Round 2, Bridgestone Invitational
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
MICKELSON IN, SECOND ROUND COMPLETE (5:55 p.m.): Phil Mickelson got things going early, making an eagle on the par-5 second after a spectacular approach shot from nearly 250 yards. He only made one birdie the rest of the way -- and two bogeys -- but his round of 69 leaves him 1 under after 36 holes and in contention just six shots back.
On the day, Mickelson hit the same number of fairways -- five -- as yesterday and one less green in regulation -- 10 -- but it was classic Mickelson, meaning he scrambled from everywhere.
The last time Mickelson was in this position -- returning from a long layoff -- was in June when he returned from a month-long layoff at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx. He went on to finish in a tie for 59th. Given his first two days here, Mickelson should fare much better than that this time. -- Brian Wacker
TEE TIMES (5:50 p.m.): As we wrap up the second round here in Ohio, here's a look at next week's pairings and tee times for the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine, which became available a little while ago.
MORE FROM RENO (5:45 p.m.): Chris Riley, the Legends Reno-Tahoe champion in 2002, shot 72 in Thursday's opening round. Riley began Round 2 at No. 1 on Friday, posting six consecutive 3s on his scorecard (four birdies, one par, one eagle) before adding another birdie at the par-3 seventh hole to get to 7 under through the first seven holes. Riley missed a birdie putt at the par-4 eighth from just inside 11 feet to post his second par of the round. -- Mark Williams
UPDATE FROM RENO (5:25 p.m.): John Rollins' bogey-free, 10-under 62 today tied the Montreux Golf and Country Club 18-hole record, first set by Bill Glasson in 2005 (second round) and matched by Joe Ogilvie in 2006 (second round) and Parker McLachlin in 2008 (second round). The 62 is also his career-low round. He's shot 63 three times, most recently at the 2007 FBR Open.
In his career, Rollins has never held a 36-hole lead in a PGA TOUR event. He was second at the halfway point at the Buick Invitational earlier this year and went on to finish second. The Legends Reno-Tahoe Open is his 253rd career start. Rollins' two TOUR victories came at the 2002 Bell Canadian Open and the 2006 B.C. Open. Rollins has finished in the top 10 28 times and has had at least one top-10 every year since he joined the TOUR full time in 2000.
Rollins also tied the best birdie-eagle stretch in 2009 with his birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie (6-under) stretch on Nos. 7 through 11 Friday. Six other players have had 6 under birdie-eagle runs this season, the most recent coming from Tiger Woods at last week's Buick Open. -- Mark Williams
HARRINGTON STILL HANGING ON (4:47 p.m.): It's been a couple of hours since Padraig Harrington finished his second round, shooting a 1-under 69, yet here he is, still in the lead as the second round winds down at Firestone.
Now you know why Tiger Woods wasn't all that upset over his round of 70. There just aren't many low rounds out there today. Firestone is showing its teeth and when this place does that it can be one of the more difficult courses on the PGA TOUR. -- Brian Wacker
KELLY CLIMBING THE LEADERBOARD (4:18 p.m.): Don't look now, but here comes Jerry Kelly, who is destined to win again this year. Sure, he won earlier this year at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for his third PGA TOUR career victory, but in the memory of Paul Harvey let's get the rest of the story.
In 1995, Kelly won twice on the Nationwide Tour and went on to Player of the Year honors on the junior circuit. Seven years later, he won both the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Western Open for his first and second TOUR victories. Here he is seven more years down the road with a single victory on the season. You can't argue with the numbers. The question is when will he win again?
With five birdies through 12 holes today, Kelly is on the move and within three shots of Padrag Harrington. He is 5 under and the hottest man on the golf course. He is tied there at 4 under with his close friend and fellow cheese-head Steve Stricker. Incidentally, in this truly international field they are the low Americans right now. -- John Maginnes
HONORING THOSE IN UNIFORM (4:10 p.m.): In recognition of the service and sacrifice that our men and women in uniform have made, the World Golf Championships--Bridgestone Invitational will hold an on-site ceremony to honor the special achievements of local military personnel tomorrow.
The ceremony, made possible by global security company Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with the USO of Northern Ohio, will take place at the Championship Club, located on the 16th green of Firestone's South Course. Nine individuals, representing the U.S. Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy, will be honored. -- Chris Reimer
TWEET OF THE DAY II (3:59 p.m.): "Not a good day today, didn't up & down when I needed to, had a good session on the range, time for afternoon nod I think. Can't beat it." -- Ian Poulter (@ianjamespoulter) on his round of 74 today, which came on the heels of a very solid 67 yesterday. As a result, Poulter has plummeted all the way to a tie for 36th.
