PGA Tour rookie James Nitties recovered from a disastrous start to post a two-under 68 and remain in contention just one shot off the lead at the halfway mark of the Byron Nelson Championship. Nitties, who was a joint leader after the first round, hit his very first tee shot out of bounds to record a double bogey. “It was a poor shot, there&aposs no excuse,” Nitties said. “It&aposs not fun you think, I&aposm going from leading to way behind, but you can&apost get in that mindset.” After eight consecutive pars, Nitties finished his round with five birdies in seven holes to finish in a group at seven-under alongside playing partner Brian Davis (65), Briny Baird (64), James Driscoll (66) and Dustin Johnson (65). They&aposre all catching Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger at the top of the leaderboard at eight-under. Sabbatini signed for seven birdies, including four in a row on the front nine, in a season-low round of six-under-par 64 to move a shot clear alongside Mallinger who carded a second-round five-under 65. Mallinger eagled both par fives and picked up four birdies, including a 15 foot putt at the 18th to earn a share of the lead, but his card also included three bogeys. Ken Duke, who shared the first round lead, shot a 69 and sits two back alongside Aussie Robert Allenby (67) and DA Points (66). Defending champion Adam Scott, though, missed the cut by three strokes after a second consecutive 71. Kiwi rookie Danny Lee also made his second PGA Tour cut since turning pro and is in a share of 16th place at four-under. Meanwhile, Marcus Fraser and Brett Rumford are the leading Australians after the second round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – but remain eight shots behind leader Paul Casey. Casey, told on Wednesday that the world No.3 spot was there for him to grab this week, is bang on course for it after moving from two behind to two in front with a 67 at the European Tour&aposs flagship event. Joint second are holder Miguel Angel Jimenez, England&aposs David Horsey and Anthony Wall, Scotsman Marc Warren and also Dane Soren Kjeldsen. Fraser and Rumford are tied for 35th at even-par, while Richard Green and Peter O&aposMalley are the only other two Aussies to make the cut at two-over. Missing from the last two rounds, however, will be a whole list of star names including Masters champion Angel Cabrera, Players Championship winner Henrik Stenson, South African Retief Goosen and Lee Westwood, who had a second-successive 77 for 10-over – his worst 36-hole score in Europe for six years. HP Byron Nelson Championship After Round 2 -8: Rory Sabbatini 68 64, John Mallinger 67 65 -7: Brian Davis 68 65, James Nitties (Australia) 65 68, Briny Baird 69 64, James Driscoll 67 66, Dustin Johnson 68 65 -6: Robert Allenby (Australia) 67 67, Ken Duke 65 69, D A Points 68 -5: Jesper Parnevik 67 68, Glen Day 69 66, Fred Couples 69 66, Scott McCarron 66 69, Charles Howell III 66 69 -4: George McNeill 69 67, Michael Letzig 68 68, Kevin Streelman 67 69, Bryce Molder 68 68, Matt Weibring 67 69, Danny Lee (New Zealand) 69 67, Robert Garrigus 70 66, Brad Adamonis 66 70, Y E Yang 69 67, Chris DiMarco 67 69, Tim Wilkinson (New Zealand) 69 67 Also: -3: Greg Chalmers (Australia) 68 69 -2: Marc Leishman (Australia) 68 70 -1: John Senden (Australia) 71 68, Nathan Green (Australia) 70 69, Rod Pampling (Australia) 72 67 +2: Adam Scott (Australia) 71 71, Aron Price (Australia) 70 72 +3: Steve Allan (Australia) 71 72 +4: Steve Elkington (Australia) 75 69 +5: Matthew Goggin (Australia) 76 69 +6: Stephen Leaney (Australia) 71 75, Jarrod Lyle (Australia) 74 72 +7: Stuart Appleby (Australia) 75 72 +8: Peter Lonard (Australia) 73 75 Second Round of the BMW PGA Championship -8: Paul Casey 69 67 -6: David Horsey 67 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez 68 70, Soren Kjeldsen 69 69, Anthony Wall 67 71, Marc Warren 72 66 -5: Thomas Aiken 72 67, Ben Curtis 69 70, Stephen Dodd 71 68 -4: Pablo Larrazabal 73 67, Alexander Noren 69 71, Alvaro Quiros 69 71, Charl Schwartzel 68 72 -3: Jamie Donaldson 70 71, Pelle Edberg 72 69, Ross Fisher 68 73, Anton Haig 72 69, Thomas Levet 70 71 -2: Niclas Fasth 68 74, Mark Foster 72 70, Anders Hansen 72 70, Martin Kaymer 72 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin 70 72, Rory McIlroy 72 70, Colin Montgomerie 69 73, Lee Slattery 70 72 Also: E: Marcus Fraser (Australia) 71 73, Brett Rumford (Australia) 71 73 +2: Richard Green (Australia) 72 74, Peter O Malley (Australia) 74 72 +3: Scott Strange (Australia) 72 75 +5: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 78 71 +17: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 79 82