ORLANDO, Fla. — Golf can be so fickle, so cruel that you can play on the PGA Tour for over two decades and, all of a sudden, learn that your greatest skill suddenly has disappeared.

For the past half year, Scott Verplank has feared that he will never putt well again. He regularly practices with four, five or six different putters just to try to find something that will fix his stroke. His putting average this year has dropped to 72nd on Tour, down from ninth in 2005.

A new grip and a new position for his hands when he strikes the ball have him in the lead after two rounds at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. The veteran fired an 8-under 64 today on Disney's Palm course to go to 16-under for the tournament. He holds a three-shot lead over Troy Matteson and Steve Marino.

"I've been doing this for about 30 years," Verplank said after he had finished. "But when you go a half year or a whole year without hitting good putts, it alters your confidence and your attitude a little bit."

Verplank woke up Friday morning feeling just a bit off-kilter — congestion, he said — but by the early afternoon, he suddenly found himself "into some zone where I had no idea where I was."

He sank a 15-foot putt on No. 6 for birdie, then birdied Nos. 7, 10 and 11. He felt positively otherworldly on the Par 5 No. 14, when he misjudged a 50- to 60-foot putt but saw it roll in anyway for eagle.

Disney officials bill their theme park as a place "where dreams come true," and if that wasn't quite the case with Verplank, a world-wise 44-year-old, it certainly felt that way Friday to 28-year-old Erik Compton.

Just five months removed from his second heart transplant, Compton shot a 4-under 68 on the Magnolia course, finished his second round at 6-under and made the cut. He completed the round in triumphant style, sinking a birdie on 18 with a 29-foot putt.

"I mean, it's a huge accomplishment," Compton said. "I'm not one to sit here and ring my own bell, but it's right up there."

Compton trails Verplank by 10 strokes, and now that play will shift exclusively to the longer, tougher Magnolia course today and Sunday, scores shouldn't be quite as low.

Verplank has won five PGA Tour events, the first in 1985, when he captured the Western Open as an amateur. This year's tournament at Disney marks the 11th time in his career that he's held a 36-hole lead.

He'll begin his round today at Magnolia No. 1 at 10:50 this morning alongside Matteson and Marino. Verplank is the steely veteran. Matteson, who will be celebrating his 29th birthday today, has one career PGA Tour victory. Marino, just 28, still seeks his first Tour victory.

"I've had a really consistent year, made almost every cut," Marino said. "But, obviously, I'd like to get a win under my belt."

Matteson spent the day teamed up with amateur Tim Brown, the former Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame who became a star wide receiver in the NFL.

After Matteson bogeyed No. 9 and No. 18 after missing par putts of 5 and 15 feet, respectively, Matteson still helped Brown read his putts. No frowning. No complaining. No pouting. Just helping out a guy he had never met until Friday.

"In every sport, you're going to have some guys who may not be as gentlemanly as you would like them to be, but that's not Troy," Brown said. "He's a very nice guy. No matter what he did on the course today, whether it was birdie or bogey, he was chatting it up. He was helping me with every putt that I had."

Matteson understands that when it comes to putting, there's almost no such thing as having too much help.

Verplank almost always used to have his putting under control. He ranked eighth on Tour in putting average in 2002, seventh in 2003, 11th in 2004 and ninth in 2005. Then came a slow decline to 31st in 2006, 41st in 2007 and, now, 72nd.

Leave it to the courses at Disney to rejuvenate his game. He has now made 13 consecutive cuts at the Disney tournament. He has played 52 competitive rounds in the event, but the last two — a pair of 8-under 64s — have been his best.

A reporter asked Verplank late Friday afternoon if he had finally found a "cure" for his problems on the greens.

"So far, it's a two-day cure," Verplank said.

As the veteran knows all too well, a putting stroke can disappear as quickly as it returns.

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