Round 2: St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
CLOSING THE GAP (8:40 a.m.): With a birdie at the ninth (his 18th), Robert Allenby got to within just one shot of leader Brian Gay. Allenby stuck his approach at the par-4 ninth to 12 feet from the hole and then sank his putt to close his round a 6 under for the day, 9 under for the week.
Allenby is a four-time TOUR winner, but he hasn't raised a trophy on TOUR since 2001 when he won twice at the Northern Trust Open and the Marconi Pennsylvania Classic. That doesn't mean Allenby hasn't played well, though. In 2008, he had nine top-10 finishes, including two runner-ups and a third. So far this season, he's only had one top-10 finish -- a tie for fifth at The Honda Classic -- but if he keeps up his stellar play this week, he might be headed for another. -- Ceri Mobley
WRONG WAY (8:30 a.m.): Camilo Villegas lost a shot right away when his approach at the par-4 seventh found the left, greenside bunker. With 23 yards to the hole, he had to get up and down for par. His blast out of the bunker landed about 9 feet from the hole, but his putt ran 2 feet past the cup, forcing Villegas to settle for bogey and drop to 3 under.
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson undid his early birdie at the 16th with a bogey-5 on the par-4 17th. He's right where he started when play resumed at 4 under as he heads to the 18th hole. -- Ceri Mobley
STRAIGHT TO WORK (8:20 a.m.): David Toms got off on the right foot as Round 2 resumed in Memphis. The two-time St. Jude Classic winner birdied the 15th hole to move to 8 under -- just two shots off Brian Gay's lead. He'll have Nos. 16-18 to make his move, but he parred all three of those holes in Round 1. -- Ceri Mobley
BACK TO THE GRIND (8 a.m.): The second round has resumed at TPC Southwind after atrocious weather halted play on Friday. The last groups to tee off in Round 2 will have to complete nine holes Saturday.
There are several players out on the course who have a shot at reaching or even passing Brian Gay's lead of 10 under: David Toms, Robert Allenby, Vaughn Taylor and Jeff Overton will all hit the course this morning with a mind to finish it closer to the top of the leaderboard. -- Ceri Mobley
WEATHER UPDATE II (6:25 p.m.): The rain has stopped at TPC Southwind, but tornado sirens are still screeching in the distance. Wind is blowing in several different directions, which makes the sirens seem even more eerie.
Panels of hospitality tents near the clubhouse appear to have been blown in several different directions. Lattice work hangs off its hinges, as well, and trash cans have been tossed around. There are also reportedly 100,000 homes without power.
The maintenance crew will have its work cut out as it readies the TPC Southwind for competition Saturday morning. The CBS affiliate, which lost power but has still been able to broadcast on back-up generators, is reporting areas hit by one-inch hail and winds in excess of 75 mph. The TV station's reports are extremely precise -- telling people in towns in the path of the storm when it will arrive. The station is also reporting that the entire staff of the Memphis Commercial Appeal took cover in the basement. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (5:35 p.m.): Play has been suspended for the day due to the threat of severe weather that could include hail, lightning and winds in excess of 70 mph.
The horn blew at 4:23 p.m. CT and players will return at 7 a.m. on Saturday to complete the third round.
The cut will be made and players re-paired in threesomes with a two-tee start for the third round.
Robert Allenby, who is 8 under for the tournament with three holes left, is among those who will be returning along with David Toms, who's 7 under and has four left.
The storms are approaching from the west.. The chance of rain increases hourly with the highest probability between 6-9 p.m. -- Helen Ross
PLAY SUSPENDED (5:25 p.m.): The horn just blew at TPC Southwind, where some serious weather is on its way. Because of that, play has been suspended for the day. We'll have more information shortly.
AWESOME AUSSIE (4:45 p.m.): So much for TPC Southwind playing as one of the toughest courses on the PGA TOUR, at least today anyway. Robert Allenby is the latest player to charge up the leaderboard thanks to six birdies in a nine-hole stretch for the Australian.
Allenby made four straight birdies between Nos. 13 and 16 and hasn't missed a green in regulation yet. That has Allenby just one off the lead at the moment as he tries for his first win since 2001 -- though this isn't the first time Allenby has played well on a difficult course. The Aussie finished in a tie for 14th at THE PLAYERS Championship and tied for fifth at The Honda Classic. Follow the rest of his round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
BOROS' UP-AND-DOWN DAYS (4 p.m.): Guy Boros apparently came pretty close to giving up the game of golf altogether, but, as he says, "I don't know how to do anything else."
He also took a couple of lessons from his brother and another friend of his back home in Florida. "It got me a little closer to the ball, changed my takeaway a little bit," Boros said. "You make a few putts and it sure helps."
