The Starter: Bridgestone Invitational, Round 2

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The first groups are ready to tee off in the second round at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and here's who we are following:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   1:21 p.m. ET, Hole No. 1 Phil Mickelson, Camilo Villegas, Ernie Els Mickelson recovered well on the back nine to finish even par for the first round, but he will need to make a push today to get back into the mix. 1:10 p.m. ET, Hole No. 1 Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Rory McIlroy Perry has had the best start so far (1-under, T14), but don't count out the defending champ yet. Singh is T27 at even par. 9:25 a.m. ET, Hole No. 10 Tiger Woods, Carl Pettersson, Sergio Garcia Garcia and Woods are both T8 at 2 under, but one has been just slightly hotter than the other and poses a bigger threat to the field. Yes, we're talking about Tiger.

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR on-site correspondent John Maginnes previews Friday's round:

Friday's forecast

Mostly Sunny Temp: 78 high/63 low Sunny with only a few clouds. Winds from the northwest at 5 to 10 mph.

No one named Prayad has ever won a PGA TOUR event. But Prayad Marksaeng shot 66 in the opening round in just his 10th official start on the PGA TOUR in spite of his more than two decades in professional golf. The significance of that for Thursday was that he did it early and illustrated that the tough Firestone South layout was gettable in the opening round.

The players found the golf course in perfect condition in the opening round and that is not likely to change on Friday. Although it doesn't look like Tiger's tournament scoring record 21-under in 2000 is in jeopardy, to have a chance a player will need to get into the healthy double digits under par.

Someone named Padraig has won on the PGA TOUR but he's done very little this year that would suggest it was going to happen again any time soon. Then, out of nowhere, he went out and grabbed the first-round lead with a 64. That didn't seem at all likely for a guy who hasn't finished in the top 10 a single time this year. The big question with Harrington is whether or not he can sustain this level of play through the rest of the week.

With the great play from Harrington, Marksaeng, Clark and Verplank, these guys may not even be aware of the fact that on Friday they will likely all be chasing Tiger. The 68 that he shot on Thursday was reminiscent of the 71 that he shot last Thursday at the Buick Open. Remember, he shot 63 on Friday. Friday's forecast calls for more gorgeous weather with sunny skies and light winds. More than half the field shot par or better on Thursday and it seems likely that Friday will bring more of the same.

Stat of the day

The first-round leader has gone on to win seven of 32 stroke-play events on TOUR this season. The first-round leader has gone on to win at Firestone four out of 10 times (Tiger Woods 1999, 2000 & 2005; Stewart Cink 2004).

The Film Room

Round 1 Highlights: Bridgestone Invitational Padraig Harrington shot a 6-under par 64 and leads the field after round 1 of the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone. Watch it Shot of the Day: August 6, 2009 Ernie Els holes out from the fairway for eagle on the par-4 1st hole during round 1 of the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone. Watch it Tiger has first round 68 at the 2009 Bridgestone Invitational At the 2009 World Golf Championships- Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods shot a first round 2 under par 68. Following his round he spoke with Doug Bell with the PGA TOUR Network on SIRIUS XM radio. Watch it

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