MacKenzie forgets troubles to take John Deere lead

CHICAGO (Reuters) - American Will MacKenzie put his difficult season behind him to take a two shot lead after the second round of the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois on Friday.

MacKenzie fired a bogey-free seven-under par 64 in his second round to follow his 65 on Thursday and take him to 13-under.

Americans Kenny Perry and Eric Axley and South Korea's Charlie Wi were two shots back on 11-under par.

MacKenzie, a colourful character on the tour who enjoys extreme sports and surfing, has struggled for consistent form after a knee injury, said he was finally feeling confident.

"I'm just trying to stay committed and hit it at my target and have great rhythm. There's good stuff going on in my golf swing, in my golf game," he said.

"But you know, it's such a long way to go, and I'm trying to just get past the past. I've got a lot of bad shots memorized that I'm trying to erase right now. I'm just trying to stay in the moment."

The American said he had visited a sports psychologist in a bid to recover from his setbacks of missed cuts.

"I'm just trying to do the basics, one step at a time, one shot at a time, get over the results.

"I have to really do that right now because if I look at the money list, I'm in last, you know? I had a real tough season.

"If I start keeping worrying about all that stuff, I'll struggle."

Wi, joint overnight leader with Ken Duke, shot 67 on Friday, producing five birdies and a bogey on the par-four 14th, was pleased with a second good round.

"I'm hitting the ball really solid. I continued my solid ball-striking today and made some putts out there. I left a couple of putts out there, but pretty pleased with the round today," he said.

Perry, who lost a playoff for the Atlanta Classic in May before winning twice in his next five starts, shot seven birdies and two bogeys in his round of 66.

(Reporting by Simon Evans in Miami; editing by Alan Baldwin and Greg Stutchbury)