Past champion Vaughn Taylor fired a bogey free six-under-par 66 at the Reno-Tahoe Open on Friday to take a one-shot lead after the second round.

American Taylor, winner of the event in 2004 and 2005, holed a bunker shot on the first and eagled the par-five 13th hole to lead at the halfway stage on 135, nine-under, just ahead of compatriot Will Mackenzie (69).

"I played really well today," Taylor told reporters in Nevada.

"I holed a bunker shot on the first hole (for birdie) and made a long birdie putt at the second. Made a lot of pars there in a row and was hitting a lot of good shots just couldn't get a putt to go down."

A putt did fall for birdie at the 11th hole before an eagle on the par-five 13th, where he holed a short putt after an accurate approach.

"(I) finally went with a 5-iron and hit a really, really good shot," Taylor said of his 210-yard second shot.

"I'm guessing it landed in the fringe. But it ended up about three, four feet from the hole, and those are always nice to have for eagle."

The American, who has missed eight cuts in 20 events this year, followed up that eagle with a birdie at the 14th.

MacKenzie, the 2006 winner, was alone in second a shot ahead

of fellow Americans Hunter Haas (67), Steve Flesch (69) and Australian first round leader Nick O'Hern, who shot a level par round of 72.

"The greens weren't as smooth as I had them yesterday morning," O'Hern said.

"But there's a fine line between shooting seven-under and even. I played pretty much the same, just didn't get the ball quite close enough and the short game wasn't quite as sharp as yesterday."

Steve Elkington, U.S. PGA champion in 1995, shot a seven-under-par 65 for the best score of the day to move into a tie for sixth place with seven others at six-under.

California