E-notes: Comebacks, close calls and course changes

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How about this comeback? Kevin Stadler began the Frys.com Open with a first-round 81 before returning in the second round to go 20 strokes better with a course-record-equaling 61. The 20-stroke turnaround was the biggest on TOUR since Jonathan Kaye went 83-62 at the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Stadler's two-day total of 142 still missed the cut, though.

Tway

Bob Tway will turn 50 May 4, and if he holds onto his lead in the Putting category, he'll become the oldest player to ever lead that statistic. He's averaging 1.716 putts per green in regulation with Ryan Palmer second at 1.723. Don Pooley led the TOUR in Putting in 1997 at age 46 to set the current mark. Tway, by the way, also leads the TOUR in Actual Scoring Average.

The field at this week's Ginn sur Mer Classic features 14 players who have won in 2008, including the last three tournament winners Zach Johnson, Marc Turnesa and Cameron Beckman.

Patrick Sheehan is currently the man in the hot seat at 125th on the money list. Sheehan is $6,654 ahead of No. 126, Jeff Overton, with just two weeks remaining in the season.

The Monday finish at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic was the fourth such finish on TOUR in 2007, joining The Honda Classic, Verizon Heritage and the Deutsche Bank Championship, which traditionally has a scheduled Labor Day finish.

Sutherland

Kevin Sutherland just missed getting his second career win last week at the Frys.com Open. His first TOUR victory came in 2002 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. It was his 184th career start. His start last week in Scottsdale was the 182nd since that victory. Perhaps that second career win is right around the corner.

Ken Duke had an excellent week in front of family and friends at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic. Duke lived within four miles of the Tesoro Club in Port St. Lucie, FL, and wound up tied for fifth, his fifth top-10 of the year. Duke, the 2006 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, went on to finish No. 37 on the official money list. He is in the field this week as the tournament moves north to Palm Coast. This season, Duke is 39th on the money list.

Chopra

Daniel Chopra's win at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic was worth $810,000 and moved him from No. 104 to No. 46 on the season money list. He eventually finished No. 48 on the final money chart. Chopra's season total increased to $1,744,438, topping his previous best from 2006 when he finished No. 54 on the money list. The win was key because it earned him a playing spot in the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship to open this season, a tournament Chopra won.

Eric Axley had the tournament's first hole-in-one and the final ace of the 2007 season when he put a "1" on his scorecard at the 17th hole in the first round. It was Axley's first PGA TOUR ace and his first since he made a hole-in-one at the 2006 Henrico County Open on the Nationwide Tour.

A year ago, Chris Tidland was one of 42 players on TOUR to record two eagles in the same round. Of those 42, though, only five players including Tidland had back-to-back eagles. Tidland eagled the first and second holes in the first round.