LAS VEGAS, October 1, 2011 (AFP) - Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas fired a second-round 67 on Friday to keep his share of the US PGA Tour's Las Vegas lead alongside South Korea's Charlie Wi and American Kevin Na.
Vegas, who won the Bob Hope Classic in January for his first PGA Tour title in his rookie season, had a 36-hole total of 12-under 130.
After a bogey-free first-round 63 he carded a four-under 67 that included an eagle at the 286-yard, par-four 15th and four birdies.
Na had eight birdies and no bogeys in his 63, nabbing seven of his birdies in his final 10 holes to surge to the top of the leaderboard.
Wi, who started the day one shot off the pace, had six birdies in his 66 on the par-71 TPC Summerline layout.
Vegas overcame a bogey at the par-five 16th -- the easiest on the course -- where he hit his second shot into the water. He also bogeyed the par-four fifth.
His eagle from a bunker at 15 helped him recover.
"I felt like I putted really well today," Vegas said. "My ball striking wasn't as good as it was yesterday and that's kind of why the round wasn't as good as yesterday.
"But my putting's been pretty well, which that's kind of what I've worked for. And hopefully I can continue that for two more days and we'll be right there where we are."
Wi is hoping to salvage a so-so season with a strong finish.
"I've had a pretty up-and-down year and I want to go out with a bang, make sure my game is ready for next year," he said.
"I worked really hard the last three weeks, so I want to perform well for myself the next three weeks, and I want to carry that into 2012."
The top trio had a one-shot lead over Brendan Steele (65), Kris Blanks (65) and Tim Herron (66) as the first event in the US tour's Fall Series almost reached the halfway stage.
Play was halted by darkness with just one player still on the course. American Fran Quinn hit his tee shot at the par-five ninth, his last hole, into the right rough before play was suspended. He'll resume needing a birdie to make the cut.
Play had been halted for 40 minutes earlier in the afternoon because of lightning in the area.
Earlier, Hunter Haas flirted with golf's magic number of 59, but finished with two pars for a 10-under 61 for 132.
Haas's sparkling round included an eagle, nine birdies and one bogey as he matched the course record shared by Davis Love and Tag Ridings.
He was part of a group of eight players that also included overnight co-leader William McGirt (69), Boo Weekley (65) and Nick Watney (67).
"We'll see if I can go out and do what I did today (again) tomorrow," Haas said. "And it was tough, but I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing."
Leading second-round scores on Friday in the US PGA Tour $4.4 million Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (USA unless noted, par-71; play suspended with 1 player on course, round to finish and cut-line to be confirmed on Saturday):
130 - Kevin Na 67-63, Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) 63-67, Charlie Wi (KOR) 64-66
131 - Brendan Steele 66-65, Tim Herron, 65-66, Kris Blanks 66-65
132 - Hunter Haas 71-61, Scott Piercy 67-65, Kevin Streelman 66-66, Paul Goydos 66-66, Billy Horschel 66-66, William McGirt 63-69, Nick Watney 65-67, Boo Weekley 67-65
133 - Kyle Stanley 69-64, Carl Pettersson (SWE) 66-67, Garrett Willis 65-68, D.J. Brigman 67-66
...
134 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 67-67
135 - Rod Pampling (AUS) 65-70
136 - Steve Elkington (AUS) 67-69, Greg Chalmers (AUS) 68-68, David Hearn (CAN) 69-67, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 67-69, Martin Laird (GBR) 70-66, Arjun Atwal (IND) 66-70, Nathan Green (AUS) 64-72
137 - Cameron Percy (AUS) 68-69
138 - Nick O'Hern (AUS) 71-67, Aron Price (AUS) 68-70, Stephen Ames (CAN) 71-67
139 - Alex Cejka (GER) 65-74, Jarrod Lyle (AUS) 70-69, Bi-o Kim (KOR) 67-72
140 - Ryuji Imada (JPN) 68-72, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 70-70, Alexandre Rocha (BRA) 70-70, Fabian Gomez (ARG) 68-72, Matt Jones (AUS) 65-75, Brendon de Jonge (ZIM) 72-68
143 - Michael Sim (AUS) 70-73
145 - Matt McQuillan (CAN) 74-71
155 - Chris Baryla (CAN) 80-75