Buick Open, Round 2
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SENDEN SHOOTS 66 (6:15 p.m.): One bogey. That's how many bogeys John Senden has through two rounds of the Buick Open. He also has 15 birdies. Combine those and it adds up to a two-shot lead for the Aussie.
For a second straight day, Senden hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. He took 30 putts, which is abnormally high for the guy leading the golf tournament with those kind of numbers, but none of those were three-putts and he made the ones he really had to.
The biggest question won't be whether he can keep that up heading into the weekend, though. It will be how he will react to Tiger Woods breathing down his neck, just four shots back. That might sound like a cushion, but four shots at Warwick Hills in the kind of calm, perfect conditions these guys have been playing in is like two shots almost anywhere else.
In all, there are eight players within four shots of Senden and 15 within five shots. Senden has played well this season with four top-10s, but all of them were back-door trop-10s with him playing well on the weekend, which is exactly what he'll need to do here to hold off this bunch. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD CHECK (5:40 p.m.): A precious few players have been able to make some waves in the afternoon pairings, specifically John Senden, who is 6 under with a couple of holes left in his round as he tries to hold onto to two-shot lead.
Greg Chalmers and Bill Lunde have also played well at 4 and 6 under, respectively, as they finish up the last few holes in their rounds.
With the second round starting to wind down, there are 16 players within five shots of Senden's lead. If Saturday is moving day, what does that make today? Tiger Woods began the day eight shots back and is just four back now. This is more like moving week. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHECK (5:20 p.m.): Now that we don't have to worry whether or not Tiger Woods will make the cut after giving a first-round scare, there are some notable players in danger of missing the cut as the second round starts to wind down.
Chris DiMarco, two weeks into playing the new Ping i-15 irons and driver, started well enough with a 66 yesterday, but unless the cut line, currently at 4 under, moves a stroke, he's going home after a 75 today that has him one shot outside the cut.
David Duval is also in danger of missing the cut. He, like DiMarco, is 3 under for the week, but unlike DiMarco, he has a chance to improve on that with a few holes left in his round. Lee Janzen, fresh of a tie for fifth in Canada, needs to make up two strokes over his last few holes, while Todd Hamilton is going home after rounds of 69-74. -- Brian Wacker
HAT TRICKS (4:50 p.m.): Michael Letzig and Tiger Woods each had a hat trick of 2s on their cards. Letzig made birdies at the third, eighth and 11th holes. Woods birdied the eighth and 11th and made an eagle deuce at the par 4 12th.
In his Buick Open debut last year, Letzig tied for 12th with four rounds in the 60s.
"Love the golf course," Letzig said. "For me, the tree-lined fairways help you shape the tee shot and drive the ball very well."
Letzig hit nine fairways and 16 greens in regulations in Round 2. He broke a driver earlier this year and had been struggling off the tee.
"I've been driving the ball sideways and got a new one two weeks ago at Milwaukee," he said. "And started getting better with it every day. I'm just hitting it great so far this week. I love it." -- Vartan Kupelian
EAGLE UPDATE (4:20 p.m.): Yesterday, Troy Matteson had a chance to match the PGA TOUR record for most eagles in a round after making two through his first 13 holes. He didn't come close to making his eagle putt on the par-5 16th, but he still has a chance to match the tournament record for most eagles in this event if he can make one more this week. Matteson will have to wait another day to do so, though. His closest attempt today came on the 16th, but his 31-foot, 5-inch putt missed by 5 inches. Matteson shot 69 today and is 9 under for the week. -- Brian Wacker
SCORING SLOWING IN THE AFTERNOON (4:10 p.m.): With the exception of John Senden, no one in the afternoon is really making a run at the top of the leaderboard, and overnight leader Steve Lowery has gone the other way, making just one birdie a day after he made 10.
