Farmers Insurance Open, Round 2

text size

Miralle/Getty Images

Phil Mickelson got himself into contention with a 67 Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open.

PGATOUR.COM Instant Access

Farmers Insurance Open

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Farmers Insurance Open, and we'll be providing updates all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.)

Jan. 29, 2010

JOHN DALY SAYS 'HE'S DONE' (6:15 p.m.): Is John Daly retiring? It sure sounded like it when GOLF CHANNEL producers caught up with him after he missed the cut today following rounds of 79-71. You always have to take a wait-and-see approach with Daly, especially after a frustrating two days at Torrey Pines, but Daly told GOLF CHANNEL, on camera, that he's "done."

"I just can't do it anymore," Daly continued. "I can't keep taking spots from guys out here playing this bad."

Daly reiterated: "I'm done."

Obviously more will come on this story as it develops, if it develops, but should Daly, whose only status on the PGA TOUR this year is as a past champion, step away from the game for good, it would be a stunning development. -- Brian Wacker

PHIL IN WITH A 67 (5:50 p.m.): If Phil Mickelson goes on to win this tournament, certainly his right-to-left swinging putt on No. 9 Friday will go down perhaps as one of those highlight-reel, signature type of shots.

It also gave him a much-needed birdie after six straight pars to close out a 67 that has him four shots back of the lead heading into the weekend and pretty much right where he hoped to be. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Mickelson's scorecard from today:

YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (5:36 p.m.): "How's Allenby's putting this week?" -- @PresDistler

The answer is good. You have to look past the total putts of 29 and 31, respectively, in the first two rounds at Torrey Pines. Allenby is in good shape at 8 under and seems to be putting the ball better than he has, well, maybe ever, since he switched to the claw grip. Since making the change, for example, he's dropped two strokes off his worldwide scoring average. Last year, Allenby's putts per green in regulation were over 1.8. This year? He's at 1.7. Allenby did have a costly miss on the last hole of the Sony Open in Hawaii, so you wonder how his stroke will hold up under pressure, but clearly he's heading the right direction if nothing else. -- Brian Wacker

STUCK IN A TREE (5:10 p.m.): When you're one shot off the cut line, the one place you probably don't want to be is in a tree -- literally. That's where Ryan Palmer was on the seventh hole, when his tee shot found a tree. Palmer couldn't play the shot, re-teed, but did make just a bogey on the hole. Still, that will be costly, dropping Palmer back to even par on the week with two holes to play. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON UPDATE (5 p.m.): There are three holes to go in Phil Mickelson's round. Though he's made nothing but pars the last four holes, a run of birdies on five of his previous seven holes before that has him in good shape. Mickelson is 4 under for the day and 6 under for the week. That's still five shots back of the current lead, but this is a place Mickelson knows how to score on and his plan of conservatively playing his way into contention, for the most part, seems to be working. He'll want to make at least one more birdie with the par-5 ninth coming up. -- Brian Wacker

IMADA TIED FOR LEAD (4:42 p.m.): Joining D.A. Points atop the leaderboard at 11 under? Ryuji Imada, whose round while less spectacular (there was no eagle on his card) was just as effective on the South Course.

Imada has yet to make a bogey this week after a four-birdie round today and that has him in good position for his first win since the 2008 AT&T Classic. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Imada's scorecard. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker.

THE D.A. HAS SPOKEN (4:25 p.m.): So much for not being able to score on the South Course. D.A. Points just turned in a round of 65 that puts him in the clubhouse lead at 11 under. Points made a bunch of putts -- he took just 25 of them -- and drove it straight while hitting a lot of greens. That's all stuff you need to do on the South Course, which can clearly be had in the right situation. -- Brian Wacker

Below is a look at Points' scorecard. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker.

CUT CHECK (4:10 p.m.): The cut line has moved to 2 under and that has some notable guys on the outside looking in, including John Daly and Luke Donald. Both of them have previous success here -- Daly won here in 2004 and Donald has four career top-10s -- but neither is looking like they'll be around for the weekend at 4 over and even par, respectively.

A few others, like Ryan Moore and last year's winner Nick Watney, meanwhile, are flirting with the line as they sit at 2 under as they finish up their rounds. -- Brian Wacker

LEADERBOARD CHECK (3:50 p.m.): Conditions are ideal for scoring today at Torrey Pines, and it doesn't seem to matter which course players are on. All you have to do is look at the top 10 to see that. D.A. Points has the best round going among that group. He's 6 under through 16 holes on the South Course. John Rollins, who came in second here a year ago, is also 6 under, though he's over on the North Course.

