American Mark Wilson stunned the field with a late, great 10-under 62 in Friday's second round of the Humana Challenge to snatch a share of the halfway lead with compatriots Ben Crane and David Toms.
Wilson carded eight birdies and an eagle in his flawless 62 to join Crane and Toms on 16-under heading into the weekend of a re-jigged, four-round tournament formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic and played over five rounds.
The 37-year-old Wilson made the ideal start by shooting birdies on his first three holes and made the turn with his score at 5-under 31.
A sixth birdie on the 10th sparked another assault on the Palmer Course at PGA West, one of the three being used in the Palm Springs area of California this week and the site of the final round on Sunday.
For at the very next hole, the par-five 11th, Wilson fired an eagle.
But that wasn't all.
Further birdies followed on the 16th and 18th holes before he was finally done
A red hot putter was clearly Wilson's most dynamic tool and he was quick to acknowledge it.
"I just rolled in some long putts early ...and that kind of got me going," Wilson said after posting what was his career-best score on the PGA Tour.
"I birdied two of the par-fives, got an eagle in there too and just felt like I did everything good. My mind was in a good spot."
On the day, Crane's 63, also on the Palmer course, put him just a tad behind Wilson, but it was far more erratic, with a front nine of 32 followed by a back nine of 31 that featured two bogeys, an eagle, five birdies and just one par.
But he was delighted with his score, nevertheless.
"We made a couple of little adjustments with my swing, a couple of shoulder alignment things, and it's freed me up," Crane, who won his fourth PGA Tour title at last year's McGladrey Classic, told the media after totalling just 22 putts.
"And then my putting coach came in last week and we worked on seeing the line and hitting my line with the putting and I was able to do that too.
"I made a lot of 10 and 15-footers, and all my kind-of-close putts for birdie. I putted extremely well and every part of my game felt great. I guess that's how you do it."
Toms, who, in the meantime, had soared into a share of the lead with a sensational birdie-eagle-birdie finish on the Nicklaus course at PGA West to post a 65 as the leading trio moved three shots clear of Colombia's Camilo Villegas, who had been the joint overnight leader with Toms, and three lesser-known Americans, Harris English, Chris Kirk and Bobby Gates who were tied for 4th at 13-under.
Toms, 44, said: "I started to hit some better shots, hit some good putts that didn't go in and then made a few that did and finished great. I turned just a so-so day into a pretty solid day.
"I knew that I was playing well, it was a matter of time when I would start making some birdies and I finished really strong. So I just stayed patient all day."
Blast from the past Chris DiMarco is a shot further back on 12 under after a 64 which boosted his hopes of claiming only his second top-10 finish in his last 87 events.
"The problem with golf is you have to play through injuries," DiMarco told the media..
"So you tend to work yourself into some bad habits and what you're used to seeing isn't happening as much, so your confidence goes a little bit.
"So as far as confidence goes, my confidence is really coming back, I'm hitting the ball as good as I've hit it in a long, long time."
World No 8 Dustin Johnson, the highest ranked player in this week's event, withdrew on Friday due to pain from the knee on which he had surgery in November, while a rusty Phil Mickelson is 15 shots off the pace on one-under after adding a 69 to his opening 74.
Level with Mickelson was Australia's former world number one Greg Norman, who is playing in the $5.6 million event for the first time since 1986 after being persuaded to return by former US president Bill Clinton, whose foundation is partnering Humana as the hosts of the event.
Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela, who won last year's title in a playoff with Americans Bill Haas and Gary Woodland, was at a distant 2-under after returning a level-par 72 at La Quinta Country Club.
TOP 10 LEADERBOARD
PGA West (Nicklaus Course)
(US unless stated, par 72)
128 Ben Crane 65 63, Mark Wilson 66 62, David Toms 63 65
131 Camilo Villegas (Col) 63 68, Chris Kirk 68 63, Harris English 69 62 Bobby Gates 68 63
132 Chris Di Marco 68 64, John Mallinger 67 65, Tommy Biershenk 68 64, Ken Duke 67 65, Brandt Snedeker 64 68, Cameron Tringale 68 64
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