Doral: Scott leads McIlroy, Johnson by two

Adam Scott led a star-studded cast that commandeered the leader board in the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral in Miami on Friday.

Scott, fresh off a victory in the Honda Classic on Sunday, birdied three straight holes late in the round and shot a six-under par 66 to open a two-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and defending champion Dustin Johnson. Johnson had the round of the day, an eight-under par 64.

McIlroy, playing alongside Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, climbed into contention with a seven-under par 65. He was even tied for the lead briefly late in the day before Scott pulled away.

“I made a lot of good putts today, a lot of good par putts, momentum putts, that kept the round going,” McIlroy said. “I feel like the catalyst for the round was the par putt on four to say myself form going over par for the day. After that I made four birdies in a row.” McIlroy this week is using a left-hand-low putting style for the first time.

Spieth, No. 1 in the World Ranking, fell six strokes behind following an indifferent round of seven-par 72.

Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, had taken a two-stroke lead when he birdied four consecutive holes on the front nine, but he gave those shots back with two bogeys and a double on the back nine. His even-par 72 dropped him four behind the lead.