No one out of contention on a soft course that's yielded soft scores

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- There's only so much the folks who run THE PLAYERS Championship can control. The weather is not one of those things, regardless if it's May or March.

A cold winter followed by what's been a wet and humid week in northeast Florida, took the teeth out of TPC Sawgrass for most of the first two days. Now we're about to find out what happens on the weekend.

If the last two rounds are anything like the first two we'll be headed toward Greg Norman's tournament record of 24-under 264 set in 1994. We're exactly halfway there now with Lee Westwood a dozen under and three others just one shot back.

Tournament director Mark Russell and his staff might not be able to dial up Mother Nature, but they can change the effects of her and suck the greens bone dry. Even when they did use the Sub-Air system, though, there was enough humidity to keep things soft enough to allow for the lowest cut since 1993 when it was also 2 under.

"We're not Al Gore and the global warming folks," Russell said. "I wish we could change the weather.

"The biggest thing is the rain. It's been ultra humid and there's no wind. We want it to firm up, but there's not much you can do when it rains. It's so humid, the grass just kind of puffs up. We set the course up as difficult as it can play, but fair."

You can't please everyone, however, and a number of players noticed a noticeably different golf course. Different from when this tournament used to be held in March and different from last year.

"There's no excuse for the greens," said Jerry Kelly, who started the day outside the cut line and ended it in a tie for 23rd after shooting a 6-under 66 in the morning wave. "They're soft. They're spongy. They don't roll true in the afternoon.

"I know it was a tough winter, but I just don't know what's going on. I'd rather play on mud and dirt like we used to sometimes than play on a first cut. It's like an old fringe. I just remember what it was in the past. This is what, the fourth year [for the Mini-Verde Bermudagrass]? There's no excuse. It just used to be so much harder to get at tucked pins. It's a whole lot easier right now.""

Because winter was longer and colder than usual, the rough hasn't grown and the greens aren't what they were in year's past, at least in terms of firmness and speed, especially in the morning. That had some players scoring and other players talking heading into a weekend in which things should toughen up as long as the rain holds off.

"I think because the character of the course is changing so much from the morning to the afternoon, that the guys who are 2, 3, 4 under are in the tournament," said Phil Mickelson, who is nine shots back entering the final 36 holes. "It's going to be very difficult for the leaders to pull away in the afternoon."

Tiger Woods wasn't as critical as Kelly in his dissection of the golf course, but he would have preferred to see TPC Sawgrass play more difficult.

"Hopefully this course will toughen up a little bit," said Woods, who also teed off in the morning and shot a 1-under 71. "We're holding 5-irons and shots on No. 8 with 3-irons are holding. You'd think the greens would be a little more springy."

Kelly's and Woods' points were furthered by the fact that four players -- Westwood, Francesco Moinari, Lucas Glover and Graeme McDowell -- shot 65 on Friday. Three others shot 66.

Adam Scott won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2004, but the tournament was played in March then.

"That's a big difference right there winning in March instead of May," Scott said. "This week is a little unfair to judge it, though. The tough winter had an affect of the preparation. You can only do what Mother Nature allows you to.

"It's a completely different golf course than before. I like every track to be firm and fast and a lot of the slopes now are more subtle and soft. Before they were more severe and steep, but with this grass you can't have that steepness."

Maybe we should have listened to defending champion Henrik Stenson, who shot 66 in last year's final round and barely made the cut thi year.

"Earlier in the week I predicted there would be low scores," Stenson said. "For sure [the course] is different. It is so much softer."

Now we'll find out if Stenson's prediction holds for the weekend, too.