Round 2 Notebook: St. Jude Classic

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Jun. 11, 2010
By Colin Murray, PGA TOUR Staff

Weather: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and a chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures in the high 80s. Winds S 8-12 mph.

• The 20 players who failed to finish the first round Thursday were back in position at 7:45 a.m. on Friday. The second round began as scheduled at 7:00 a.m.

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• A total of 81 players made the cut at 1-over-par 141. The St. Jude Classic is the 10th event on the 2010 PGA TOUR to have an over-par cut. With more than 78 players making the 36-hole cut, a 54-hole cut will be made to the low 70 players and ties.

• In Saturday's third round, players will start off of both tees playing in threesomes. Tee times will range from 9:26 a.m. CT to 11:30 a.m. CT.

• The second-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 18-of-52 times at the St. Jude Classic, most recently Brian Gay in 2009.

• Only six-of-23 36-hole leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR in 2010, most recently Jason Bohn at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Lee Westwood (63-68 -- 131, -9) T1

• First-round leader Westwood produced a 2-under-par 68 Friday to share the 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 131.

• The St. Jude Classic marks the third time Westwood has held the lead/co-lead after 36-holes on the PGA TOUR, including twice earlier this year at the Masters Tournament (2nd) and THE PLAYERS Championship (T4).

• Westwood, who enters this week No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking, is making his first-career start at the St. Jude Classic. He will look to join Billy Maxwell (1958), Bob Lunn (1968) and Dicky Pride (1994) as the only players to win this event in their first appearance. He would also become the first European winner in the 52-year history of the St. Jude Classic.

• The St. Jude Classic is Westwood's ninth start on the PGA TOUR in 2010 and he has yet to miss a cut, highlighted by top-10 finishes at the Masters (2nd), THE PLAYERS Championship (T4), Shell Houston Open (T8) and The Honda Classic (T9).

Garrett Willis (66-65 -- 131, -9) T1

Willis fired a bogey-free 5-under-par 65 Friday to share the 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 131. He has held a share of the 36-hole lead on one previous occasion during his PGA TOUR career at the 2007 Frys.com Open. In his only PGA TOUR victory at the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open, Willis was T20 through 36 holes.

• In seven previous starts at the St. Jude Classic, Willis has made the cut three times with his best result a T19 in 2002.

• Willis has qualified for the weekend in nine of his 12 starts in 2010 with his best finish a T13 last month at the Valero Texas Open.

Charley Hoffman (67-65 -- 132, -8) 3rd

• Hoffman shot a 5-under-par 65 and is T3 through 36 holes at the St. Jude Classic at 8-under-par 132. Today's 65 is Hoffman's second-lowest round on the PGA TOUR in 2010, trailing only a 64 in the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.

• Hoffman's T3 through two rounds equals the second-highest position of his PGA TOUR career. He has been T2 through 36 holes four times, most recently at the 2009 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Hoffman was T10 through 36 holes at the 2007 Bob Hope Classic, his lone PGA TOUR victory.

• In his only other start at the St. Jude Classic Hoffman finished T64 in 2008.

• Entering this week, Hoffman had made seven-of-12 cuts on the PGA TOUR in 2010 with his best finish a T13 last month at the Valero Texas Open.

Robert Garrigus (67-66 -- 133, -7) T4

• In just his seventh start of the 2010 season, Robert Garrigus is T4 at 7-under-par 133 and poised for his best finish on the PGA TOUR this year. He has made three-of-seven cuts with his best result to date a T26 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

• The T4 entering the weekend is Garrigus' second-best position through 36 holes of his PGA TOUR career. He previously had been T3 through the first two rounds three times, most recently at the 2009 Reno-Tahoe Open. Garrigus' career-best finish on the PGA TOUR is a T3 at the 2007 Frys.com Open and the 2008 Turning Stone Championship.

• Garrigus is making is third-career start at the St. Jude Classic, finishing T42 last year and T47 in 2006.

Robert Karlsson (67-66 -- 133, -7) T4

• In his first appearance at the St. Jude Classic, Karlsson is within two shots of the 36-hole lead at 7-under-par 133. Like Westwood, Karlsson would join Billy Maxwell (1958), Bob Lunn (1968) and Dicky Pride (1994) as the only players to win this event in their first appearance. Also like Westwood, should he go on to win Karlsson would become the first European to win this event.

• In search of his first PGA TOUR victory, Karlsson's best finish on TOUR was a T4 at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. His best position through 36 holes on TOUR was also at the 2008 U.S. Open where he was T2. Karlsson is in the field at next week's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

• In just six starts on the PGA TOUR in 2010, Karlsson has made five cuts with his best finish a T17 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Karlsson won earlier this year at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the European Tour, his ninth career victory on that Tour.

Shaun Micheel (68-66 -- 134, -6) T6

• Memphis resident Shaun Micheel fired a bogey-free 4-under-par 66 Friday and is three shots off the 36-hole lead held by Westwood and Willis.

• This year marks Micheel's 17th-career start at the St. Jude Classic. He has made six-of-16 cuts with his best finish a T12 in 2007, the last year he qualified for the weekend.

• In eight starts on the PGA TOUR in 2010, Micheel has made six cuts and finished solo fifth at the Shell Houston Open. Winner of the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill CC in Westchester, NY, his best finish since was a solo second at the PGA Championship in 2006.

Villegas Brothers

• Brothers Camilo and Manuel Villegas are teeing it up together this week for the first time in a PGA TOUR event.

• Camilo, who captured his third PGA TOUR victory earlier this year at The Honda Classic and currently ranks No. 10 in the FedExCup standings, bounced back with a 3-under-par 67 in Friday's second round and will play the weekend at 2-under-par 138, T27. He has made the cut in all four previous appearances in Memphis with top-20 finishes in 2006 (T16) and 2008 (T18).

• Manuel, playing via a sponsor's exemption, is making his third-career TOUR start (finished T44 and T45 at the 2009 and 2010 Puerto Rico Open). He missed the 36-hole cut at 4-over-par 144 (71-73 -- 144). He has two made cuts in six starts on the 2010 Nationwide Tour, including a season-best sixth-place finish at the Moonah Classic.

Miscellaneous Stats

Steve Wheatcroft made a double eagle on the 554-yard par-5 third hole Friday morning, holing his second shot from 243 yards with a hybrid 2-iron. It was the second double eagle made on the PGA TOUR in 2010 (Carl Pettersson, R3, Bob Hope Classic). The double eagle was the fourth in St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew history and the second on the par-5 third. Phil Blackmar holed a 211-yard 3-iron in the second round in 1990.

• In his first start at the St. Jude Classic, 21-year-old Rory McIlory posted a bogey-free 4-under-par 66 in Friday's second round and is 5-under-par 135 through 36 holes, T10. Should he go on to win this week at the age of 21 years, one month, McIlory would become the youngest winner of the St. Jude Classic, eclipsing Bob Lunn in 1968 at 23 years, one month.

• The leaderboard through 36 holes at the St. Jude Classic appears to be bucking the recent youth movement on the PGA TOUR. Through the first 24 events of 2010, 10 have been won by players in their 20s, but of the top-five positions on leaderboard in Memphis, there are four players in their 30s (Westwood, Willis, Hoffman, Garrigus) and one player in his 40s (Karlsson).

• Sixteen-year-old amateur Jordan Spieth, who finished T16 last month in his first PGA TOUR start at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, missed the cut at 3-over-par 143 (73-70).

David Toms, winner of the 2003 and 2004 St. Jude Classic, extended his streak of consecutive cuts made in Memphis to 15, making the cut on the number at 1-over-par 141. He now holds the tournament record for consecutive cuts made on his own. He entered this week tied with Gene Littler at 14.

• Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, (68-66 --134, -6) T6 through 36 holes, is in search of his first win on the PGA TOUR since he claimed his second U.S. Open victory at Olympic Club in 1998, a span of 11 years, 11 months and 21 days, and 449 TOUR starts.

• Defending champion Brian Gay rallied with a 3-under-par 67 Friday to finish 36 holes at even-par 140 and play the weekend. Of the 24 (including Gay) defending champions of stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2010, 17 have made the cut in their title defense.

• Here is how the nine past champions in the field have fared this week:

Winner Year 2010 Result
Bob Estes 2001 66-69 -- 135 (T10)
Woody Austin 2007 69-67 -- 136 (T15)
Jeff Maggert 2006 68-71 -- 139 (T32)
Dicky Pride 1994 69-70 -- 139 (T32)
Brian Gay 2009 73-67 -- 140 (T48)
David Toms 2004, 2003 71-70 -- 141 (T62)
Jim Gallagher, Jr. 1995 74-71 -- 145 (Cut)
Justin Leonard 2005, 2008 74-72 -- 146 (Cut)
Len Mattiace 2002 73-74 -- 147 (Cut)

• Bogey-free rounds: Garrett Willis (65), Robert Garrigus (66), Rory McIlory (66) and Shaun Micheel (66).

• Scoring Averages at the par-70 TPC Southwind:

Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 34.987 35.641 70.627 ---
Friday 35.400 35.500 70.900 70.762

• The par-3 14th hole, this week's Kodak Challenge Hole, played the toughest during the second round, yielding a 3.267 average and just 16 birdies. The par-5 16thwas again the easiest with a 4.633 average.

Paul Goydos and John Morse withdrew during the second round due to injuries while Mark Hensby withdrew with an illness.

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