Live notes: Second round of THE TOUR Championship

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Sergio Garcia is setting himself up for another duel with Anthony Kim this weekend at East Lake.

THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola is the final stage of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, and PGATOUR.COM's crew is on the scene. We'll provide continuous coverage of Friday's second round, so check back often.
SECOND ROUND: Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | FedExCup points projection

EARLY THIRD-ROUND TEE TIMES (7:30 p.m. ET): Unlike in the first two rounds in which the first groups went off just before noon, tee times have been moved up for the third round.

The first twosome, Kenny Perry and Tim Clark, will go off at 9:05 a.m. ET on Saturday. The final twosome, Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia, will tee off at 11:25 a.m.

For a complete list of third-round tee times, click here.

SECOND-ROUND FORESHADOWING? (6: 26 p.m. ET): Anthony Kim will spend the weekend trying to become the 12th player to win THE TOUR Championship after having at least a share of the second-round lead. If Kim does it, he would also be the fourth player in a row to do so:

KIM IN AT 69 (5:52 p.m. ET): A bogey on the last hole left Anthony Kim with a 1-under 69 in the second round. He will take a two-shot lead going into the weekend after starting the second round four shots ahead.

Kim, who has never led a TOUR event after 36 holes, will be paired with Sergio Garcia in a rematch of Sunday's Ryder Cup match.

GARCIA IN AT 65 (5:15 p.m. ET): Sergio Garcia has posted the low round of the day, a 5-under 65 that leaves him at 5 under for the tournament, three shots behind Anthony Kim.

Garcia was bogey-free until the closing hole, the par-3 18th when he found the rough with his tee shot and couldn't save par.

It appears Garcia will play with Kim in Saturday's final-round pairing. If so, Garcia will be looking to get some revenge for Kim's 5 & 4 win last Sunday in their Singles match at the Ryder Cup.

VILLEGAS IN AT 66 (4:48 p.m. ET): Camilo Villegas, fresh off his first TOUR win at the BMW Championship, rebounded from his first-round 2-over 72 to climb back up the leaderboard with a 4-under 66 on Friday.

Villegas

Villegas is now 2 under for the tournament, six shots behind Anthony Kim.

"I played pretty solid today," Villegas said. "That's what happens when you hit fairways and hit better putts than yesterday. This golf course is playing very, very tough and you definitely have to put the ball in play."

Villegas entered THE TOUR Championship second in FedExCup points. He can't mathematically catch Vijay Singh (unless Singh doesn't finish either of the next two rounds), but he does has quite a bit on the line this weekend.

Not only would he be trying to win his second TOUR event, but if he can remain in second place in FedExCup points, he'll claim a $3 million bonus.

VIJAY UPDATE (4:40 p.m. ET): Vijay Singh is now just two rounds away from the FedExCup and the $10 million bonus prize, but it's been a stumble for the first two days.

After shooting a 3-over 73 in the opening round, Singh finished Friday's second round with a 74. His scorecard included six bogeys and just two birdies, both on the backside.

The 74 is his highest score ever in 30 rounds played at East Lake during THE TOUR Championship. And it ties for his highest round ever at THE TOUR Championship.

BOGEY FREE (4:13 p.m. ET): No player was able to go bogey-free in the first round, but Sergio Garcia and Mike Weir have yet to card a bogey in Friday's round. Garcia is 5 under for his round through 13 holes ahile Weir is 2 under through 12 holes. Both players shot even-par 70 on Thursday.

66 IN THE CLUBHOUSE (3:52 p.m. ET): Robert Allenby just finished up his 4-under 66 that moves him into the top 10 on the leaderboard.

Allenby

Allenby shot a 5-over 75 in the first round. The Australian had tinkered with his swing during the two-week break, but said he was a lot more comfortable on Friday than on Thursday.

"Yesterday I was still working on the changes," Allenby told XM radio. "Today, I just hit the shots that were required."

