Chrysler Championship 2006

Shaking off a mediocre season, Choi tamed strong winds Friday to move atop the leaderboard after the second round of the $5.3 million Chrysler Championship.

"Early morning, windy. I was surprised (because) early morning is always quiet," said Choi, who shot a 5-under-par 66 at the demanding Innisbrook Resort course.

Choi moved to 8-under 134 through 36 holes, one stroke better than resurgent Ernie Els (66), Jonathan Byrd (67) and first-round leader Brian Gay (71).

In challenging conditions, Choi missed just one fairway and one green in regulation. By contrast, the field averaged 72.5 strokes.

Starting on the back nine, Choi recorded a hat trick of birdies from Nos. 13-15. He made the turn in even more impression fashion with four straight birdies.

Choi's lone miscue came at the par-3 eighth hole, where he missed the green with a 5-wood. He chipped his second shot over the green, settling for bogey.

"This week my swing is very strong and my control is very good," said the stocky 36-year-old, whose victory here in 2002 is one of his three career titles.

Choi credited his success Friday to a new driver.

"Driver working good, down the middle," he said. "Today, just one miss the fairway, and this course is very tough."

Choi is ranked 55th in the world, the best of three Korean men in the top 100. By comparison, there are seven Koreans in the top 20 on the LPGA money list.

Two days after he said he wanted to dethrone Tiger Woods as the world's top player within three years, Els enjoyed a promising performance.

"My iron shots were really good today and I'm putting quite nicely," said the big South African, who has failed to win in 23 worldwide starts this year. "You've got to hit it good in the wind. These greens are so firm and fast that if you miss a green, you've got about a 50 percent chance of getting it up and down."

Els, who missed more than four months last season while recovering from major knee surgery, believes his game is on the right track since he finished third at the British Open in July.

"When you stop thinking about the knee, you can really look forward to improving your swing and your mechanics and everything else," he said. "I feel more settled and more willing to give it a go, so the mind is letting the body do what it's supposed to do, I guess."

Gay failed to back up his opening 64 but remained in the hunt. His round was interrupted on the third tee when four police officers screamed up in golf carts in hot pursuit of two youths who were fleeing after an alleged nearby burglary.

Gay subsequently drove his ball into a water hazard and made bogey. He admitted he was distracted by the commotion.

"I was going along pretty well prior to that, so I am going to blame it on that," he said.

The early starters enjoyed the better conditions, with eight of the top 10 players out in the morning half of the draw.

Seventy players made the cut of 2-over 144. The biggest heartbreak belonged to Brian Bateman, who missed the cut by one stroke. Bateman is 126th on the money list, with only the top 125 after Sunday's final round remaining fully exempt for next year.