Second round: Stricker back on top at The Barclays
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) -- Steve Stricker is right at home at Ridgewood Country Club -- and the top of The Barclays leaderboard.
A year after winning across the Hudson at Westchester Country Club, the Wisconsin player shot a 7-under 64 in perfect morning conditions Friday to take a three-stroke lead over Hunter Mahan in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup opener.
"This reminds me of home to tell you the truth," Stricker said. "This looks like a course that could be very easily in the Midwest somewhere. It reminds me of Medinah a lot. The grasses are the same. We putt on poa annua greens a lot where I'm from. It's bentgrass fairways, bluegrass rough and everything reminds me of home."
The 41-year-old Stricker, 21st in the FedExCup standings, had a 10-under 132 total on the tree-lined A.W. Tillinghast layout, the tournament site for the first time after 41 seasons at Westchester. He hasn't made a bogey since dropping strokes on the first two holes Thursday, playing his last 23 holes in 11 under.
"I think the course is in such good shape, that's why the scoring is good," Stricker said. "I think as we get further along, the scoring could get a little bit better just because guys will find a way to play it, understand it a little bit more and feel a little bit more comfortable with what they are doing out there."
Mahan, 31st in the FedExCup standings, followed his opening 62 with a 73.
"I probably hit it better than I did yesterday, but nothing went in," Mahan said.
Kenny Perry, effectively the FedExCup leader with top-ranked Tiger Woods sidelined by a knee injury, shot a 67 to join Angel Cabrera (67) and Dudley Hart (69) at 6 under.
"I'm ecstatic," Perry said. "I'm in a good position."
Anthony Kim (67), Sergio Garcia (67), Kevin Streelman (70), Charley Hoffman (70) and Paul Casey (71) were 5 under.
"I definitely played a lot better," Kim said. "It's a lot more fun when you're not hitting out of the trees and chipping out sideways."
Phil Mickelson was eight strokes back at 2 under after a 70.
"A lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys," Mickelson said. "I need to go out (Saturday) and have a good day and shoot 6 or 7 under."
Padraig Harrington had rounds of 72 and 73 to miss the cut by two strokes.
"I'm tired," the British Open and PGA Championship winner said. "I tried hard, but struggled to focus this afternoon. It really is a knockdown after the last couple of weeks."
To read the remainder of the story, click here.
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| Friday's Best |
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The par-4, 380-yard first hole was the easiest on Friday with a 3.719 scoring average.
The par-4, 475-yard 12th hole was the toughest again on Friday with a 4.393 scoring average.
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Kenny Perry nearly aced the par-3, 155-yard 15th hole. Using a pitching wedge, Perry stuck his tee shot a foot from the hole and made the putt for birdie. 
Steve Stricker made five birdies and an eagle en route to a 7-under 64 on Friday. The defending champ took the lead with that red-hot performance. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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KIM STINGS BACK ON FRIDAY
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
PARAMUS, N.J. -- On Friday, Anthony Kim, not an angry swarm of bees, went on the offensive at Ridgewood Country Club.
And the phenomenal 23-year-old, who had been stung by one bee and found several others creeping up his pants leg on Thursday, was rewarded with a 67 that left him 5 under at the midway point of The Barclays. Kim, who entered the first event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup seeded fifth, trails defending champion Steve Stricker by five strokes.
"I haven't played a round that well in a long time," Kim said. "My scores have been okay, but I really felt like I played some good golf so I'm very excited."
Kim saw cause for optimism because he did a much better job keeping the ball in the fairway, rather than flirting with the huge oaks and fir trees that line the tight fairways on this A.W. Tillinghast masterpiece. He hit 10 fairways on Friday, which was twice the amount he found during the first round.
"It's a lot more fun when you're not hitting out of the trees and chipping out sideways," Kim said. "(I) definitely had a good time out there and definitely my game is improving."
To read the rest of this story, click here.
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STRICKER PLAYING TO WIN AND DEFEND, MAKE THE RYDER CUP TEAM
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
PARAMUS, N.J. -- He doesn't want another one of those calls.
He doesn't want to pick up the phone in a few weeks and have the conversation begin with, "It was a tough decision, but... "
He's heard that twice now. Once from Ben Crenshaw; once from Tom Lehman. And it still gnaws at him.
So close to a Ryder Cup spot, yet so far away. A consideration, not a choice.
You'll have to pardon Steve Stricker if his mind is a bit cluttered this week. If he can't just take a deep breath and tell himself to take care of business at Ridgewood Country Club this week and the rest will take care of itself. If, right now, he can't see the forest for all the dang trees.
Stricker isn't just trying to defend his title here at The Barclays, which comes with crystal, a gi-normous paycheck and the lead after round one of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
He's also trying to make the 2008 Ryder Cup team.
