Arnold Palmer Invitational: Second-round notebook

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ORLANDO, Fla. -- A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 2-over-par 142. This is the sixth time in 2008 that the cut has been over par. The others came at the Buick Invitational (1 over), Northern Trust Open (3 over), Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya (4 over), The Honda Classic (4 over) and PODS Championship (3 over).

Charles Howell III tracked his tee shot on the 16th hole Friday at Bay Hill. (Cannon/WireImage)

• Lee Westwood is tied for third after two rounds at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 6-under 134. His 134 total matches his career-best first-36-hole low. He was at 134 at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2000 and held the second-round lead before finishing tied for 22nd. Westwood has not recorded a top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR since he finished tied for fifth at the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational. His only victory on the TOUR came when he won the 1998 Freeport-McDermott in New Orleans almost 10 years ago. His best finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was tied for fifth in 2006.

• Of the last nine times Vijay Singh has either held or shared the 36-hole lead at a PGA TOUR event, he has gone on to win seven times. The only times he hasn't was at last year's Wachovia Championship, where he tied for seventh, and when he tied for fifth at the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Championship. His seven victories have come at the following tournaments:
• 2007: Mercedes Benz Championship
• 2006: Barclays Classic
• 2005: Buick Open
• 2004: 84 LUMBER Classic
• 2004: Deutsche Bank Championship
• 2004: PGA Championship
• 2004: Buick Open

• Vijay Singh posted a second-round, 5-under 65, matching his low score at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. He posted a 65 in 1995 in the third round. Last year, Singh was 2 under par (70-68) and tied for 19th after two rounds. He went on to win with weekend rounds of 67-67.

• Vijay Singh, the defending champion and the 36-hole leader is a perfect 16 for 16 in cuts made at this event. Singh first teed it up at Bay Hill in 1993 and has a win and three runner-up finishes to his credit.

• Vaughn Taylor (tied for sixth) finished third last year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his best finish since a tie for third at the 2006 Verizon Heritage. Taylor is making his fourth career start at Bay Hill Club & Lodge this week. Last year, Taylor led Ben Curtis by two strokes through 54 holes but finished three strokes behind champion Vijay Singh after a closing 73.

• Past champion Chad Campbell sits tied for 10th heading into the weekend. Campbell has played well dating back to the end of last year, having won the Viking Classic in September of 2007. This year, he has made six of seven cuts heading into this week's action, including a tie for 10th at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

• Pat Perez, who fired a 5-under 65 Friday, recorded a hole-in-one on the 216-yard second hole using a 5-iron. It was his second hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR. His first hole-in-one came at the 2002 Reno Tahoe Open, his rookie season on the TOUR.

• Brian Davis had 36 putts en route to a 5-over-par 75 Thursday. Friday he responded by matching Trevor Immelman's best round of the day, a 6-under-par 64, thanks to just 24 putts. Davis' 64 matched his PGA TOUR career low, in the first round of the 2005 Ford Championship at Doral, where he finished tied for 44th.

• On Friday, Trevor Immelman matched his career PGA TOUR low, a 64 first set in the third round of the 2006 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Immelman's under-par round was just his second in 12 rounds in 2008 as he continues to come back from December surgery to remove a benign calcified fibrosis tumor from his diaphragm.

Scoring averages:

Past champions in the field and how

Past champions in the field and how they fared the first two days:

• There were three bogey-free rounds posted on Thursday (J.J. Henry, Rocco Mediate and Alex Cejka), while on Friday, Sergio Garcia was the only player to post a bogey free round.

• Tiger Woods has made 12-straight cuts in this tournament since turning professional. Woods missed the cut as an amateur in 1994 but has made it to the weekend every year since 1997 and has won four times (2000-2003). Below is where Woods has stood after each round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

• Twelve players making their first appearances in the Arnold Palmer Invitational made the cut, led by Ken Duke, who is tied for third, three strokes behind leader Vijay Singh. Here is the complete list of first timers: