Round 2 Notebook: BMW Championship

Sep. 10, 2010
By Joel Schuchmann, PGA TOUR Staff

Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 75 degrees. Winds E/SE 8-15 mph.

Matt Kuchar, No. 1 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- Locked

• The 18-hole leader Matt Kuchar recovered from four bogeys in his first six holes to hold a share of the 36-hole lead with Charlie Wi. Kuchar has held two previous 36-hole leads/co-leads: he was tied for the lead at the 2008 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open before finishing second; and was the sole leader at the 2010 PGA Championship, finishing T10.

• Kuchar's round on Friday included six bogeys and five birdies. He leads the field with 11 birdies through 36 holes.

• Kuchar, who won the 1997 U.S. Amateur Championship at Cog Hill G&CC, is making his third start at the BMW Championship (T60-2003, T10-2009).

Charlie Wi, No. 37 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- 9th or better

• Wi was cruising at 4-under-par for the day through 15 holes, but suffered a setback with a triple-bogey 7 on No. 15 with an errant drive into the hazard left of the fairway. He recovered with a birdie on No. 17 and finished with a 2-under-par 69 to finish with a 6-under-par 136 total.

• Wi entered The Playoffs No. 50 and has steadily climbed to No. 37 after first two Playoff events -- T27 (The Barclays) and T18 (Deutsche Bank Championship). He was T6 entering the final round at TPC Boston but posted a Monday 74 to fall out of contention.

• Wi has held one previous 36-hole lead/co-lead -- he was T1 at the 2007 Honda Classic before ultimately finishing T13.

Luke Donald, No. 5 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- Locked

• Donald, a former standout at nearby Northwestern University, continues to shine at the BMW Championship. After missing the cut as an amateur in 2000, he has yet to finish outside of the top 30 in seven previous professional starts, with a T3 in 2004 his best outing.

Marc Leishman, No. 57 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- 4th or better

• Leishman, who finished T2 last year at the BMW Championship to punch his ticket to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, posted the low round of the day with a 6-under-par 65.

• Recorded seven birdies in nine holes on Friday (Nos. 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14).

Hunter Mahan, No. 8 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- Locked

• Two-time winner in 2010 Hunter Mahan recorded the low score of the morning at 3-under-par 68 to climb into the top-10. The morning wave scoring average was 72.24.

• Mahan is playing in his eighth consecutive BMW Championship, his best finish being T8 in 2008.

• Mahan is one of three players (Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk) to have played in all 15 Playoff events including this week.

Ian Poulter, No. 44 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- 7th or better

• Despite a 1-over-par 72 on Friday, Poulter remained inside the top-5 through the morning wave at 4-under-par 138.

• This is his third start at the BMW Championship (T10-2007, T20-2009).

Tiger Woods, No. 51 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- 5th or better

• The five-time winner of the BMW Championship struggled to a 2-over-par 73 on Friday.

• After entering this week's BMW Championship with 11 consecutive rounds in the 60s at Cog Hill G&CC, Woods has posted two consecutive over-par rounds to open the 2010 BMW Championship. Only six of Woods' previous 44 professional rounds at the BMW Championship entering the week were over par, and none of them had been consecutive in the same year.

Phil Mickelson, No. 14 in FedExCup points

• Projected finish to reach THE TOUR Championship -- Virtually Locked

• Despite three penalty shots (Nos. 7-15-18), recorded an even-par round of 71 Friday.

• Mickelson is 2-over-par on the par-5s through 36 holes. Entering this week, Mickelson ranks second on the PGA TOUR in par-5 scoring average at 4.56.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Camilo Villegas (T13) is the only player to have posted top-10s in all three previous BMW Championships since the inception of The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

• Only 17 of the 70 players shot rounds in the 60s on Friday, with Marc Leishman (65) taking low round of the day honors.

• Justin Leonard has 10 birdies through 36 holes, but sits at 1-over-par at the halfway point. Leonard, Marc Leishman and Luke Donald all have totaled 10 birdies, trailing only the co-leader Kuchar.

• Scoring Averages at the par-71 Cog Hill G&CC:

Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 36.086 35.543 71.629 --
Friday 35.586 36.671 72.257 71.943

• The leading score of 6-under-par 136 is the highest at the BMW Championship since 2004, when Steve Lowery, Matt Gogel and Charles Howell III lead at 6-under-par 136. Last year, Tiger Woods led at 7-under-par 135 before ultimately winning at 19-under-par 265.

• Four natives of England sit inside the top-10 through 36 holes -- Ian Poulter (T4), Paul Casey (T4) and Luke Donald (T4) and Justin Rose (T9).

• There were no bogey-free rounds in Round 2. Through 36 holes, Brian Gay has put together the only bogey-free round.

FedExCup Notes

• Any player in the top 16 this week could jump into first place with a win at the BMW Championship.

• Three players have finished inside the top 15 in the FedExCup standings in the first three seasons:

Player 2007 2008 2009 2010 (current standing)
Phil Mickelson 3rd 7th 2nd 14th
Steve Stricker 2nd 14th 3rd 3rd
Jim Furyk 11th 5th 4th 11th

• Most Top-10s in PGA TOUR Playoff events:

9 -- Steve Stricker
7 -- Camilo Villegas
6 -- Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Tiger Woods

• Three players have started in all 15 PGA TOUR Playoff events, including Stewart Cink (T27), Steve Stricker (T27) and Hunter Mahan (T9).

• Of the eight players who own the most rounds in the 60s in PGA TOUR Playoff events (57 overall rounds), none were able to crack 70 through the first two rounds:

Player R2 Rounds in the 60s
Steve Stricker 73 36
Jim Furyk 71 27
Tiger Woods 72 27
Phil Mickelson 71 26
Robert Allenby 70 26
Sergio Garcia n/a 25
Camilo Villegas 70 25
Angel Cabrera 76 24
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