Things certainly weren't good for Poulter, who made three straight bogeys in his first nine holes before adding a double and another bogey over his last nine (the front nine) at Firestone. Poulter's biggest struggles were with the putter -- he took 32 putts, compared to just 24 yesterday. -- Brian Wacker
WORLD BEATERS? (3:50 p.m.): Oliver Wilson shot his second consecutive 1-under 69 on Friday and is at 2 under for the tournament. Wilson is one of five players who have finished in the top 10 in the previous two World Golf Championships this season (see chart below). -- Chris Reimer
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STAYING CLOSE (3:40 p.m.): Six-time PGA TOUR winner Zach Johnson finished the second round at 3 under and is currently four strokes off Padraig Harrington's pace. Behind two victories this year at the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Valero Texas Open, Johnson ranks fourth in the FedExCup standings and could move as high as second with a victory this week. Last year, Johnson finished the season ranked No. 131 in the FedExCup, failing to advance beyond the Barclays, the first PGA TOUR Playoffs event. -- Chris Reimer
TOUGH SCORING CONTINUES (3:30 p.m.): Tiger Woods' record at Firestone Country Club is beyond compare. He has won this World Golf Championships event six times and never finished lower than a tie for fourth.
Woods' best score on the South Course is the tournament-record 61 he shot in the second round of his 2000 victory. He doesn't expect to see scoring like that this week at Firestone, though.
"It's out there," Woods said, his tongue firmly lodged in his cheek. "If you play 16, 17 holes you can get it."
The lush, tree-lined course is getting faster as it continues to dry out from rain last week. So the fairways, which tilt toward the rough causing balls to run off into the tall grass, are getting much harder to hit.
"You just have to be very patient," Woods said. "This golf course is playing like it normally does, and it's very similar to a major championship. It always has played that way. There's certain years when it's been soft, and when they didn't have the tees moved back like they do.
"Now in recent years you could shoot some good numbers, but a good number this week is going to be somewhere in the high 60s and more than likely you can move up the board."
Woods, who won his fourth tournament of the season last week, shot a 70 on Friday -- which is only his 11thround of par or higher in 38 trips around the South Course. He is 2 under for the tournament and five strokes off the pace being set by Padraig Harrington. -- Helen Ross
PLAYOFF PICTURE (3:20 p.m.): It's hard to believe, but Padraig Harrington, the 2008 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, is in danger of missing the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
He currently ranks 142nd in the standings with 280 points. Only the top 125 at the end of the Wyndham Championship in two weeks are eligible to compete in the four-event series that determines the winner of the $10 million bonus.
Of course, Harrington, who owns the clubhouse lead at the midway point of the Bridgestone Invitational, can certainly help his chances this week (click here for projected rankings).
Should he go on to win his first World Golf Championships, Harrington would earn 550 points -- which would propel him safely into the mid-30s entering the final two events of the Regular Season. The PGA, which he defends next week, also offers 600 to the winner.
Asked if he was embarrassed by where he currently found himself in the standings the three-time major champion said no. Make no mistake, though, Harrington wants to be part of the Playoffs when The Barclays kicks off the series at Liberty National Golf Club.
"There's no place for embarrassment on the golf course," the pensive Irishman said. "... At the end of the day it is only a game. But no, I'm not in any shape or form embarrassed, but I'd be unhappy not to be in it.
"I never like missing out on things. ... I always like to qualify for everything and be in there. So yeah, I do want to play in The Barclays, there's no doubt about it." -- Helen Ross
DIGGING THE LONG BALL (3:04 p.m.): Alvaro Quiros leads the European Tour in driving distance. J.B. Holmes ranks 11th on the PGA TOUR in the same category.
So who is longer? Fans at Firestone got a chance to judge for themselves in the first two rounds of the Bridgestone Invitational as the two played together for the second time.
Quiros is averaging 342.3 on the four measured drives while Holmes is at 334.3. Quiros' longest is 361 yards while Holmes' best is 356.
"I think honestly if we hit good shots, both, which is something difficult and very strange," Quiros said, eliciting laughter from the press corps, "we are very close. ... I mean, in two or three times I hit a very good driver, and he goes over me about 15 meters, 10 meters, but I didn't hit it well. And the opposite situation, too.
