10 (No. 10) and has two top-10s in six starts this season (T8/The American Express, T7/Farmers Insurance Open)
- World No. 5 and FedExCup No. 4 Collin Morikawa (T3/-7) owns two top-10 finishes in five prior starts at the event (T9/2020, 2nd/2025); seeks to become the first player since Robert MacIntyre (2023, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open) to finish runner-up and win the same tournament the next year
- 36-hole standings from notable players in the field:
- Defending champion Russell Henley (T7/-5)
- 29-time PGA TOUR winner Rory McIlroy (T9/-4)
- World No. 1 and 20-time PGA TOUR winner Scottie Scheffler (T15/-3)
- Arnold Palmer Cup Exemption and University of Texas sophomore Daniel Bennett (T20/-2)
