Ryan Palmer leads, David Duval contends

PALM COAST, Fla., Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Ryan Palmer led after two rounds of the Ginn sur Mer Classic Friday and David Duval jumped into contention for what would be his first victory in seven years.

Palmer, needing to advance from 143rd on the money list to at least No. 125 to retain his PGA Tour playing card, shot a 71 at The Conservatory course. That put him at 6-under 138 for 36 holes.

First-round co-leader Michael Letzig stumbled to a 74 and fell into a second-place tie with Peter Lonard, Ken Duke and Robert Allenby.

Duval eagled the ninth hole en route to a 69 that moved him into a share of sixth place, two shots off the lead.

Duval has won 13 PGA Tour events and was briefly the top-ranked player in the world during the 1990s. But after he won the 2001 British Open, he virtually disappeared from the world of golf.

Duval was two shots off the lead this year at the 36-hole mark of the British Open and said he felt he was ready to contend again. But he shot an 83 in the third round and finished tied for 39th.

This is the seventh tournament in which Duval has played since then and he has made the cut only three times.

"I'm slowly putting the scores together," Duval said. "We've got some pretty difficult conditions the last couple of days. But that's the kind of stuff I like."