"If I have to be honest, (we are) the same, probably." -- Helen Ross
MORE TIDBITS FROM TIGER (2:40 p.m.): Tiger Woods is being patient, very patient with his play this week. Of course when you've won a tournament six times, you have a pretty good idea what it's going to take to get number seven.
Some highlights from Woods' interview with the media afterward ...
Q. Was today sort of an example if you don't have to go low but you're still there and you really haven't really lost touch with the lead?
WOODS: You just have to be very patient. This golf course is playing like it normally does, and it's very similar to a major championship. It always has played that way. There's certain years, yeah, when it's been soft, and when they didn't have the tees moved back like they do. Now in recent years -- you could shoot some good numbers, but a good number this week is going to be somewhere in the high 60s and more than likely you can move up the board.
Q. When you were doing your various swing changes, this relates to [Padraig] Harrington who seemingly the light bulb has come on for him this week after a long time in a deep, dark place, was yours a gradual assent back to where you were or did it kind of come and go like fits and snippets of it or how did that work out?
WOODS: Well, I couldn't afford to go to that deep, dark place like you just said. I would have been getting killed by you guys. (Laughter). I win five tournaments and you would think I was having a slump. You have to make changes, yeah, of course you have to make changes in order to get better. A lot of times you're going to get worse before you do get better. It's a matter of other parts of your game trying to pick you up and understanding how to score when you don't have your best stuff. But you know it's coming. I don't know how Paddy's -- how his progression is, but mine is usually on the range at home, and then at home playing, start hitting the ball a little bit better. Then I start doing it out here from time to time to time. And for me I built it. It took me I don't know how many months with Butch, was it eight, nine months to get it where I felt comfortable with what we were doing, and same thing about Hank. Then I put it together.
Q. Tiger, Arnie turns 80 next month. Can you remember the first time you met him in person and how that was, and what has he meant to the game?
WOODS: The first time I ever met Arnold was at Bay Hill. We played the U.S. Junior when I was 15. He was the keynote speaker, so I got a chance to meet him and just say briefly hi, and that was it. It was quite an honor to meet Arnold Palmer. He didn't know me from Adam, but once I started winning a few tournaments and I got a chance to play in the majors as an amateur, got a chance to play with him a few times, which has been certainly one of the highlights of my life.
SCORING CHANGE (2:24 p.m.): Stuart Appleby was assessed a penalty stroke Friday for an incident that happened on Thursday. He was not disqualified for an incorrect scorecard, though, because he acted under the supervision of a rules official.
On the 15th hole Thursday, Appleby's putter was behind the ball when it moved, although he was not at address. He called a rules official over to discuss the situation and it was determined that he had not caused the movement.
However, several fans called in with questions after the incident aired on TV. Tapes were reviewed and it was determined that when his putter touched the ground it had, in fact, caused the ball to move in violation of Rule 18-2A.
Appleby was notified after completing his second-round 68 that penalty stroke would be added to his score from Thursday. His first round score is now a 74 and he has a two-day total of 2-over 142. -- Helen Ross
TIGER HANGING AROUND (2:10 p.m.): The difference between Firestone and Warwick Hills is that in Michigan, Tiger Woods could fire at flags all day long. Here, you have to "plod along," as he said. That's exactly what Woods did today, burning a lot of edges and managing his way around the course with an even-par 70 that keeps him within shouting distance of the lead heading to the weekend.
There's still a lot of golf left today, and Prayad Marksaeng is 7 under for the week after playing his first seven holes in 3 under today, but not too many players are going low and that will keep Woods in contention at a tournament he knows how to win -- two years ago, as noted earlier, Woods opened 68-70 before lapping the field with an eight-shot win.
As for Woods in Round 2, he hit two more fairways and the same number of greens in regulation -- 13 -- that he did in Round 1 with two more putts. The longest made putt of the day for Woods was 14 feet, 11 inches. He only made two putts over 8 feet the rest of the day.
At some point, though, Woods is going to need to start making birdies if he wants to win. He did it in 2007, shooting 69-65 on the weekend. Ditto 2006 and 2005 with each year featuring at least one round of 66 or better. In fact, all of Woods' wins here have had rounds of 66 or better during the week and he's going to need to do that again. -- Brian Wacker
CINK BATTLES BACK (1:55 p.m.): Stewart Cink had things headed in the wrong direction on Friday when he bogeyed two of his first four holes. The recent Open champion turned things around, though, with birdie putts of 10, 20 and 23 feet after he made the turn.
Cink, who won at Firestone in 2003 and finished second in 2006, is primed for another run at the prestigious title. His round of 69 moved him to 2 under and five strokes off the pace being set by Padraig Harringtron.
"I did start off with a rocky beginning, 2-over early, and I actually struck the ball pretty well, but just couldn't get anything to fall, and luckily I'm pretty patient out there," Cink said. "And some good things started to happen around the turn ... and any birdies out there really are -- you're leapfrogging some people out there because the golf course is not easy at all."
Cink said the South Course is getting firm and the way the fairways are tilted the balls tend to run off into the rough.
"Several holes come to mind, 18, 9, 8, 4, 6, those holes," Cink said. "You can hit good drives down the middle of the fairway that don't end up in the fairway, and it's trying on your patience and on your skills."
Cink says he's getting a lot more support from the crowd this week since his win at Turnberry. "I was hoping that sometime in my life I'd be able to experience that, and it's been a lot of fun the last couple days, and hopefully it'll continue," he said.
Now that he's finished and teeing off late on Saturday, Cink planned to head to the gym for a workout. His wife Lisa and two teenaged sons were planning to play some golf of their own.
"I'll catch up with them," Cink said. "I don't know if I'll play or just ride around and watch them." -- Helen Ross
QUIROS IN WITH A 65 (1:35 p.m.): Earlier in the week, big-hitting Alvaro Quiros was putting on quite a show on the driving range at Firestone, blasting a 1954 MacGregor Tourney M85 persimmon driver into the net at the back of the range some 280 yards away. Friday, he put on a different kind of display, shooting a 65 to climb into contention at the Bridgestone Invitational.
Quiros was bogey-free in the second round, making five birdies along the way while hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation -- and averaging his trademark length, just over 312 yards off the tee.
For Quiros, it's his second-lowest round of the year on the PGA TOUR -- the Spaniard shot 64 in the second round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. It's also the first time he's going to make the cut in some time -- Quiros has missed his last four cuts on TOUR and that includes the Shell Houston Open, where he opened with an 83.
Quiros has had some success this year, though, most notably in Europe, where he tied for second at the European Open, and at the aforementioned CA Championship, where he tied for 13th. Below is a look at Quiros' scorecard from today. -- Brian Wacker
CASEY INJURY UPDATE (1:16 p.m.): Paul Casey has stayed in Akron to rest and get treatment on the pulled muscle in his ribcage that forced the No. 3 player in the world to withdraw after playing six holes of the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational.
He believes he originally sustained the injury the week prior to the U.S. Open. Casey aggravated the injury hitting out of the rough during a practice round at Firestone and eventually decided to withdraw.
His status for next week's PGA Championship is day-to-day.
"Paul is going to have treatment on his injury over the weekend in Akron and will reassess his condition on Monday," said Guy Kinnings, Casey's manager at IMG. -- Helen Ross
TWEET OF THE DAY (1:05 p.m.): "Cute exchange on 2: Tiny girl says hi and waves to tiger. Tiger smiles and waves back. Girl to dad: U owe me ice cream." -- @sdimegUSATgolf
That, courtesy of USA Today golf writer Steve DiMeglio. It's not often you see Tiger Woods break from his focus, but when he does he usually provides those kind of moments.
Unfortunately for Woods, his game isn't giving him much reason to smile today. He has four holes to play and is still stuck on 1 over for the day and 1 under for the week. The last time Woods played here, though, he opened with rounds of 68-70 before going on to win with a final-round 65. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER STRUGGLING (12:40 p.m.): What a difference a week makes.
Last week at the Buick Open, Tiger Woods opened in 1 under and was tied for 95th. Here at Firestone, he shot 2 under in the first round and was tied for eighth. Last week, Woods rebounded by shooting 30 on the back nine on his way to a 63 at Warwick Hills. Today, he's 1 over through 12 holes with two bogeys and just one birdie.
The biggest culprit in Round 2 here? His putting. Woods has made just two putts over 4 feet all day with several misses coming from inside 20 feet. Case in point: Woods missed from just inside 12 feet on No. 10, from just inside 11 feet on No. 11, 18 feet, 7 inches on No. 12 and just inside 16 feet on No. 1.