That said, no one is going to break any scoring records today or through the first 36 holes, which didn't look like it would be the case given the birdie barrage that kicked off yesterday morning. See below for the best 36- and 54-hole starts here at Warwick HIlls. -- Brian Wacker
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HAAS HANGING AROUND (3:45 p.m.): Bill Haas hasn't put together back-to-back rounds in the 60s since May, where he finished in a tie for third at the Valero Texas Open with scores of 67-67-67-65.
At the time, it looked like the light bulb went on for Haas, an enormously talented player out of Wake Forest who never really lived up to expectation. Unfortunately for Haas, however, he missed four of his next five cuts and more recently has missed three of his last four.
This week has been a different story, however. Haas has five birdies and just one bogey through his first 13 holes today. Yesterday, he shot a 4-under 68.
"I had a six-week, month-and-a-half stretch I didn't really have it, didn't really score well and missed a lot of cuts and that put me kind of behind the 8-ball like I was last year," Haas said back in June. "This is the time of the year when I start to playing a little better."
That was a little more than a month ago. As it turned out, Haas didn't play well after Memphis -- until now. Is he on the verge of turning things around? We'll see. Right now, so far, so good. -- Brian Wacker
HEADED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS (3:30 p.m.): Overnight leader Steve Lowery was already out of the lead when he teed off in the afternoon wave, which is having a much more difficult time (the same way it did yesterday) than the groups that went off in the morning.
Case in point: Lowery is 1 over through the first 11 holes of his round and has dropped back to 8 under (we've seen this movie before).
One guy not struggling in the afternoon, though, is John Senden. The Aussie is 3 under through his first eight holes and just one off the current lead. Yesterday, Senden shot 64 in the morning. -- Brian Wacker
TAYLOR TURNS IT AROUND, HAS A LOT AT STAKE (3:15 p.m.): Vaughn Taylor is competing in his fourth Buick Open, where he has a pair of missed cuts in 2005 and 2008 sandwiched around a tie for fourth in 2006. After a 68 today, though, he's just one off the current lead and in good position after missing cuts at the AT&T National, John Deere Classic and last week's RBC Canadian Open.
So what would a victory for him mean? A win here would send him to Firestone CC in Akron, Ohio next week for a start in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Should he not win, though, he'll head to the alternate-field event, the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, where he is a two-time winner (2004, '05). Sounds like a win-win. -- Mark Williams
TIGER TIDBITS (2:50 p.m.): This marks the second time Tiger Woods has shot 63 in the second round of the Buick Open. He posted 63 in Round 2 of 2002 and went on to win the first of his two victories here. However, Woods' low round at Warwick Hills is 61 (Round 2/2005).
Today's round was his best of the year, though, bettering his first-round 64 at the AT&T National, which he hosted and won. It is also his lowest round, in relation to par, since his 11-under 61 in Round 2 of the 2005 Buick Open.
Seven times in all Woods has shot 63 in the second round and each time he has gone on to win, including at the 2002 Buick Open and the 2005 Buick Invitational. Coming into this week Woods ranked T72 in second-round scoring average for the season at 70.56. That will improve to 69.80 after today's round.
Woods also snapped a string of three consecutive rounds in the 70s (71-74/British Open, 71/Buick Open). The last time Woods shot four consecutive rounds in the 70s was at the 2007 Masters (73-74-72-72). Those four rounds followed a final-round 73 at the 2007 World Golf Championships-CA Championship, won by Woods. -- Mark Williams
MORE TIGER BITES (2:30 p.m.): Some highlights from Tiger Woods' interview after a 9-under 63 ...
Q. Did you spend any extra time on the putting green this morning or do anything differently?
WOODS: No. The same. Absolutely the same. Same routine, didn't change anything. Just made sure I was committed to what I was doing out there today, and I got my speed a little bit better. Yesterday my speed was bad and today the read was smoother.
Q. You mentioned your routine, so after yesterday you don't go to the practice range? Is that something that you normally do or don't do?
WOODS: I normally do, but I was a little bit hot yesterday, so I decided to just go home and get away from it for a little bit. And came out today with a better understanding of what I was going to do and just hit the ball. I drove it great yesterday. Just didn't hit my irons as close and didn't putt well, so I was just going to drive it just as good today and hit my irons a bit better and see if I can pour some in.
