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By T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- When he left the course on Thursday evening after shooting a 6-over-par 78 in the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship, Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal knew he'd need an impressive round on Friday to make the cut.

Jose Maria Olazabal bounced back with an impressive 66 on Friday after a 78 on Thursday. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Jose Maria Olazabal at THE PLAYERS

Year Finish Score to Par 2006 7 -4 2004 CUT +6 2003 CUT +4 2002 T-36 +3 2001 T-12 -4 2000 CUT +10 1999 T-52 +10 1998 T-25 Even 1995 T-23 +3 1994 T-14 -7 1993 CUT +7 1992 T-9 -8 1991 CUT +4

• Player Page:  Jose Maria Olazabal

Impressive rounds aren't exactly easy to come by on a course as grueling and demanding as THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. But Olazabal, a two-time major champion, was an absolute force on Friday, putting together an outstanding round of 6-under-par 66. That put him at even par for the tournament and he easily made the cut.

So what was the difference between Thursday and Friday?

Simple.

"Twelve strokes," Olazabal said. "I didn't hit the ball much different than yesterday, meaning that I didn't strike the ball all that well. But, you know, I managed to keep the ball in play off the tee more today than I did yesterday and when those putts go in, it makes a difference."

Six of those 12 strokes Olazabal made up came thanks to a run of six birdies in seven holes, starting on the Spaniard's seventh hole of the day -- the par-5 16th. He followed that by holing a 51-footer for birdie on the world-famous 17th hole, parred No. 18 and then rolled off four birdies in a row to start his back nine. All of that happened after a bogey to start the day on No. 10.

"I made a bomber. I was lucky on 17," he said. "I pushed my tee shot to the right and actually the ball just turned into that shallow area down at the bottom... I made it from there. Sometimes you need to have those kind of breaks to help your round."

Olazabal admitted he had some incentive to play well and make the cut after taking a bogey at his first hole of the day.

"I was looking to that long flight back home, to be honest," he said. "It didn't look very good. But, you know, it's something that you have to keep on trying. It was early in the day. It was a good thing I birdied 11 straight away and then birdied 13. Well, that cheered me up a little bit."

Olazabal has had his ups and downs in 2007. He's got three missed cuts and no top-10s, and his best finish was a tie for 13th at the Nissan Open. However, he came to Ponte Vedra this week after a promising tie for 16th at the Wachovia Championship.

Olazabal has two top-10 finishes in his career at the Stadium Course -- a seventh in 2006 and tie for ninth in 1992 -- but other than that he hasn't exactly torn it up.

"It's a course that -- over the years, for whatever reason, when I'm standing on the golf course -- maybe it's because you don't have anywhere to bail out," he said. "It's one of those golf courses that you really have to hit the shot good. If you just mis-hit it a little bit, you are going to end up in trouble. I think maybe that's it."