Russell Henley fires eight birdies, takes lead in Georgia

Henley, a two-time PGA Tour winner, shot a seven-under-par 63 at the Seaside Course in Sea Island, bouncing back from an opening-hole bogey.

The 25-year-old started on the 10th and was one over through four holes, before exploding to life with birdies at 14, 16 and 18.

Henley then picked up a further shot on the first hole, before three straight birdies from the fourth to the sixth took him to six under.

He finished his day brilliantly with another birdie at eight, before making par to complete a solid round.

Henley is at nine under, one shot clear of Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, and Americans Brian Harman and Andrew Svoboda.

De Jonge (64) went bogey free as he shot six birdies, including a run of three straight from holes 15 to 17 to ignite his round.

Harman (67) and Svoboda (66) are also one shot off the pace, with Americans Will MacKenzie (68) and Mark Wilson (66) alongside Argentine Fabian Gomez (66) a further shot back at seven under.

Gomez went bogey free on Friday, and has gone six under in his past 20 holes.

Kevin Chappell and Scott Piercy head to the weekend on the back of consecutive 67s, which leave the pair on six under overall and tied for eighth.

Defending champion Chris Kirk (67) is among 11 players tied for 10th on five under - four shots behind the leaders.

Kirk double-bogeyed his first hole on Friday, but reeled off five birdies thereafter to be in contention.

Joining him inside the 'top 10', which features 20 players given the ties, are Americans Mark Hubbard (67), William McGirt (67), Robert Streb (66), Bill Haas (66), Derek Ernst (67), Shawn Stefani (69), Erik Compton (70) and Andrew Putnam (67).

Level with the local contingent are Swedes David Lingmerth and Carl Pettersson, who have gone 68-67 across their first 36 holes.