Allenby is making his fourth TOUR start at East Lake, and he said the course is playing extremely tough.

"It's a golf course if you miss the fairway, you get penalized pretty badly," he said, adding that the greens "are probably the hardest on TOUR."

Yet the greens are not unfamiliar to Allenby. He said his home course, Admiral's Cove in Jupiter, Fla., put in the same greens -- Mini-Verde ultra dwarf bermudagrass -- a year ago that East Lake has now installed.

The firm greens have made scoring difficult for the 30-man field this week.

"Next year it will be a totally different golf course," Allenby said. "The greens will be a lot more receptive."

PHIL UPDATE (3:45 p.m. ET): It wasn't a very productive front nine for Phil Mickelson.

Starting the day at 2 under after shooting 68 on Thursday, Mickelson bogeyed the second and sixth holes and has yet to make amends, as he made the turn at 37.

Going back to his last three holes on Thursday, Mickelson is now 4 over for his last 12 holes.

Still, he's currently tied for sixth, just five shots off the lead.

SERGIO UPDATE (3:15 p.m. ET): Sergio Garcia just completed his front nine in 5-under 30. That puts him on pace to tie the course record set last year by Zach Johnson, who shot a 10-under 60 in the third round.

Garcia is now just one shot behind tournament leader Anthony Kim, who is even par for his round.

SERGIO ON FIRE (2:55 p.m. ET): Sergio Garcia has climbed into second place thanks to a couple of long back-to-back birdie putts.

Garcia rolled in a 27-foot, 2-inch putt on the par-3 sixth, then followed that with a 25-foot, 1-inch putt on the par-4 seventh. If your counting, that's a combined 52 feet, 3 inches of putts in two strokes.

Garcia, who has hit every green in regulation thus far Friday, is now 4 under on his round after shooting even par in Thursday's first round.

SPIDER-MAN MAKING A CLIMB (2:30 p.m. ET): Camilo Villegas is off to a solid start in his second round, with birdies in three of his first eight holes to move to 1 under for the tournament.

Sure, Villegas got everyone's attention for his win at the BMW Championship, but that victory was hardly a one-weekend wonder. Coming into this week, Villegas has three top-four finishes in his past four starts, including a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship and a tie for third at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Earlier this year, he also tied for ninth at the U.S. Open and finished third at the AT&T Classic back in May.

Here's a bit of food for thought, as well: Villegas tied for ninth last year here at East Lake with a Sunday 66 -- his lowest round that week. -- Mark Spoor

KIM-GARCIA REDUX? (2:25 p.m. ET): We can dream, can't we?

Anthony Kim doesn't show any signs of letting up, making birdie on his first hole to move to 7 under. Ernie Els currently is tied with Sergio Garcia, who has birdied two of his first five holes, at 2 under.

What do you think about a third-round pairing on Saturday of Kim and Garcia, whom he beat in the Ryder Cup 5 & 4? It could happen if the Spaniard can keep playing well. Since playing his first six holes Thursday in 4 over, Garcia is now 7 under through the last 18 holes he has played. -- Helen Ross

MASTERS INVITE (2:15 p.m. ET): One of the perks of making the 30-man field of THE TOUR Championship is an automatic invite to the Masters next year.

Three players at East Lake this week have never played the Masters -- Anthony Kim, Ryuji Imada and Ken Duke.

Kim and Imada each won PGA TOUR events this year and would have received invites anyway, but Duke is in due to making it to East Lake. Kevin Sutherland, Briny Baird, Billy Mayfair and Bubba Watson -- who have each played at least one Masters -- also can make travel plans to Augusta due to making THE TOUR Championship field.

Sutherland, incidentally, has not played the Masters since 2003. Baird will be making his first appearance at Augusta since 2004.

Here are the number of Masters appearances for each player in this week's field:

BACK ON TRACK (1:48 p.m. ET): After struggling through a 4-over 74 in Thursday's first round, Hunter Mahan appears to have steadied the ship. He's a bogey-free 2 under through his first seven holes and has needed just 10 putts in the process.

