On a day when Port Royal wasn’t able to bare its teeth, Irishman Padraig Harrington took full advantage of benign conditions to post a five-under-par 66 and take the halfway lead in the Grand Slam of Golf.Big-hitting Bubba Watson is leading the chase as he carded a three-under-68 with his fellow American Webb Simpson a further stroke behind on two-under-69.Defending champion Keegan Bradley endured a frustrating day and he props up the four-man field after a one-over-par 72, leaving him much to do in today’s final round if he’s to retain his title.Masters champion Watson set the early pace, reaching the turn at three-under but it was Harrington, a last-minute replacement for Ernie Els, who took control on the inward nine where a light breeze made shotmaking a little more difficult.Harrington, who’s hoping it will be a case of third time lucky, having lost the tournament in play-offs on his last two visits to Bermuda in 2007 and 2008 when the event was played at Mid Ocean Club, was pleased with his day’s work.“I was probably a little bit lucky that there wasn’t too much wind today,” he said.“The ball, the conditions, the golf course, all responded exactly how you would expect.“So there wasn’t a lot of local knowledge (needed) . . . but if we got a change of wind direction tomorrow that would be very awkward for the likes of myself Bubba and Webb.“I think Keegan said he played in a directly opposite wind from last year, so I hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow.”Watson said his length off the tee was of little advantage, particularly on a course which features a number of dog-leg holes.Indeed, it was one such hole, the tenth, that saw his lead disappear after he attempted to cut the corner, landed in the rough and couldn’t get up and down. He bogeyed while Harrington birdied to move one shot ahead.And it was a lead he never relinquished, his only hiccup coming at the signature 16th, a hole he described as the toughest par-three anywhere in the world. His tee shot landed short of the green and a poor chip left him with a two-putt bogey.It was on the front nine that Watson and Harrington established their superiority, the highlight of which was Watson’s eagle at the par-five seventh where he followed his thundering drive with a short iron to the green and a putt from around six feet.By that time Bradley’s troubles had left him at four-over par and struggling to keep in touch. A double bogey at the fourth where he drove into a bunker on the left of the fairway, fired into another bunker short of the green and then thinned a shot into the bunker behind the green was followed by a bogey on the short par-fifth, courtesy of another poor trap shot.With the tees brought forward on that par-four hole, Watson had no trouble smashing his drive onto the green and two-putting for birdie.Bradley dropped yet another stroke at the sixth and it wasn’t until the seventh that he finally found his form, starting a stretch which saw him birdie three out of four holes.Watson made the turn at three-under, Harrington at two-under, Simpson at even and Bradley two-over.The tussle between Harrington and Watson continued on the back nine but it was on the greens where the Masters champion lost his edge.He three-putted on three occasions and admitted afterwards he’d been confused by some of the greens.“The ball wasn’t tracking very well on the greens, not comfortable on the greens but other than that . . . three-under, I can’t get too mad at that.”It was Watson who provided perhaps the highlight of the day after driving his ball way to the left of the fairway on the 15th, his ball landing in a hazard near the 16th tee.What appeared to be an impossible recovery, he lofted his second shot over the gallery onto the green and from four feet proceeded to make birdie.“I sliced my tee shot, hit in the hazard and because of that I couldn’t ground the club,” he explained.“My caddie said we had about 130 yards, so I punched down on it and it came out perfect.“Somehow I pulled it off and luckily made the putt. It wasn’t a good shot if you missed the putt.”Harrington birdied the same hole and despite the bogey at the 16th, he maintained his lead, finishing with a birdie at 17th and par at the final hole.The Dubliner admitted he’d made some crucial putts that contributed to his 66.“ . . . reading the greens, hitting good putts, it’s so important,” he said.“It’s very hard to make a lot of birdies unless you’re holing putts.“If you want to do anything well, putt well; follow that with think well, and then probably follow that with drive well.”