Round 2, John Deere Classic

text size

Jul. 10, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

Latest updates on the second round (all posted times are ET).

PLAY CALLED FOR THE DAY (5:05 p.m.): The start of the second round has been delayed until Saturday morning. The course was drenched by more than an inch of rain on Friday and more storms were forecast for Friday night.

Play will resume at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday (click here for tee times). The third and fourth rounds are scheduled to be played on Sunday.

DELAYED ONCE AGAIN (2:22 p.m) -- The suspension of play has been extended to 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. local time).

INTERVIEWS WITH TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR, METEOROLOGIST: Arvin Ginn discussed the possibility of finishing up on Monday, while meteorologist Stewart Williams talked about the weather around TPC Deere Run.
Watch: Ginn interview | Williams interview

MORE STORMS COMING (12:10 p.m.) -- The weather forecast doesn't appear very encouraging for the remainder of the day. According to the latest weather reports from the course, once the morning thunderstorms pass, more storms will develop later Friday afternoon into the evening as a cold front approaches the area.

LATEST UPDATE (11:45 a.m.) -- With the course still wet, officials have suspended the start of the second round until 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local time).

START PUSHED BACK AGAIN (10:15 a.m.): The start of the second round has now been pushed back to 12:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. local time).

WEATHER UPDATE (9:05 a.m.): The second round has yet to begin, with play suspended due to inclement weather, including thunderstorms. Rainy conditions are expected to continue throughout the morning. Play was originally set to begin at 8 a.m. ET but the start of the second round is now scheduled at 10:30 a.m. ET. The course is saturated at the moment.

HEAVY STORMS (8:50 a.m.): The National Weather Service indicates that showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall "will continue through at least late morning. The stronger storms will continue to produce very heavy rainfall at rates of over an inch an hour. ... Besides the heavy rain, these storms are also producing frequent cloud to ground lightning."

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
7:57 a.m. CT No. 10		Kenny Perry, George McNeill, David Toms Defending champ Perry is tied for 24th after the first round, while David Tom's first-round 71 has him tied for 80th and in danger of missing the cut.
7:57 a.m. CT No. 1		Pat Perez, Richard S. Johnson, Brandt Snedeker TOUR winners Snedeker (T10 after Round 1) and Perez (T42) are both making comebacks after suffering injuries earlier this season.
8:16 a.m. CT No. 10		Lee Janzen, Dean Wilson, Patrick Sheehan Leader Janzen is looking for his first victory since the 1998 U.S. Open, while Wilson is T3 after opening with a 65 at TPC Deere Run.

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

What a leaderboard. We have a two-time U.S. Open champion who hasn't won on TOUR since 1998 in Lee Janzen, plus a journeyman and Nationwide Tour veteran looking for his first win in Darren Stiles. Throw in Matt Bettencourt, who has finished no worse than 35th in his last four events, including a tie for fifth at the Memorial Tournament and a tie for 10th at the U.S. Open. Then there's the young Aussie Jason Day, who's seeking his first PGA TOUR win. Tim Petrovic, who won in New Orleans in 2005, is up there, along with Dicky Pride. It's a mixed bag, to say the least.

Friday's forecast

Scattered t-storms
Temp: 80 high/68 low
Fifty percent chance of rain. Winds from the southeast at 11 miles per hour.

TPC Deere Run is drying out from the massive rain it received on Wednesday, and course superintendent Paul Grogan and his crew have done a wonderful job in not only getting the course playable, but making it very competitive as well. The greens are rolling very fast and, as the wind continues to blow and the sun continues to shine, look for changing conditions in the second round. Players will be forced to play less aggressive lines to the hole as the greens become more firm, and the fairways that were fairly slow in the first round will start to roll out, which will reward players who hit on a good line and penalize those on a wrong line.

Look for the veterans who have played many rounds here at TPC Deere Run to have an advantage over the next three rounds. They will have a better chance negotiating the elevation drops on the early holes at Nos. 1 - 5. The veterans will also be able to gauge the swirling wind better in the valleys of the back nine. Most of all, the veterans will be able to better predict how to putt the ever-changing greens as they continue to harden and dry out.

Watch for Dean Wilson, J.J. Henry and Lee Janzen to continue to go low. A couple of the less-experienced players, like Spencer Levin, could struggle to follow one low round with another. Matt Bettencourt, who has been one of the hottest players on TOUR in recent weeks, should continue posting low scores as he seeks his first PGA TOUR win. I think this just might be his week.

Stat of the day

Prior to Thursday, Lee Janzen held the first-round lead/co-lead nine times in 540 career TOUR starts. Out of those nine events he was never able to convert one into a victory. Janzen's last first-round lead was at the 2008 PODS Championship where he finished T10.

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry updates action from the first round of the 2009 John Deere Classic and previews what to watch for in the second round. Watch it
	Rd. 1 Highlights Lee Janzen sits at the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the 2009 John Deere Classic. Watch it
	Shot of the Day Scott Verplank chips in for birdie on the par-3 7th hole during the first round.Watch it

Thus far at TPC Deere Run

Round	Leader	Low round (par 71)	Key links
	Lee Janzen, Darron Stiles (-7)	64: Lee Janzen, Darron Stiles	Daily Wrap-Up \| Live Report Transcript archive \| Notebook