Steve Elkington and Gavin Coles are the best-placed Australians at the halfway mark of the AT&T Classic. Elkington shot five birdies on his way to a three-under par round of 69, while the consistent Coles shot another round of 70 to join Elkington in a tie for 16th place. Nick O&aposHern couldn&apost back up his fine opening round, dropping off the pace with an even round 72. Nick Flanagan, David Lutterus and Andrew Buckle are all at even-par and will play the weekend having just made the cut, while Greg Norman improved dramatically from his opening round 80 with a one-under par 71, but still missed the cut. But everyone is chasing Jonathan Byrd, who carded his second consecutive six-under-par 66 to take a three-stroke lead. Tied for the lead with four other players after the weather-interrupted opening round, the 30-year-old fired seven birdies and a lone bogey to reach 12-under 132 at the halfway mark at TPC Sugarloaf. Starting on the back nine, the 2002 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year birdied his first two holes and was 10 under at the turn after two further birdies. He then made three straight birdies from the third to fifth to go to 13 under before dropping his only shot of the day at the par-five sixth. Byrd, who is seeking his first PGA Tour victory since last July&aposs John Deere Classic, has a three-shot lead over Ryan Palmer and Kenny Perry, who both shot 69s to move to nine-under 135. Perry bogeyed the fourth but rebounded with four birdies while Palmer recovered from a double bogey at the fifth, carding an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in an eventful second round. Charles Howell III (69), David Toms (69) and Parker McLachlin (70) are tied for fourth at eight-under 136 with Heath Slocum (68) and Colombia&aposs Camilo Villegas (69) a further shot back in joint seventh. Defending champion Zach Johnson shot a two-under 70 and is tied for 10th on five under. Second Round of The AT & T Classic (Par 72): -12: Jonathan Byrd 66 66 -9: Kenny Perry 66 69, Ryan Palmer 66 69 -8: Charles Howell III 67 69, David Toms 67 69, Parker McLachlin 66 70 -7: Heath Slocum 69 68, Camilo Villegas 68 69 -6: Bob Sowards 67 71 -5: Zach Johnson 69 70, Jay Williamson 72 67, Brian Gay 71 68, Stewart Cink 68 71, Justin Bolli 73 66, Craig Kanada 68 71 -4: Ryuji Imada 71 69, Steve Elkington (Australia) 71 69, John Rollins 73 67, Brian Davis 69 71, Gavin Coles (Australia) 70 70, Matt Kuchar 71 69, Brett Quigley 70 70, D J Trahan 70 70, Ted Purdy 67 73, John Mallinger 68 72, Brandt Jobe 73 67, Bob Heintz 68 72, Chris Kirk 69 71 Also: -3: Nick O&aposHern (Australia) 69 72 -2: Stephen Leaney (Australia) 70 72 E: Andrew Buckle (Australia) 74 70, David Lutterus (Australia) 75 69, Nick Flanagan (Australia) 72 72 +1: Grant Waite (New Zealand) 75 70 +3: Jason Day (Australia) 76 71, +5: Brett Rumford (Australia) 73 76 +7: Greg Norman (Australia) 80 71 +11: Steve Allan (Australia) 76 79