Q. When you look at your speed, what kind of process do you go through to recalibrate that, get that back?
WOODS: I was frustrated because I was concentrating on my speed, and I still didn't have it right. I knew that the greens were going to be a little quicker this morning because they were smoother, freshly cut. And had to really grind on my speed and make sure that I didn't run the ball past the hole like I was yesterday.
To read the rest of Tiger's interview, click here.
INSIDE TIGER'S 63 (2:15 p.m.): Tiger Woods' 6-under total after his opening five holes (Nos. 10-14) marks a career-best start for Woods on the PGA TOUR. His previous-best start through five holes was 5-under (also Nos. 10-14) in the first round of the 2006 Buick Open, where he opened with five consecutive birdies en route to a 6-under 66. Woods followed with three more 66s to win. -- Mark Williams
LOWERY LOOKING TO REGAIN LEAD (2:05 p.m.): By the time Steve Lowery teed off a little while ago, five guys had already caught or passed him on the leaderboard, despite his opening-round 63. That's what happens at the Buick Open, where birdies come in bunches and people can, will and usually do lap you if you haven't teed off.
Lowery wasted little time, though, making a birdie on the par-5 first hole to get to 10 under and within two of current leader Michael Letzig. Yesterday, Lowery played holes 1 through 4 in 4 under with four straight birdies. Today, having started on the front nine, he has just the lone birdie on the first hole through his first five (click here to follow Lowery's round live with Shot Tracker). -- Brian Wacker
STRETCH RUN FOR STADLER (1:55 p.m.): Kevin Stadler has conditional status on the PGA TOUR. He can't be fussy about when or where he plays so he's not complaining about a busy stretch of tournaments.
Stadler is playing for the sixth straight week and through two rounds of the Buick Open he's finding some of his best form. He has posted successive 67s and is in at 10-under 134. That comes after a rough week at the RBC Canadian Open, where a third-round 76 ruined an otherwise reasonable performance.
"I hit it miserably last week," Stadler said. "I'm ready for a little break, ready to kind of figure out what's going on in my golf game, but I've been hitting my irons really good this week. I've just been struggling off the tee. Swapped the driver this week and found a few more fairways, so that's helped.
"Hit the fairways out here, you're going to have a ton of chances."
Even though he has hit only 50 percent of the fairways through 36 holes, it has left Stadler with some excellent chances. He has made 10 birdies and an eagle. Stadler has something even lower in mind for the weekend at the Buick Open, which usually requires something in the 20-under range from the winner.
"You know you're going to need one round of something really low," he said. -- Vartan Kupelian
THATCHER NEEDS A GOOD PERFORMANCE (1:40 p.m.): The morning wave continues to have its way with Warwick Hills, where Roland Thatcher is finishing up his round and is currently 8 under on the day and 10 under for the week.
Thatcher has hit 15 of 17 greens in regulation so far with a better-than-average 25 putts. While his round won't be the lowest of his career -- that was a 61 at last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun -- it will be the best of his season to date. Coming into this week, Thatcher had made just 3 of 9 cuts and had broken 70 just five times in 24 rounds.
Playing this year on a Major Medical after a wrist injury cut short his season last May, Thatcher has 13 events to earn just over $400,000 (coupled with his $445,000-plus earned last year) to equal the No. 125 spot on last year's money list. With just over $263,000 so far, a strong finish here, his 10th event of 2009, would obviously go a long, long way. -- Brian Wacker
DALY'S DISMAL DAY (1:15 p.m.): While Tiger Woods was busy chasing the lead and shooting a 9-under 63, John Daly was going the other way and fast. After starting with two birdies in his first four holes, Daly's round quickly got away from him. He bogeyed No. 15, doubled No. 18 and made a quintuple-bogey 10 on the first hole. A quad, a triple, a double and a regular old bogey later and he was in with a 51 over his final nine holes.