Friday, Boros needed just 23 of them and that has him in a positive frame of mind, even if he doesn't have a place to play on the PGA TOUR on a regular basis -- he's playing under past champion status and playing the rest of the time on the Nationwide Tour.
"It's a tough row to hoe, but it's better than a lot of other places," Boros said. "I'd much rather be out here so it helps my confidence a little bit. Even if I -- whatever happens this weekend, at least I know I can still play."
That wasn't always the case, however -- Boros made just nine cuts in 37 events on the Nationwide Tour in 2007 and 2008.
"It's been tough. It's no fun when you're playing bad," Boros said.
"There are signs of me playing good but for two, three days. The game is getting funner and funner." -- Brian Wacker
WHY WOODY COULD WIN (3:35 p.m.): It was only two years ago here that Woody Austin won the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx with a final-round 62 that led to a five-stroke victory, so it's certainly not out of the question that he could do so again after rounds of 67-66. He'd just like to see TPC Southwind show more of its teeth.
"I like golf courses that [play to] 1, 2-under, a course that you can stay patient at even par," Austin said. "Most of the golf courses we play even par, you're getting killed and start pressing. I got off to a really good start, and I didn't have to press too hard after that."
An eagle and two birdies in the first five holes certainly helped Austin avoid pressing and he'll head to the weekend just two back of Brian Gay.
"Not much wind out there, pretty stagnant and hot," Austin said. "The golf course was there to be had again and is playing as easy as it can play because of the rain." -- Brian Wacker
BOLD MOVE BY BRYCE (3:15 p.m.): Bryce Molder has managed to climb his way into contention with a career-best 7-under-par 63, matching the low round of the day with Heath Slocum. Molder's bogey-free round leaves him at 8 under for the tournament and two strokes off current leader Brain Gay.
Molder missed only two greens in regulation all day and even when he did miss, managed to get up-and-down both times. For the tournament his green in regulations are a field-leading 83.3 percent.
Molder's putter was also hot -- he sank 6 of 7 birdie putts from outside 10 feet with the only exception a 7-footer for his first birdie of the day on No. 2. -- Sara Young
Below is a look at Molder's scorecard from today:
HALFWAY HOME (3 p.m.): Brian Gay, who earlier this year won the Verizon Heritage by 10 strokes, is currently leading by two strokes right now. Should that lead hold, it'll mark the third time in his career and second this year that he's take a lead to the weekend.
Gay's 130 total for the opening 36 holes is a personal best , beating out his 131 on two occasions -- most recently at the 2003 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
A big reason Gay is in this position? He leads the field with 14 birdies and needed only 23 putts today after taking just 26 yesterday. -- Joel Schuchmann
CUT CHECK (2:30 p.m.): The last groups of the day are set to go off in a few minutes and right now the cut line sits at even par. That could be bad news for Boo Weekley and Charles Howell III. Weekley shot a 2-over 72 to drop to 1 over through 36 holes. He's had problems with the putter all year and today was no different with 31 putts.
There's a decent chance the cut could move to 1 over, but Howell is in tougher shape at 2 over after his second straight 71. Howell had 31 putts as well and only hit 43 percent of his fairways in a round that featured an eagle, a double bogey, three bogeys and two birdies. That scorecard is pretty much a reflection of Howell's wildly inconsistent season -- he has three top-10s, including a pair of runner-up finishes, but has also missed three of his last four cuts.
Other guys likely headed home: Sergio Garcia (70-73), Padraig Harrington (72 Thursday, 1 over through five holes today), defending champion Justin Leonard (76 yesterday, even through five holes today) and Henrik Stenson (73-75). -- Brian Wacker
FEDEXCUP UPDATE (2 p.m.): · Only Phil Mickelson can pass Zach Johnson at the top of the FedExCup standings this week, but he will need a win or solo second to accomplish that. Right now, Mickelson is 1 under through his first four holes today and 3 under for the tournament (Click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker). To get into the top 10 in the FedExCup standings, Lefty would have to finish no lower than 36th.
Brian Gay, who is out to a big lead and ranks 12th in the FedExCup standings coming into this week, could move as high as fourth in the standings with a victory. That would move him to within 141 points of the lead. Gay continues to be consistent with three top-10s, including a win, and just three missed cuts. -- Brian Wacker
SLOCUM STEPS UP (1:35 p.m.): Heath Slocum had an impressive second round, birdieing six of his first 11 holes on his way to eight birdies and just one bogey overall in a round of 7-under 63. That's just two strokes shy of the course record of 61 shot by Jay Delsing (1993) and Bob Estes (2001).
