PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Carl Pettersson might not be a "mystery Swede" much longer.
Unknown even by the Swedish Golf Federation until a few years ago, Pettersson continued to make it look easy at Mirasol on Friday with a 4-under 68 that gave him a three-shot lead in the Honda Classic, the largest 36-hole margin on tour this year.
"I've never had a 36-hole lead," Pettersson said. "We'll see what happens."
He was at 13-under 131, three shots ahead of Brad Faxon and Todd Hamilton, who each shot 66.
Fredrik Jacobson of Sweden had a 69 and was at 8-under 136, while the large contingent at 138 included Davis Love III, Fred Couples and Jesper Parnevik, the PGA Tour's most famous Swedish player.
"He's one of those mystery Swedes," Parnevik said. "Even the Swedish golfers didn't have a clue he was from Sweden for a while."
Pettersson moved to England when he was 10, then to North Carolina five years ago when his father was transferred to the United States while working for Volvo.
The head of the Swedish Golf Federation noticed his name among the college rankings in 2000. He called Pettersson with two important questions: Was he really from Sweden? And would he represent the homeland as an amateur?
Pettersson won the European Amateur in Austria, and he played on the Swedish team that finished fourth in the World Team Amateur.
Since leaving North Carolina State, he hasn't made any headlines except for sharing the first-round lead at Muirfield in the 2002 British Open, and finishing second by four shots to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines last year.
Now he has a chance to make a name for himself.
"It all depends on the weekend," Pettersson said.
He will play the Sunrise course Saturday with Faxon, who was exceptional as ever with his putter. Faxon had five birdies in a seven-hole stretch — one of them after a fortunate bounce off a trash can — and saved par on four of his final five holes in making a 36-hole cut for the first time this year.
SBC CLASSIC: At Santa Clarita, Calif., Peter Jacobsen got off to a fast start in his Champions Tour debut, shooting a 5-under 67 on Friday for a share of the first-round lead. Jacobsen, who turned 50 last week, made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole to pull even with Craig Stadler, Gil Morgan, Don Pooley and Mike McCulloch.
QATAR MASTERS: At Doha, Qatar, Ian Woosnam shot a 3-under-par 69 Friday and shared the lead with four others after two rounds. Joining the Welshman at 6-under 138 were: Gregory Havret of France (68), Gary Murphy of Ireland (67), Andrew Oldcorn of Scotland (70) and Nobuhito Sato of Japan (70).
WELCH'S/FRY'S CHAMPIONSHIP: AT Tucson, Ariz., Karen Stupples, an admirer of English golf icon and countrywoman Laura Davies, will be playing in the same threesome with her for the first time. Stupples put together a 4-under 66 Friday to take a one-shot lead over Davies and Jung Yeon Lee.