Round 2, Quail Hollow Championship

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May. 1, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in today's second round of the Quail Hollow Championship. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
7:40 am ET
No. 10
Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Anthony Kim
Mickelson was very pleased with his opening 67, and really wants to stick a big number up on the big board this morning. Track 'em
12:20 pm ET
No. 1
Jeff Maggert, Tommy Armour III, Nick O'Hern
Maggert has missed seven of his last 10 cuts, but was in vintage form Thursday. A big week would help him tremendously. Track 'em
12:50 pm ET
No. 1
Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, David Toms
Woods tore up his first nine Thursday, but didnt do much on the second nine. Can he score on the whole course Friday? Track 'em

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Friday's first round:

Friday's forecast

Partly Cloudy
Temp: 79 high/63 low
Friday should be partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of thundershowers starting at mid-morning and lasting throughout the afternoon. The wind will blow from the south-southwest at 10-20 mph.
Sirius-Stevens.jpg

I was lucky enough to follow Tiger Woods for his entire opening-round 65 and witnessed a professional do his job all day long. As great as Woods played Thursday, the best thing he did was play smart. Golf is not a game of perfect, and every time Woods missed, whether it was off the tee or approaching the hole, he missed in the right places, always making the next shot easier. His longest par putt was only about 3 feet. If he goes off and hits any crazy-good shots on Friday, he'll threaten all kinds of course records.

The short rough is going to be a crucial topic of discussion all week long. Tiger wasn't willing to say he "liked" the shorter rough when I talked with him after his round, but he missed only four greens despite hitting only five fairways all day, so you can imagine he preferred the 1 ½-inch rough over the usual 3 ½- or 4-inch rough.

Hunter Mahan and Steve Marino weren't as shy about voicing their approval. They LOVED the shorter rough and how it gave them the opportunity to attack the hole locations even if they barely missed the rough. Mahan, though, admitted there were still some "funny" lies you could get in the shorter rough that made recovery shots more difficult to play.

You've likely seen Phil Mickelson's amazing recovery shot at the 18th hole from the scoreboard short and right of the green that allowed him to save par and stay within two of the lead. How good was it? Playing partner Davis Love III turned around and told my PGA TOUR Network partner T.J. Rives "That was crazy," and Phil himself responded when my colleague Dennis Paulson said, "Nice shot," with, "You think?"

Phil's excited about his early tee time Friday, expecting the weather to turn sour in the afternoon, when he's off the course while Tiger's teeing it up in Phil's Thursday spot just before 1 p.m. ET.

Stat of the day
With a birdie on No. 1 on Thursday, defending champion Anthony Kim is 7 under par in nine rounds on that hole in his career at the Quail Hollow Championship. En route to victory last year, Kim birdied the first hole all four days. Phil Mickelson (Northern Trust Open) and Tiger Woods (Arnold Palmer Invitational) are the only two players to defend titles in 2009.

NOTEWORTHY NUGGETS:
• Tiger Woods extended his under-par streak at Quail Hollow Club to six rounds with his 65 on Thursday. Making his fourth start at the Quail Hollow Championship, Woods also posted his seventh round in the 60s (in 13 total rounds) and posted a new career-low at the event. The 65 also was Woods' best round since an identical second-round 65 at the 2008 Buick Invitational.

• Phil Mickelson can take over No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking with a victory this week, if Woods finishes lower than fourth. Woods has been No. 1 for 203 consecutive weeks and No. 1 for 545 weeks in his career.

Robert Allenby, who opened with a 67, is looking to start a new streak after missing the cut at the Verizon Heritage. Allenby had made 33 consecutive cuts prior to the Verizon Heritage, with his last missed cut being the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.

• Quail Hollow was dishing out the pain on Thursday. Mark Turnesa withdrew after eight holes due to a neck injury, Brad Adamonis withdrew after eight holes due to a wrist injury, Scott McCarron withdrew after nine holes due to an undisclosed injury, and Kevin Na withdrew after his first-round 78 due to an undisclosed injury.

Thus far at Quail Hollow
Round Leader Low round (par 72) Key links
Tiger Woods (-7) 65: Tiger Woods Daily Wrap-Up | Live Report
Helen Ross column | Notebook
The Film Room
PGA TOUR Today
Win McMurry updates action from the first round of the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship and looks ahead to the second round. Watch it
Shot of the day
Phil Mickelson makes a great chip shot for an eagle on the par-5 7th hole during the opening round of the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship. Watch it
Round 1 highlights
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods find themselves on top of the leaderboard after the first round of the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship. Watch it

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