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On upswing again, Yang takes midpoint lead at windy Honda Classic

To say Y.E. Yang has had an erratic career would be putting it mildly

Yang shot a bogey-free round of 5-under 65, moving to 7 under through two rounds at PGA National. The South Korean was one shot ahead of Will MacKenzie (67), Jeff Overton (67) and Robert Allenby (68).

Of the top 21 players on the leaderboard, only MacKenzie and Stewart Cink have PGA Tour wins since 2006.

A who’s-who leaderboard?

More people were probably saying “Who’s he?”

Ben Crane, winless since 2005, shot a 5-under 65 on his 33rd birthday to get to 5 under, two shots off Yang’s pace. David Mathis (68) was alone at 4 under, and six others were at 3 under, including Greg Chalmers (who shot 64, Friday’s best round) and Harrison Frazar (65).

Erik Compton’s stirring run continued with his second straight round of 69, getting him to 2 under in his second PGA Tour event since undergoing heart-transplant surgery for the second time last year.

Among notables, Rory McIlroy (68) and Cink (71) were five shots back, Sergio Garcia (72) was six shots off the lead and Rocco Mediate (67) was within seven.

Defending champion Ernie Els made an 8-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th hole to get to 3 over, which wound up being the cut line. Camilo Villegas (74) missed the cut by four shots.

Tadd Fujikawa, the 18-year-old from Hawaii, made a 20-footer for birdie on his final hole to reach 2 over for the week, and a big fist pump showed he thought he needed that putt just to play the weekend.

Leaderboard – Round 2:

1. Y.E. Yang                      KOR  68 65 133 – 7
2. Jeff Overton                   USA  67 67 134 – 6
Robert Allenby               AUS  66 68 134 – 6
Will MacKenzie               USA  67 67 134 – 6
5. Ben Crane                     USA  70 65 135 – 5
6. David Mathis                  USA  68 68 136 – 4
7. James Nitties                 AUS  70 67 137 – 3
Greg Chalmers               AUS  73 64 137 – 3
Alex Čejka                    GER  71 66 137 – 3
Harrison Frazar              USA  72 65 137 – 3
Jeff Klauk                     USA  69 68 137 – 3
John Rollins                  USA  69 68 137 – 3