The Starter: Round 2, Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines

text size

Feb. 6, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first group will soon tee off in today's second round of the Buick Invitational. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
11:50 am ET (8:50 am local)		Marc Turnesa, Camilo Villegas, Padraig Harrington* It will be interesting to see how Villegas handles the tougher South Course during a weather-challenged second round. Track 'em
12:50 pm ET (9:50 am local)		Aaron Baddeley, Retief Goosen, Davis Love III* Love and Baddeley both shot 66 to take advantage of the North Course in Round 1. A 72 on the South today would be a great score. Track 'em
12 pm ET (9 am local)		Phil Mickelson, Ben Curtis, Kevin Sutherland** Mickelson's 70 on the South Course on Thursday was as good as a 66 on the North Course. He's in the thick of it. Track 'em

*South Course **North Course

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Brett Wright previews Friday's second round:

Golf is not a game of perfect, and the short game trumps all.

Ready for a wild ride: Phil Mickelson started his day on the back nine at Torrey Pines' South Course on Thursday with a birdie, bogey, birdie. That pattern was indicative of the roller-coaster ride he took his fans on throughout the day. Fasten the seat belts and hold on.

The escape artist: Mickelson showed shades of short-game brilliance, but they were offset with some amateur misfires. Part of the day I was thinking he might shoot 66, and the rest of the day, I was thinking he was lucky to be under par.

Mickelson only hit six fairways off the tee. He missed the green at No. 2 from 90 yards with a sand wedge from the fairway. He played out of seven different bunkers. He missed each of the four par-3s in regulation and only hit 12 greens overall. Despite all the mistakes, he leaned on his putter for only 26 putts and a grinding 2-under 70.

Friday's forecast

Rainy
Temp: 62 high/54 low
90 percent chance of rain throughout the day. Winds will come out of from the south-southwest at 19 mph.

There were only two better scores on the South Course, both 69s. The world's No. 4-ranked player is still shaking off some off-season rust, but passing Torrey's toughest test (the South Course) unscathed, without his best stuff, was a huge confidence boost to the lefthander. Look for Phil to ring up a low number on the easier North Course in Round 2.

Whither the weather: The equalizer that can help Mickelson and all the players who played the South Course first is the weather. Friday's forecast is for a high of around 60 degrees and a 90 percent chance of rain with average winds gusting at 15 to 25 mph. This will give a tough layout rattlesnake venom-filled fangs.

The narrow fairways will be tougher to find in the wind, and the rough will become juicy and even more penalizing. The poa annua greens will become a little sticky and harder to judge distance and break. Overall distance will go down with the lower temperature and players will play more conservative shots. Watch for major shifts on the scoreboard from top to bottom on Friday as players jockey to make the cut and take a run at the leaders.

What a gentleman: Mickelson's wife Amy was carrying a little ladylike black umbrella when the rains really started falling on the last green. While waiting for Mickelson to sign his scorecard, I asked her where her big Callaway umbrella was (since Phil and I are on the Callaway Staff) and she smiled and said regretfully, "I know, I know." To Mickelson's credit, he walked out of the scoring trailer, right on cue, opened up the big Callaway umbrella and valiantly took it over to cover Amy and her friends. Forget the putter -- he's even smooth with the umbrella!

The one stat(s) you need to know

Camilo Villegas' first-round 9-under 63 tied his career low. He fired an 8-under 63 in the first round of the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship and repeated the feat again there in the third round in 2008. His Thursday 63 fell just two strokes shy of the North Course record of 11-under 61, set by Mark Brooks in 1990 and tied by Brandt Snedeker in 2007. Doug Milne, PGA TOUR

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry provides a recap of the first round at Torrey Pines and previews Friday's potentially rainy second round. Watch it
	Shot of the day Pat Perez, gunning for his second PGA TOUR victory of the young season, chips in for birdie from the bunker. Watch it
	Baddeley drives Route 66 A stellar opening round on has Aaron Baddeley near the top of the leaderboard. Following his round, he spoke to the PGA TOUR Network. Watch it

So far at Torrey Pines

Round	Leader	Low round (par 72)	Key links
	Camilo Villegas (-9)	63: Camilo Villegas (North Course)	Daily Wrap-Up \| Live Report Ross feature \| Notebook