Ryuji Imada just made another birdie to get to 4 under on the South Course, which brings him to 11 under for the week and gives him a one-shot lead for the moment.

Of the top 10 names on the leaderboard, six of them are on the South Course and everyone is under par today. Even Michael Sim, who shot 73 on the South yesterday, is back into it at 7 under through 12 holes on the North. That moved him up 93 spots on the leaderboard. -- Brian Wacker

DALY UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): It will be a short week for the 2004 Farmers Insurance Open champion. John Daly is playing better today, but he's still stuck near the bottom of the leaderboard, despite being 3 under through 13 holes today. Yesterday, Daly had four bogeys and a triple bogey in a round of 79 on the South Course. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON UPDATE (3:20 p.m.): Phil Mickelson has made the turn at Torrey Pines' North Course, where he now has four birdies in his last five holes. That has Mickelson at 3 under for the day as he made the turn to the front in 33. Keep in mind there are still two par-5s for him to play, too. -- Brian Wacker

FOWLER FINALLY GETS IT GOING (3:10 p.m.): This is the Rickie Fowler many people expected, it just took a couple of starts to get going. The PGA TOUR rookie just made the turn in 33 after three birdies on the back nine of the South Course. Fowler is now at 8 under for the week and two off the lead. Follow him live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES (3 p.m.): Yesterday, most of the low scores came on Torrey Pines' North Course. Today it's been not a total reversal, but it's been close. The top 10 names on the leaderboard are a combined 21 under -- and all of them are on the South Course today. -- Brian Wacker

Mickelson

MICKELSON UPDATE (2:45 p.m.): Since a bogey on his third hole of the day -- the par-3 12th on the North Course -- Phil Mickelson has bounced back with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. That gets him to 1 under for the day and 3 under for the week. Mickelson still has three par-5s left, too. In other words, he could shoot 4 or 5 under today. -- Brian Wacker

TWEET OF THE DAY (2:20 p.m.): "Mickey Mouse 1, Robert Allenby 0. Translation: Allenby 1-over on the North Course." -- @dougferguson405

The above came courtesy of Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson, noting that Allenby had referred to the North Course as Mickey Mouse-ish yesterday. Looks like the golf gods are striking back today for Allenby, who has hit just 20 percent of his fairways and taken 10 putts through five holes. -- Brian Wacker

PRUGH AGAIN (2:10 p.m.): Coming into this season, much of the rookie talk surrounded Rickie Fowler. Maybe the guy we should have been watching is Alex Prugh. A winner in New Zealand on the Nationwide Tour last season, Prugh finished fifth at the Bob Hope Classic last week and is off to another strong start here, sitting just one off the lead after three birdies in his first eight holes on the South Course this morning.

Prugh is no stranger to low scores. The former University of Washington standout from Spokane, shot a final-round 64 at last year's Michael Hill New Zealand Open before adding another last-day low round of 65 to finish in a tie for eighth in Knoxville. And he opened the Bob Hope Classic with a 64. -- Brian Wacker

BIRDIE ALERT (1:55 p.m.): Someone was bound to put up a low number on Torrey Pines' South Course today and so far Andres Romero has been that guy. Romero, who started on the back nine, has five birdies through his first seven holes and is now 7 under for the week. Three of those birdies came via putts outside of 10 feet, while another came on a chip-in on No. 14 from just off the front left of the green.

Last year, Romero made a somewhat surprising decision to go back to Argentina to work on his game after the PGA Championship, rather than stick around to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup (he finished 132nd). The decision seemed to pay dividends when he returned in the Fall Series and tied for seventh in Las Vegas. This is his first start of 2010, but the good play seems to be carrying over for the moment. Click here to follow Romero live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

MICKELSON UPDATE (1:45 p.m.): So much for those opportunities to go low on the North Course, at least through the first three holes. Phil Mickelson is 1 over after a bogey on the par-3 12th -- he started on the back nine -- and that drops him to 1 under for the week. That also has him right on the cut line, which is currently at 1 under very early here in Round 2. -- Brian Wacker

YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (1:38 p.m.): "When the PGA TOUR plays on several courses, how do they ensure that the course is set up "the same" for each day?" - -@jryanpotts