To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
Sirius XM Radio announcer Fred Albers offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
There are a thousand trees at Ridgewood Country Club and Steve Stricker made friends with a few of them en route to a second-round 64. On the par-4 14th, he hit the trunk of a pine tree dead center with his drive. The ball bounced to the right where he had a decent lie and opening to make par. On the 18th, Stricker's drive played pinball with a grove of oak trees but came to rest with an opening to the green which also led to par. To Stricker's credit, he took advantage of the good breaks to be 10-under par and lead The Barclays.
| 3 | How many players had bogey-free rounds on Friday, including Steve Stricker, Angel Cabrera and Eric Axley. |
| 7 | Number of players who missed the cut and are now out of the Playoffs. They are David Toms, James Driscoll, Tom Lehman, Joe Durant, Jason Gore, Jon Mills and Chris DiMarco. |
Rocco Mediate's fame is about to grow a little larger. Mediate, who lost to Tiger Woods in a playoff at the U.S. Open, is going into the book business. Discussions are in progress with renown author John Feinstein for a book which would be published shortly before next year's national championship.
Charles Howell III is at an all-time high, weighing 158 pounds. The long hitter has been working out with an Olympic fever while consuming 6,000 calories per day. If that seems a huge amount of food, consider Olympic champion Michael Phelps reportedly consumes 12,000 calories per day.
SERGIO & SOCCER
Just call Sergio Garcia a twin-ball wizard.
When he's home and not swinging a golf club, you can find him practicing with Borriol, his hometown football team -- soccer to those of us in the States.
Garcia is left-footed and normally plays either midfield left side or forward left side. And, he made a few practices last week when he was home.
"It's good fun," said Garcia, who is 5 under for the tournament going into this weekend. "Obviously for me, it's something that I've loved my whole life, playing soccer, as a good Spaniard, I might say it's every kid's dream growing up in Spain. So I like to stay in touch with it.
"And it helps me ... disconnect from golf, which is what you have to do in some of those week offs. So when I'm playing tennis or soccer or something like that, I mean, there's not a chance there's one thought about golf at that moment, and that's what I love about it."
Does Garcia, who also has friends with the Real Madrid team, like to pass the ball or score?
"Well, obviously we all like to score, but no, I probably prefer passing the ball," Garcia said. "I try to score once in awhile when I have a good chance, but you know, a good pass always makes you feel good."
To check out more notes and re-live the second round, click here.
STATS AND FACTS: AUG. 22, 2008
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.
• Steve Stricker has shown a steady game through the first two rounds of The Barclays this week. Stricker is 3-under par on the par-3 holes, 4-under par on the par 4s and 3-under par on the par 5s. This is the third PGA TOUR event in Stricker's TOUR career where he has been at least 3-under par on each par hole after two rounds of play. The other two occurrences came at the 2003 Phoenix Open and the 1998 Greater Milwaukee Open.
Only two other players over the past 25 years of The Barclays have been able to post numbers such as Stricker's this week. At last year's event, K.J Choi pulled the trick by going 3-under par on the par 3s, 5-under on the par 4s and 4-under on the par 5s. And at the 1985 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic, George Burns played the par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes at 3-under, 4-under and 3-under respectively.
• Steve Stricker leads after two rounds of The Barclays. This is the 10th time in a PGA TOUR event that Stricker has led at the conclusion of a round. The 64 by Stricker today is his lowest score posted in a round that propelled him to the top of the leaderboard. Stricker's previous low was a 65 during Round 3 at last year's Barclays held at the Westchester Country Club. Stricker went on to hold that lead and claim victory in the inaugural event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
• Hunter Mahan seems to struggle when holding a lead in the first round of a PGA TOUR event. In Mahan's short TOUR career, he has held five first-round leads. In four of those, including today's 2-over par 73, Mahan has been unable to shoot at least even par in the second round. The only event he posted par or better in Round 2 was at the 2005 John Deere Classic. But it's not all bad news for Mahan, since in three of the previous four he was able to record top-5 finishes, including a victory at the 2007 Travelers Championship.
• Eric Axley had to be disappointed with his play in yesterday's first round of The Barclays. Axley carded a 7-over par 78, but was able to rebound in today's second round with a round of 65. The 13-stroke difference is the largest of any kind from one round to the next in Axley's PGA TOUR career. Axley's previous high was a 12-stroke difference at the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans when he carded a 7-under-par 65 in the second round only to balloon to a 5-over-par 77 in the third.
THINGS TO WATCH ON SATURDAY
1. A chip off the old block? Bill Haas, who began the week in 107th on the FedExCup list, needs a strong finish to be assured of making it to the Deutsche Bank Championship. But, if he takes after papa Jay Haas -- Jay played in The Barclays 27 times and nearly won three of them -- he will do well. Bill is currently tied for 14th after two rounds.
2. Will he join Vijay Singh? Only Singh has won The Barclays three times but Sergio Garcia could be added to that list this week. Garcia, currently in a tie for sixth, won in 2001 and 2004.
3. Another top-10 for Angel? Angel Cabrera, who captured the U.S. Open title in 2007, fired a bogey-free 67 on Day 2 and vaulted into the top 10. Surprisingly, Cabrera only has one top-10 finish since his win at last year's U.S. Open. This week also marks the first time Cabrera has opened with back-to-back rounds in the 60s since the 2005 CA Championship.
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