Notebook: Round 2, Transitions Championship

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The cut came at 2-over with 86 players advancing to the weekend. Since more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut there will be a 54-hole cut to 70 players plus ties on Saturday.

• The highest cut this season is 3-over at The Honda Classic while 86 players is the most to make the cut this year, five more than the 81 who played the weekend at the Northern Trust Open. The lowest cut in tournament history is even-par in 2004 while the highest cut is 3-over in 2003 and 2008.

• Padraig Harrington added a 6-under 65 to his first-round 69 to take the halfway lead at the Transitions Championship. Harrington is 8 under and one stroke ahead of Carl Pettersson, Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson and Retief Goosen. Goosen (2003, 2009) and Pettersson (2005) are former winners of the Transitions Championship.

• This is Harrington's first appearance at the Transitions Championship. He managed to get one practice round in on Tuesday before visiting the White House on Wednesday to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with President Obama and the Irish Prime Minister.

• In the 16 rounds he has played on TOUR this year, Harrington's 65 is his lowest.

• This is Harrington's fifth 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR, most recently the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, where he finished T2. He has failed to win any of the previous four times he has held the 36-hole lead/co-lead.

• Bubba Watson recorded four birdies in a row (Nos. 11-14) and posted a 6-under 65. Watson made the cut at Innisbrook for the second time in five consecutive starts. He finished T19 in 2007.

• Watson is the only player in the top 10 who has yet to record a victory on the PGA TOUR.

• The left-handed Watson is looking to become the first left-handed winner of the Transitions Championship. Steve Flesch finished seventh last year, his only top-10 finish in seven starts at the Transitions Championship. In fact, Flesch's finish is the only top-10 by a left-hander in tournament history. He also posted a T13 in the 2002 tournament. The only other top-20 finishes by left-handers include Eric Axley and Bubba Watson (both T19 in 2007), Mike Weir (T13 in 2003) and Russ Cochran (T19 in 2000).

• Retief Goosen is competing in his seventh Transitions Championship and his sixth event of the season. So far this year, he has posted three top-10s and missed just one cut (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am).

• Carl Pettersson (67-68) continued his good play from round one. He is making his eighth start in this event, dating to 2003. Pettersson also finished T8 in 2004, his only other top-10 here.

• In nine starts this year, this represents the fifth time this season that Pettersson has strung together back-to-back rounds in the 60s.

• Six of the nine winners of the Transitions Championship are international players. K.J. Choi (69-69) and Retief Goosen (67-68) are two-time winners at Innisbrook.

• Here's a look at the 36-hole leading score, in relation to par, at the Transitions Championship:

• Jim Furyk (67-68) made a more consistent start at the Transitions Championship this year. Furyk was the first round leader last year after an opening 65 but followed that with 78 to make the cut on the number, eventually finishing T52.

• Furyk, who is making just his fifth start of the season, hasn't missed a cut since the 2009 Verizon Heritage, a span of 20 events.

• Furyk is second in most consecutive events in the money behind Kenny Perry (71-72), who has 33, the longest current streak on TOUR. FedExCup leader Steve Stricker (70-66) has posted five of his last seven rounds in the 60s at Innisbrook. Stricker shot a final-round 66 in 2008 to finish T14. Rounds of 69-67-73-69 in 2009 earned a T4 finish.

• Stricker looks certain to extend his lead in the FedExCup this week. Dustin Johnson, currently fourth in the FedExCup ranking, missed the cut while Bill Haas (T7 in the ranking) is T29 after the second round.

• Steve Elkington (68-68) was one of five players to earn a spot in the Transitions Championship by finishing in the top-10 at last week's Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. Elkington is currently T6 through 36-holes. The last time he had back-to-back top-10s on TOUR was 2001 (T6/Marconi Pennsylvania Classic, T6/Valero Texas Open).

• Elkington is 2-under on the par-3s through 36-holes. He also ranks 1st in Putts Per Round (25).

• Maggert (67-69), who earned a spot in this week's field when Vijay Singh withdrew 20 minutes before his tee time (back injury) on Thursday, is competing in his seventh Transitions Championship, with four made cuts and a best finish of T19 in 2000.

• David Toms entered "The Snake Pit" (Nos. 16-18) at 7-under for the round and played the treacherous final three holes in 1-under to post 8-under 63 -- an 11-stroke improvement on his opening-round 74, which was his worst first round in six starts at the Transitions Championship.

• In 2008, Toms had an 11-stroke decline at this event. After a first-round 70 he posted 81 in round two to miss the cut.

• Toms' career-low round on the PGA TOUR is 61 in round three of the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii which was the last time he won on TOUR. His second-round 63 is his lowest round on TOUR since then.

• Toms now owns the lowest second-round score in tournament history. The honor previously belonged to Tommy Armour III who shot 64 in 2004.

• Jonathan Byrd (67-70) made his eighth consecutive cut at the Transitions Championship, joining Woody Austin with the most cuts made in tournament history. Austin (75-76) missed his first cut in nine starts at this event.

• Byrd has never finished worse than T44 in eight previous starts at Innisbrook. His best finish at the Transitions Championship is T4 in 2006. Byrd has posted 13 of 30 rounds in the 60s at the Copperhead course.

• After missing the cut in his first three starts this year, John Daly (70-71) made his third cut in a row (T67/Mayakoba Golf Classic, T24/Puerto Rico Open, T29 thru 36 holes/Transitions Championship). The last time Daly made three or more consecutive cuts in a season on TOUR was 2005 (British Open, Buick Open, PGA Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational).

• Adam Scott (73-66), No. 47 in the Official World Golf Ranking, shot 69 in the first round of the 2005 Transitions Championship, his first ever start at this event. His 5-under 66 in Friday's second round was just his second sub-par round in 10 trips around the Copperhead course.

• Justin Leonard (71-68) aced the 175 yard 13th hole with a 7-iron. It represents his fifth career ace and it is also the fifth ace in tournament history and the first at the 13th hole on the Copperhead course. Holes in one at the Transitions Championship:

• Leonard's career PGA TOUR aces:

• Leonard's ace was the eighth on TOUR this year.

• Duval (72-69), currently No. 13 in the Ryder Cup rankings, made his third cut in six starts this year.

• First-round leader Garrett Willis posted a second-round 77 -- 12 strokes higher than his first-round 65 to drop to T41.

• Bob Heintz, who lives in nearby Dunedin, shot a bogey-free 67 to make the cut in his first start on TOUR this year. Heintz, who Monday qualified this week, finished 68th here in 2007, the only other time he made the cut in five starts at Innisbrook.

• Derek Lamely (73-68), winner of last week's rain-delayed Puerto Rico Open, is T29.

Bogey-free rounds: Round 1 - Retief Goosen (67), Rickie Fowler (67), Jim Furyk (67). Round 2 -- Carl Pettersson (68), David Toms (63), Brandt Snedeker (69), Luke Donald (68), Bob Heintz (67), Brian Gay (70).

• The scoring average for round two was 71.599. Cumulative scoring average is 71.895.

• Chris Couch, who shot 75 on Thursday, withdrew with a leg injury before the start of the second round. Jeff Overton withdrew with a back injury during the second round.