Langer, at 50 the second oldest player in the field, tamed extremely strong winds to card five-under-par 67, the day's best round at the demanding Sawgrass TPC.

Boosted by an unlikely monster birdie from 60 feet at the famous par-three 17th, the German joined fellow European and first-round leader Sergio Garcia and American Paul Goydos, in a tie for second at five-under 139, while Perry shot a steady 70 to edge in the front.

"It was awesome. I hit the ball really well, had lots of opportunities," said Langer, who revealed he was playing in pain.

"My back's been sore, my knee, my shoulder. The physios have been a great help, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to play."

Langer, a two-time runner up in 1993 and 1995, made a stunning start, gathering an eagle and four birdies in the first eight holes.

Later, at the island-green 17th, his tee shot barely cleared the water, stopping on the front of the green, just about the length of a cricket wicket from the cup.

The usually stoic Langer pumped a fist in celebration when the ball disappeared, but what the golfing gods give, they also take away, as he found out with a bogey at the last, where he missed the green.

Spaniard Garcia, meanwhile, produced another superb long game display, hitting every fairway and missing only three greens in regulation.

A 73 was not much reward for his efforts, but he could hardly complain about his position.

"Unfortunately, I shot the highest score I could today," said Garcia, whose observation was spot on. "I drove the ball unbelievably and hit a lot of good iron shots."

Ian Poulter headed an otherwise non-existent British challenge, five strokes behind, but he was frustrated.

"I'm extremely disappointed with how I finished," said Poulter, who dropped four shots in the final six holes for a 74, still better than the average score in the brutal conditions.

Luke Donald was the only other British player to make the cut, with Richard Johnson (six-over), Lee Westwood (seven-over), Justin Rose (seven-over), Brian Davis (eight-over) and Paul Casey (nine-over) all making early exits, along with Irishman Padraig Harrington (six-over).

And Donald had to work hard to stay alive. He dug himself into a deep hole with an opening 75, but fought back with a rollercoaster 72 to post a three-over 147 total, advancing to the weekend with nothing to spare.

"Yesterday was definitely worse than today," he said. "I only hit four fairways and seven greens (in regulation) yesterday. Today I hit a lot more greens but I'm still making too many mistakes.

"I'm working really hard and waiting for something to click, but still struggling a bit.

"It's about getting a couple of good rounds, boosting your confidence, because I know I'm working on the right things.

"Technically, my swing is getting better. It's not resulting in better results but it's going to come soon."

From Andrew Both, PA Sport

ALL THE SECOND ROUND SCORES
(USA unless stated, par 72):

138 Kenny Perry 68 70

139 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 73, Paul Goydos 68 71

140 Anthony Kim 70 70

141 Boo Weekley 70 71

142 Ben Crane 70 72, Kevin Stadler 70 72, John Merrick 70 72, Briny Baird 71 71, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 68, Fred Couples 70 72

143 Phil Mickelson 70 73, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 74

144 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 73 71, Bart Bryant 73 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 73, Jeff Quinney 71 73, Chris DiMarco 71 73, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 72 72, J J Henry 71 73, J.B. Holmes 72 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 74, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 71

145 Billy Mayfair 72 73, Heath Slocum 69 76, Cliff Kresge 74 71, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 76, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 74, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 75, Chad Campbell 73 72, Robert Allenby (Aus) 74 71, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 71

146 Jerry Kelly 74 72, Pat Perez 72 74, Adam Scott (Aus) 75 71, Brian Gay 72 74, Tom Lehman 73 73, Stewart Cink 71 75, Ben Curtis 74 72, Todd Hamilton 69 77, Dean Wilson 74 72, Brett Quigley 70 76, Jim Furyk 74 72, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 76 70, Tim Petrovic 73 73, Troy Matteson 70 76, Rocco Mediate 74 72, Johnson Wagner 72 74, Ryan Moore 72 74, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 72 74

147 Nick Watney 76 71, Woody Austin 71 76, David Toms 77 70, Greg Kraft 75 72, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 73 74, Tommy Armour III 71 76, Mike Weir (Can) 71 76, Jose Coceres (Arg) 72 75, Ken Duke 72 75, Nicholas Thompson 70 77, Jason Bohn 74 73, Davis Love III 73 74, Mark Wilson 76 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 74 73, Kevin Na (Kor) 72 75, Luke Donald (Eng) 75 72, Camilo Villegas (Col) 74 73, Jonathan Byrd 76 71, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 70, D.J. Trahan 70 77

------------------------Following players missed the Cut---------------------------

148 Vijay Singh (Fij) 75 73, Sean O'Hair 75 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 79, John Senden (Aus) 76 72, Kevin Sutherland 73 75, Brandt Snedeker 72 76, Alex Cejka (Ger) 72 76

149 Justin Leonard 75 74, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 77, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 73 76, Mark Hensby (Aus) 78 71, Bubba Watson 76 73, Scott Verplank 71 78, Brian Bateman 74 75, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 77 72

150 Richard Johnson (Wal) 77 73, Steve Flesch 74 76, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 77 73, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 74 76, Michael Allen 73 77, John Rollins 78 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 78 72, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 72 78

151 George McNeill 77 74, Justin Rose (Eng) 78 73, Mark Calcavecchia 76 75, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 74 77, Joe Ogilvie 74 77, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 70 81, Fred Funk 74 77, Lee Westwood (Eng) 73 78, Peter Lonard (Aus) 77 74

152 Brian Davis (Eng) 77 75, Dudley Hart 75 77, Bob Estes 77 75, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74 78, Shaun Micheel 77 75, Rich Beem 72 80, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 77 75, John Mallinger 75 77, Matthew Jones (Aus) 75 77

153 Steve Stricker 77 76, Vaughn Taylor 78 75, Jeff Overton 74 79, Steve Lowery 77 76, Matt Kuchar 78 75, Charles Howell III 79 74, Paul Casey (Eng) 77 76, Dustin Johnson 73 80, Bill Haas 76 77, Brett Wetterich 71 82

154 Tim Herron 73 81, Bo Van Pelt 74 80, Tom Pernice Jnr. 75 79

155 Robert Garrigus 79 76, Zach Johnson 76 79

156 Steve Marino 77 79, Andres Romero (Arg) 77 79

157 KJ Choi (Kor) 79 78

158 J.P. Hayes 83 75

159 Charles Warren 77 82, Charley Hoffman 76 83, Lucas Glover 80 79, Tim Clark (Rsa) 77 82