Daniel Berger speeds in front by 5 at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Daniel Berger opened up a five-shot lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after a steady round Friday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida.

Berger built on Thursday's 63 with a 4-under-par 68 to climb to 13 under at the halfway mark of the $20 million signature event.

"I feel like I hit ‘em better today and the score wasn't quite as low," Berger said. "But yeah, it's just one of those courses. It's treacherous. You just got to stay patient and take what the course gives you, and when you have an opportunity, you got to take advantage because there's not that many of ‘em out there."

Akshay Bhatia posted a 66 to take sole possession of second at 8 under. Also in striking distance are Sahith Theegala (67), Collin Morikawa (71) and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg (71), who are tied for third at 7 under, and Rickie Fowler, who's alone in sixth at 6 under after his second consecutive 69.

Berger, a former World No. 12 and 2021 Ryder Cup winner, hasn't won on the PGA Tour since the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He missed 18 months with a back injury and struggled to regain his old form once he returned.

On Friday, he rolled in five birdies while limiting himself to one bogey. Berger ranks second this week in strokes gained approaching the green and third in strokes gained putting, and he's bracing for an even tougher layout over the weekend.

"I feel like it's definitely not going to get easier," Berger said. "I heard that (Palmer's grandson) Sam Saunders, who has a big part of the tournament, definitely wants it to play difficult. I think Mr. Palmer would want it to play difficult as well."

Bhatia is the closest to chasing him down after he poured in seven birdies on Friday and saved par from the bunker at the difficult par-4 18th.

"I'm just going to keep plodding along," Bhatia said. "Again, (Berger) could run away with it and I could be playing for second or it could be, you know, a little bit of a challenge. There's a lot of guys within six shots of the lead, which is not much around Bay Hill."

Among those guys is Fowler, the fan favorite who has won just once on tour this decade and could be nearing a big breakthrough.

"(Winning) this would be very high on the list," Fowler said. "It would be a lot more special being able to get that red sweater from Arnie himself. But, no, this has always been one of my favorite events. ... I won a junior event back here in the day, an AJGA event. We've had chances and played well here before. But, yeah, this is a special one."

Xander Schauffele (71) and defending champion Russell Henley (69) are tied at 5 under.

Rory McIlroy improved on his opening round by four shots, the Northern Irishman's 68 vaulting him to 4 under and part of a tie for ninth. McIlroy made four birdies on the back nine, starting with an 11 1/2-footer at the 10th, to climb into the top 10.

"I played the last 10 holes really, really well," he said. "Overall really pleased. Played a very sort of controlled, patient round of golf, which you need to do around here."

Scottie Scheffler (71) is at 3 under.

This is one of three signature events with a 36-hole cut, and only the top 50 and ties made the weekend. U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun (3 over), Irishman Shane Lowry (3 over), Australia's Jason Day (4 over), Patrick Cantlay (4 over) and Keegan Bradley (5 over) are among those in line to miss the cut line of 2 over par.

Justin Thomas shot two straight rounds of 79 in his first start of the season following November back surgery. He finished in dead last among 72 players at 14 over.