Thankfully, they're only playing on two courses this week (as opposed to the four in play at the Bob Hope Classic). That said, there's only so much officials can do in terms of course set-up to make the two play "the same," as you put it. In truth, the North Course will always be easier at Torrey Pines because it's significantly shorter and, well, the design just isn't as difficult. In terms of actual conditions, though, officials do such a good job week after week, that making sure the greens are rolling pretty much the same, or that the fairways are in good shape, is like old habit. -- Brian Wacker

THE OLDER CROWD (1:30 p.m.): As a member of the AARP set myself, I'm curious to see if three "greybeards" continue their fine play toward the weekend. Tom Pernice, Steve Lowery and Michael Allen all drank from the Fountain of Youth Thursday.

Pernice (6-under 66 on the North Course) and Allen (Even-par 72 on the South) already have Champions Tour wins. Lowery (5-under 67 on the North) turns 50 later this season. There's plenty to be said for experience at Torrey Pines. Nobody's picked up their first TOUR win here since Jay Don Blake in 1991. -- Bob Stevens

MICKELSON UPDATE (1:05 p.m.): Phil Mickelson just teed off on No. 10 over on the North Course, where he hopes to make up some ground on the field today after an opening-round 70 on the South Course Thursday.

"I played a little cautious today, trying to not make too many mistakes and keep myself in it because [Friday] the North Course is a course that provides the opportunity to shoot a low round," Mickelson said. "I want to work my way in the tournament. [Jack] Nicklaus used to talk about that in majors, that he wanted to try to progress as the week went along, and I didn't want to try to come out and win the tournament on Thursday because it's just not possible."

Could we see a more conservative Mickelson this year? It sure sounds like it. Click here to follow Mickelson's round live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker

MATTER OF COURSE (12:50 p.m.): Just how much of a difference is there between the North and South Courses at Torrey Pines? About 2 1/2 strokes, at least based off yesterday's play (see chart). That's good news for Robert Allenby, who is the only one among the top 16 names on the leaderboard to have played the more difficult South Course yesterday.

"I think the only reason why I come to this tournament is because of the South Course," said Allenby, who shot a 67 there Thursday. "It's definitely a ball-striker's course. You look at all the champions that have won at this golf tournament -- there have been some unbelievable champions. And also long hitters, too. You need to have that length."

Allenby certainly has the length -- he ranked 48th in driving distance on the PGA TOUR in 2009. He was also 17th in scoring average, which makes it that much harder to believe that Allenby hasn't won on TOUR since 2001. -- Brian Wacker

Scoring averages for the first round

South Course (par 72)	72.769
North Course (par 72)	70.192

BIRDIES FOR BABIES (12:40 p.m.): Farmers will donate $100 dollars for every birdie made, $1,000 dollars for every eagle made, and $100,000 dollars for every hole-in-one made during weekend tournament play on behalf of Farmers Insurance and the Century Club. Proceeds will go to "Birdies for Babies" and anyone can donate online, or via text message. Log onto farmersinsuranceopen.com and click on the "Birdies for Babies" button, or text "baby" to 20222 to donate $5 dollars to the March of Dimes. Farmers will match any donation made on-line, via text, or at the tournament up to $100,000 dollars. -- Mark Williams

RYUJI ON THE RISE (12:30 p.m.): The second round of the Farmers Insurance Open is under way and though it's still very early keep an eye on Ryuji Imada. He's playing the difficult South Course today, but he is already off to a good start with an early birdie. Yesterday, he opened with a 65 on the much easier North Course, which should go a long way as he plays today.

Imada has had a lot of success in this event in the first round -- in six career starts, he's a combined 26 under (including yesterday's 7-under round). Now let's see what he does the rest of it. He certainly needs a bounce-back season after going all of last year without a top-10 and finishing with just over $700,000 in earnings -- well short of the more than $3 million he earned the year before. -- Brian Wacker

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
1 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10, North		Phil Mickelson, Ryan Palmer, Marc Turnesa Mickelson, tied for 40th, heads to the easier course after an opening-round 2-under 70 on the South.
Noon ET, Hole No. 10, South		Scott Piercy, John Merrick, Jay Williamson Leader Piercy looked great on the North Course with his opening 64, but can he keep it up on the South?
12:50 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10, North		Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Richard S. Johnson Allenby was the only player on the South Course in the top-15 Thursday. He could easily take the lead on the North.