- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
Berger feasts on home cooking at PGA Honda Classic
Hometown hero Daniel Berger, seeking a fifth career US PGA title, fired a second-straight five-under par 65 to grab the lead through Friday's second round of the Honda Classic.
The 28-year-old from nearby Jupiter, Florida, stood on 10-under 130 to seize a three-stroke lead after 36 holes at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens.
"My game's in a great place so I feel comfortable," Berger said. "You've just got to take it a shot at a time and really just stay patient because it is such a challenging golf course."
American Kurt Kitayama, the 18-hole leader after an opening 64, put his second shot six feet from the cup at the par-5 18th and sank his eagle putt to share second with compatriot Chris Kirk on 133.
Canada's Adam Svensson and American Mark Hubbard shared fourth on 134, one stroke ahead of American Chase Seifert and Austrian Sepp Straka.
The final threesome did not finish the final hole before darkness and will conclude play Saturday morning before round three begins.
Berger, ranked 21st, says sleeping at home and having his mother cook has helped his game this week.
"I definitely eat better when she's cooking, that's for sure," Berger said. "Sleeping in my own bed it's an amazing feeling.
"It's just nice to sit down in your own kitchen or your own bedroom and just feel like you're at home and not be in a hotel. We spend a lot of weeks and the road so it's nice to be at home."
Berger, a back-nine starter, sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the 13th, found a bunker at the par-3 15th and made his lone bogey, then rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th and blasted a bunker shot inside three feet at the par-5 18th to set up a birdie tap-in.
"It was nice that we got it kind of earlier on in the round where the wind wasn't as strong and maybe they were a little softer," Berger said of the difficult closing holes.
After back-to-back birdies at the par-5 third and par-4 fourth, Berger sank his longest and last birdie putt of the day from 38 feet at the par-3 seventh.
"The pins are tucked, the greens are firm, wind's up, so you have to be really on point with where you're going to miss the ball," said Berger. "They are so difficult that to hit it to 20 feet is a good shot."
Berger seeks his first title since last February at Pebble Beach. He has come close before at PGA National, losing a playoff to Irishman Padraig Harrington in 2015.
World number 284 Kitayama, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour seeking his first US PGA title, missed the cut in his past five PGA starts.
Kitayama won the 2018 Mauritius Open and 2019 Oman Open but his best finish in 25 prior PGA starts was 17th at the 2017 Puerto Rico Open.
Kirk, 36, recorded the most recent of his four PGA titles in 2015 at Colonial.
T.Ward--AMWN