When almost all of your made putts are from inside 4 feet, as they are with Woods, unless you're having an incredible ballstriking day -- which Woods is not -- then you'll be grinding out one par after another. -- Brian Wacker
WILSON PLAYING WELL (12:20 p.m.): Oliver Wilson has limited experience in World Golf Championships events, but what little experience he has is pretty good.
Last year, Wilson finished in a tie for 27th here, but since then he's posted top-10s in the Accenture Match Play Championship and the CA Championship, both of which he finished in a tie for ninth in earlier this year.
Today, Wilson is making a run at the top of the leaderboard at 4 under through 12 holes. He's only hit half of his 10 fairways in the second round, but Wilson has managed 9 of 12 greens in regulation and has taken just 16 putts as a result. -- Brian Wacker
SO MUCH FOR SCORING (11:58 a.m.): What looked like a day for low scoring with ideal conditions hasn't exactly been that so far. There are still a number of players yet to tee off here at Firestone, but already the scoring average is already noticeably higher today.
Yesterday, Firestone played to a stroke average of 70.835 with 97 birdies. Today, it's playing to an average of 71.114 with 37 birdies at the moment. It all may shake out by day's end, but so far no one looks like they're going really low -- Oliver Wilson, Retief Goosen and Anthony Kim have the best rounds going at 3 under so far. -- Brian Wacker
PREZ CUP ON THE BRAIN (11:45 a.m.): No one bleeds red-white-and-blue more than Woody Austin. But he is currently 30th -- and well off the pace -- in the standings for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.
The 10 automatic qualifiers will be finalized after next week's PGA Championship. And judging by the way he's playing at Firestone this week, Austin just may become a candidate again.
The man who added to his legend as Aqua-Man the last time the two teams met in Canada is 2 under through 11 holes of the second round. He's 3 under for the tournament and three strokes off the pace currently being set by Padraig Harrington.
Austin is no stranger to late-season pushes for the Presidents Cup. In 2007, he finished solo second at the PGA to move from 18th to 10th to grab the final automatic berth.
Even if Austin fails to crack the top 10 , he could impress U.S. skipper Fred Couples, who will make his two Captains Picks on Sept. 8, after the Duetsche Bank Championship is over. -- Helen Ross
HARRINGTON HANGING ON FOR NOW (11:38 a.m.): Through eight holes today, Padraig Harrington is holding his own (click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker). He talked yesterday about how we shouldn't read too much into his 64, that it was just one round of golf. There's certainly some truth to that, but playing in even par today, Harrington is holding his top spot on the leaderboard, for now.
Surprisingly, this is just the fourth time in Harrington's career that he has he led or shared the lead after the first round -- his best result among those was a tie for second at the 2003 PLAYERS Championship. Unfortunately for Harrington, the first-round leader/co-leader has also gone on to win just seven times in 32 events on the PGA TOUR this year. On the flip side, the first-round leader at Firestone has gone on to win four out of 10 times. Three of those were by Tiger Woods. Take all that as you may. -- Brian Wacker
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TIGER UPDATE (11:08 a.m.): Yesterday, Tiger Woods talked about plodding his way along and how his round kind of went in spurts with some scratchy play and some good shots.
Today, it's been much of the same for Woods, who has one birdie and six pars through his first seven holes. He's hit 3 of 5 fairways and 5 of 7 greens in regulation and taken just 11 putts, but he's also made just two putts over 2 feet all morning. Woods has hit it inside 20 feet five times this morning, and only made one of them, a 14-foot, 11-inch putt on No. 16.
Let's see what he does on the front nine, which played seven-tenths of a stroke easier yesterday than the back nine at Firestone -- no thanks to Woods, though, who had one birdie and one bogey on the front Thursday. You can follow his round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
EARLY BIRDS (10:50 a.m.): With another day of flawless weather and conditions ideal for scoring, those with early tee times today have already started to take advantage. Tiger Woods said yesterday that there were numbers to be had on Firestone and so far some aren't disappointing.
Padraig Harrington, who opened with a somewhat surprising 64 yesterday after missing four of his last six cuts, is already 1 under through his first five holes. Zach Johnson is just two back after birdies on each of his first two holes of the day (Nos. 10 and 11) and Woody Austin and Soren Hansen are also 2 under through their first eight and five holes, respectively.
Scoring hasn't been good for everyone, though. Ian Poulter has slid down the leaderboard thanks to three straight bogeys that dropped him all the way back to even par for the week, while Danny Lee, who had one of his better rounds yesterday with a 68, is 1 over through 10. -- Brian Wacker
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