Slocum's only bogey came in the form of a three-putt on the 13th hole, where he failed to convert a 6-footer for par. He bounced back quickly, though, and birdied two of his last five holes to enter the clubhouse with the lowest round of the day so far.
Slocum's ballstriking was dialed in with 6 of his 8 birdie putts being holed from less than 10 feet. That helped move Slocum into a tie for fourth at the moment. His best finish this season was a tie for third at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. -- Sara Young
Below is a look at Slocum's scorecard from today:
BOSS MAKING A BIG MOVE (1:15 p.m.): Loren Roberts is 12 days shy of his 54th birthday and won his ninth Champions Tour event earlier this year. Yet here he is on the leaderboard at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx at 3 under for the day and 6 under for the tournament.
Roberts, who lives in nearby Germantown, Tenn., has never won his hometown event. This is his 25th start in the event and he has four top-10s -- his best a tie for fifth in 1984. Should he go on to win, Roberts would be the oldest winner in PGA TOUR history, eclipsing Sam Snead, who won his eighth Greater Greensboro Open in 1965 at the age of 52 years, 10 months and eight days. He would also be the fourth player to win on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour in the same year. -- Helen Ross
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PHIL, DALY UPDATE (1 p.m.): Phil Mickelson won't tee off for nearly another 30 minutes as he tries to build on a very solid 2-under 68 from yesterday. John Daly, on the other hand, is already making fast work of TPC Southwind, playing his first 16 holes today in 4 under.
Yesterday, Daly hit nearly all his fairways. Today, he's hit just 38 percent of them. Not that his lack of accuracy off the tee has hurt him. And as of now, it looks like Daly will be sticking around for the weekend on the PGA TOUR for the first time since last Fall's Viking Classic, where he tied for 40th. -- Brian Wacker
BOROS ON A BIRDIE RUN (12:25 p.m.): Guy Boros hasn't played more than a half dozen tournaments a year on the PGA TOUR since 2004 and hasn't won since the 1996 Greater Vancouver Open, which is no longer in existence. Here he is today, however, charging up the leaderboard with three straight birdies and four on the day to get to 7 under on the week.
Boros, playing on past champion status, has been playing mostly on the Nationwide Tour the past few years, though the 44-year-old only made three cuts in 15 starts on that tour last season and six cuts in 22 starts in 2007. The last time he won anywhere? In 2003, at the Nationwide Tour's Lake Eerie Charity Classic at Peek 'n Peak resort. -- Brian Wacker
EXTENDING THE LEAD (12 p.m.): Brian Gay's 10-shot victory at the Veirzon Heirtage earlier this season was the biggest on the PGA TOUR since Phil Mickelson won the 2006 BellSouth Classic by Phil Mickelson. At this rate, Gay might surpass both of those. Gay is 5 under today with a handful of holes left in his round and leads by five at 11 under. He still has a long way to go, however, to break the current record for largest margin of victory on TOUR, set by Tiger Woods at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he won by a ridiculous 15 strokes. -- Brian Wacker
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GOING LOW ON DAY 2 (11:40 a.m.): TPC Southwind might be the toughest course the PGA TOUR, but it's sure not playing like it this morning. Of the players currently on the golf course and above the cut line, only four players are over par on their round today. Only Jimmy Walker is among the top 10 names on the board above par right now, and Brian Gay and Heath Slocum are already 5 under today, while John Senden is 4 under. Saturday is usually considered moving day, but with the way these guys are going, today might be. -- Brian Wacker
GAY IN THE LEAD (11:20 a.m.): Brian Gay has held the 18-hole lead on the PGA TOUR just three times in his career, including this week. Neither of those previous occasions he went on to win. He's taking a big step toward changing that this morning.
A day after shooting a 6-under 64, Gay is 5 under through his first 12 holes, extending his lead to five shots at the moment. He's taken just 15 putts so far and hit 9 of 12 greens in regulation. At one point on the front nine, Gay rolled in three straight birdies before making his lone bogey of the day to make the turn in 31. Given how tough TPC Southwind typically plays, this might be one 18-hole lead he not only holds, but builds on. -- Brian Wacker
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DALY UPDATE (11 a.m.): John Daly was one of the last players to leave the putting green on Thursday evening after shooting a 2-over 72 in the first round of the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx. The work with instructor Rick Smith may have paid off, too. He's making a spirited bid to stick around for the weekend -- playing his first seven holes in 3 under to move into red numbers for the tournament.
Daly made a 16-footer for his first birdie at the par-4 12th hole, his third of the day. He promptly bogeyed No. 13, but got that stroke back with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 15 before reaching the par-5 16th in two and pouring in an 8-footer for eagle. -- Helen Ross
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