For Daly, it's far and away his worst round of the year -- though he did shoot an 89 in the second round of last year's British Open -- and a couple of steps back from what was looking like a promising year. Is it one one bad round or a sign of things to come? We'll find out in the weeks ahead. -- Brian Wacker
TAYLOR IN GOOD POSITION (1 p.m.): It was always lurking somewhere in the back of Vaughn Taylor's mind that the Buick Open might be the site of the breakthrough he's been waiting for. So far, he hasn't been disappointed.
Taylor added a second-round 68 Friday and is in at 11-under 133.
"I played good here a few years back and clinched the Ryder Cup that week," Taylor said. "It was a really memorable week. And all week I've actually been thinking about it so good memories, and it's good to play here."
Taylor tied for fourth at Warwick Hills in 2006 and earned a spot on Captain Tom Lehman's Ryder Cup team for the matches in Ireland.
"I've struggled pretty much ever since," Taylor said. "Can't really explain why. Really been working hard and just trying to get out of it. I feel like I'm heading in the right direction."
Taylor's best finish this year is a tie for 14th at Pebble Beach in February. He arrived at Warwick Hills having missed the cut in three straight tournaments and five of seven. -- Vartan Kupelian
TIGER IN ... WITH 63 (12:44 p.m.): Tiger Woods has finished his round with birdies in two of his last three holes to come in with a 9-under 63. That's his lowest round of the year and puts him at 10 under for the tournament, two shots back of current leader Michael Letzig.
After a string of five consecutive pars ended his bid at beating or tying the course record of 61 (which he shares with Billy Mayfair), Tiger birdied the par-5 seventh with a six-foot putt and the par-3 eighth with an 11-foot putt.
Here's a look at Tiger's scorecard from the second round. For more, check out his ShotTracker card.
HISTORICAL VIDEOS (12:30 p.m.): The Buick Open has produced some great moments and great champions since its inaugural event in 1958. We've got lots of interesting footage from some of those years, including the first televised hole-in-one. Click here to check 'em out.
LETZIG GOES LOW (12:05 p.m.): While Tiger Woods finishes up the last few holes in his round, Michael Letzig is already in with a 7-under 65 that gets him to 12 under through the first 36 holes of the Buick Open.
For Letzig, it matches a season-low and is two shots off his career-low. While Woods did his damage on the back nine at Warwick Hills, Letzig did his on the front with five birdies en route to a 31 over his final nine holes. On the day, Letzig missed just two greens in regulation and took 27 putts, the former of which was much better than his first would when he hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation.
This is just Letzig's second year on the PGA TOUR and it's the first time he's had the 36-hole lead. He has had flashes though. Last year, Letzig shot a 63 in the third round of the Travelers Championship on his way to a tie for 10th. He had four other top-10s, too, including a tie for second at the 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic.
Now let's see if Letzig's score holds up, or how long it does. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Letzig's scorecard from today (click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker):
TIGER UPDATE (11:35 a.m.): After getting off to a ridiculously good start with five birdies and an eagle in his first seven holes, Tiger Woods has cooled off a bit, making one birdie, one bogey and five pars over his last seven holes. He still has the par-5 seventh to play and there may be one other birdie out there for him, but it appears he won't duplicate what he did in 2005 when he opened 71-61 before eventually finishing second. Nonetheless, Woods has played himself back into the tournament even if guys continue to go low, which it looks like they will. -- Brian Wacker
THE GOOD AND THE NOT SO GOOD (11:15 a.m.): Make birdies, or go home. That's pretty much the theme at the Buick Open. Of the players on the golf course right now -- which is about half the field -- only 20 players are over par on their rounds.
Unfortunately for John Daly, he's one of those players. As my colleagues on Sirius-XM would say, he's "high human" as in last on the leaderboard right now at 7 over on his round and 11 over for the tournament.