Mahan had three bogeys and a double during his Thursday round. -- Mark Spoor

JUSTIN UPDATE (1:40 p.m. ET): Justin Leonard got off to a great start Friday, with three birdies in his first four holes, in which he one-putted every green. After dropping in a 19-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole, he was 3 under for his round and even par for the tournament.

But his good start has now been offset by a double bogey on the par-3 sixth when his tee shot found the water.

VIJAY UPDATE (1:05 p.m. ET): Vijay Singh continues to go backwards at THE TOUR Championship.

He bogeyed his first two holes Friday -- bringing his total for 20 holes to seven -- and is currently 5 over for the tournament as he plays No. 4..

Good thing Singh, who has never finished lower than ninth at East Lake, has that FedExCup and the $10 million bonus locked up when he finished 72 holes. -- Helen Ross

TOUGH AGAIN (12:50 p.m. ET): With the first eight twosomes having teed off, 52 holes have now been played Friday at East Lake ... and just five birdies have been recorded.

Thursday's first-round scoring average of 72.233 was the highest single-round scoring average of any round in THE TOUR Championship's history at East Lake.

PLENTY OF ACCURACY (12:15 p.m. ET): Briny Baird and Hunter Mahan have just teed off in the fifth pairing off the day. You can bet they won't be hitting many stray approach shots.

That's because Baird ranks first on TOUR in greens in regulation, hitting 70.51 percent of greens. Mahan ranks second at 69.62 percent.

In Thursday's first round, Mahan was tied for second in the field, hitting 13 of 18 greens in regulation. Baird was tied for 11th, hitting 10 greens.

Here's the top five on TOUR this year:

WHAT HANGOVER? (12:03 p.m. ET): On Thursday, Anthony Kim defied the supposed Ryder Cup hangover to take a four-shot lead after the first round. It's interesting to note that the man who is tied for the lead at the Quinn Insurance British Masters on the European Tour also played at Valhalla last week.

Lee Westwood is 6 under and tied with Thongchai Jaidee at the top of the leaderboard. Only one other European Ryder Cupper, Graeme McDowell, is playing at The Belfry this week, and he is currently projected to miss the cut after playing 36 holes in 3 over.

Westwood had a disappointing Ryder Cup, going 0-2-2, so maybe he has some steam to let off. -- Helen Ross

IS THE GLASS HALF-EMPTY OR HALF-FULL? (11:49 a.m. ET): Here are some points about Anthony Kim that either bolster the argument that he will win this week-- or bolster the argument that he won't.

He will win because ...
• Kim's 64 on Thursday is tied for the lowest round he's fired on TOUR this season.
• His four-shot lead after Thursday's first round is the same advantage he had after the third round of the Wachovia Championship in May, which he won.

He won't win because ...
• Kim has held the first-round lead two other times in his TOUR career and has no wins to show for it. He held a share of the lead at this year's RBC Canadian Open (finished T8) and the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (finished T18).
• No first-round leader has gone on to win THE TOUR Championship since Bart Bryant did it in 2005. -- Mark Spoor

RARE PAIRINGS (11:46 a.m. ET): The last two groups of the day are Trevor Immelman-Phil Mickelson, who tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET, and Anthony Kim-Ernie Els, who tee off 10 minutes later.

Immelman and Mickelson have only been paired one other time in their careers, in the first two rounds of the 2005 British Open when their threesome also included Ian Poulter.

Likewise, Kim and Els have only played together one time on TOUR, in the third round of The Barclays in 2007. That threesome also included Sergio Garcia.

Unlike other TOUR events, THE TOUR Championship re-pairs the 30-man field after each round.

WEATHER UPDATE (11:25 a.m. ET): The sun is shining as the second round is about to begin. But there is a slight chance of showers this afternoon. Also, the winds could pick up, with gusts up to 20 mph.