Arnold Palmer Invitational 2019: Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley Share Lead

Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley are locked in a tense duel after 36 holes at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Both players finished Friday's second round tied for the lead at nine-under par. Fleetwood tied for the best round of the day with a six-under 66. Bradley followed his 67 in the first round with a 68. 

No other player is within three shots of the lead heading into the weekend. 

Here is what the top of the leaderboard from Bay Hill, via PGATour.com:

T1. Tommy Fleetwood (-9)

T1. Keegan Bradley (-9)

T3. Billy Horschel (-5)

T3. Jhonattan Vegas (-5)

T3. Francesco Molinari (-5)

T3. Keith Mitchell (-5)

T3. Kevin Kisner (-5)

T3. Roger Sloan (-5)

Fleetwood has already played his best PGA Tour event of 2019. This is his first event with at least two rounds under 70 since the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in October. 

The England native vaulted to the top of the leaderboard by shooting six-under on four par-five holes, including two eagles. 

Despite walking off the course in prime position to challenge for his first win since the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour in January 2018, Fleetwood seemed to have a level head about how quickly things can change. 

"I've played well here. I've had some good rounds, I've had some poor ones, too," Fleetwood told reporters, via Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press. "I think it can go either way around this golf course. ... Hopefully, I can continue to play well around here. It was just nice to have a day like that and just constantly feel at ease, really, with hitting good golf shots."

Fleetwood can't afford to be complacent because Bradley has been equally as effective through two rounds. The 32-year-old didn't do anything out of the ordinary Friday, finishing with six birdies and two bogeys. 

The key for Bradley heading into the weekend will be avoiding the one bad round. He's played four straight tournaments with at least one round over par. 

One player who cost himself a chance to win this weekend with a dreadful performance was Phil Mickelson. Lefty started the tournament in grand fashion with a first-round 68 that had him in third place. 

Things quickly fell apart after Mickelson walked off the course in the second round with a six-over 78. It got so bad for him that he is questioning whether or not to play next week at TPC Sawgrass.

"I mean, I want to play it, so I would most likely, but if I hit it like this, it's pointless, so I got to figure something out," Mickelson told reporters, via Brentley Romine of the Golf Channel. 

Mickelson's nightmare round included double-bogeys on Nos. 8 and 16, three bogeys and one birdie. If there is a silver lining, he's rebounded from bad days like this before. The future Hall-of-Famer opened the WGC-Mexico Championship with a 79 before finishing even at the end of the weekend. 

Even though Rickie Fowler's first round was as bad as Mickelson's on Friday, he left himself on the bubble for the weekend with a 74 Thursday. He was all over the map again on the front nine in the second round, making the turn with a two-over 38. 

The back nine saw Fowler finally put everything together with three birdies and no bogeys to head into the weekend just under the cut line:

Defending champion Rory McIlroy is off to a modest start at two-under par. He looked to be in line for a strong day on the front nine, particularly with this tee shot on the par-five sixth hole that set him up for an eagle:

Heading into Saturday's moving day, only one winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational since 2012 has had a score worse than 13-under par. Fleetwood and Bradley are the only players on pace for a score that low thus far.