After struggling to a 76 yesterday, Daly got off to a good enough start today with birdies on Nos. 10 and 13. Then things started to get slippery. He bogeyed No. 15, doubled No. 18 and made a 10 on the par-5 first after hitting two tee balls out of bounds and then hacking it home the rest of the way. -- Brian Wacker
ANOTHER BIRDIE FOR TIGER (11 a.m.): The bogey on the 18th didn't get Tiger Woods down for too long. He bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 first hole, where he two-putted from 25 feet after reaching the green in two. That now gives Woods six birdies and an eagle through his first 12 holes. -- Brian Wacker
MORE LOW NUMBERS (10:45 a.m.): Tiger Woods isn't the only one making birdies at the Buick Open. He knows it's going to take 20-something under to win this tournament and already a number of players are right there with him on the birdie train this morning.
Vaughn Taylor and Michael Letzig are 1-2 on the leaderboard at the moment and both are 5 under on their respective rounds. Mark Brooks, who last won on the PGA TOUR in 1996, is in contention, too, at 6 under through his first 12 holes and 9 under for the tournament.
We've been playing for less than 4 hours this morning and already yesterday's leader, Steve Lowery, who opened with a 63, has been tied or passed by four guys. That should give you a pretty good idea of what Woods was talking about when he said guys were going to continue to go low. -- Brian Wacker
TRACKING TIGER (10:30 a.m.): "It's a process. Obviously I'm not going to get it back in one day. Guys are going to continue to go low. So I gotta get it back over the next three days, and hopefully I can do that." -- Tiger Woods after yesterday's opening-round 71.
Apparently Woods listens to himself well because he's already on his way to going low this morning. He's right in that he won't get it all back in one day, but he won't be far off, not after making four birdies and an eagle on his way to a 6-under 30 over his first nine holes (the back nine) at Warwick Hills.
This is is eerily reminiscent of 2005, when he opened with a 71 and came back in Round 2 to shoot a course-record tying 61. That means he'll need to shoot a 5-under 31 on the front, which he's certainly capable of doing given two par-5s and the way he's playing so far with 12 putts, which includes a three-putt from 61 feet for bogey on No. 18.
Woods, who shot four rounds of 66 the last time he won here, said that he had to play well today to make the cut and to play himself back into contention. Well, he's obviously done that. What will he do the rest of the way? (Click here to follow live with Shot Tracker.) Yesterday, he had two bogeys and just one birdie on the front. Just a hunch, but it's doubtful he does that again. -- Brian Wacker
MAKING THE TURN (10:19 a.m.): Tiger Woods cooled off just as he reached the turn, making bogey on the par-4 18th when he three-putted from 71 feet.
Even so, he has made the turn in 30, 6 under for his round, and will now finish up on the front nine, where two more par 5s await. He's still on pace for a 60, which would be a career low.
ANOTHER BIRDIE (9:53 a.m.): Tiger Woods has birdied the par-5 16th by sinking a putt of 8 feet, 5 inches. That puts Tiger at 7 under on his round through his first seven holes.
For the tournament, Tiger is now 8 under for the tournament. Having started his round tied for 95th, he has moved into a tie for third.
TIGER UPDATE (9:30 a.m.): Tiger Woods is making up for lost time on Friday morning.
Woods, who struggled with his irons and putter in shooting 1 under at Warwick Hills on Thursday, certainly seems to have everything dialed in during the second round.
Starting his round off the 10th tee, he's made four birdies and an eagle at the par-4 12th to play his first five holes in 6 under. Woods is 7 under for the tournament and just two off the lead.
He got things rolling with a 9-footer for birdie at the 10th hole and then drained a 6-footer at No. 11. He was 31 yards short and left of the green on the 340-yard 12th and chipped in for the eagle.
Woods, a two-time Buick Open champion, then made a 9-footer for his next birdie and two-putted from 49 feet at the par-5 15th for the fourth.
Woods' career low is 61, which he has shot three times -- most recently at the 2005 Buick Open.
To follow Tiger's round on ShotTracker, click here. -- Helen Ross
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