World No.1 Jason Day has cast aside his Masters disappointment to be in a three-way tie for the lead after the second round of the RBC Heritage PGA Tour event in South Carolina.
The Australian, who failed to mount a final-round charge at Augusta National, carded a two-under-par 69 on Friday at Hilton Head to be six under overall at the halfway mark with Americans Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman.
Day, bidding for his third PGA Tour title in a month, fired a four-under 67 in the opening round.
He is fighting off the Masters fatigue and finding success again at Harbour Town golf links.
"I felt like I was kind of punch drunk a little bit," he said of Thursday's start. "But came out today a lot more alert and on top of it."
That's bad news for the rest of the field because Day has shown there aren't many who can match him when he's playing like this.
"I may be a little bit mentally fatigued, but it's not an excuse," he said. "I need to get out there and hit the shots and focus."
Scotland's Russell Knox, Englishman Luke Donald and another American Patton Kizzire shared fourth place at five under. Knox shot a 65, the best round of the tournament so far.
Past tournament champion Matt Kuchar topped the group at four under after a 71.
Day hit the shots he needed on Friday at the most crucial times.
Starting on the 10th hole, a shot behind opening-round leaders Donald and Branden Grace, Day could not get going in chilly, damp conditions. He kick-started the round with a birdie on the windswept, lighthouse 18th, rolling in a 10-footer.
Birdies on the second and third moved him on top. When he fell a stroke behind Chappell with a bogey on the par-5 fifth - Day hit his drive out of bounds - he recovered with a birdie on No.6.
Day felt the weight of the past few weeks of winning golf on the fifth green as he lined up the four-foot putt needed to limit the damage from his bad drive. That's when he channelled the mindset he's had since last summer when he won the PGA Championship.
"Moments like that, where you get to a breaking point, where you go, 'OK, I'm starting to lose focus now.' Because I was playing great, but it went out of bounds. I can't think about it. I've just got to keep pushing on."
Aaron Baddeley was the next-best placed Australian, four strokes behind day, at two under after rounds of 71 and 69, followed by Geoff Ogilvy (-1), Mark Leishman (+1) and John Senden (+2).
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