By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Arjun Atwal knows about his precarious position on the money list. On Friday at The McGladrey Classic, Atwal did something about it. Atwal, currently 175th in money, carded a 7-under 63 in the second round at Sea Island Golf Club to take a one-shot lead at 10-under 130 over tournament host Davis Love III (66) and Jim Furyk (65). "Yeah, I'm in a desperate situation," Atwal said. "I got no choice to either win or finish in the top two, I think my caddie figured out. So I've just got to grind it out." Atwal had eight birdies and one bogey, hitting 14 greens in regulation. He needed only 25 putts -- which included birdies from 17, 13 and 20 feet. And, yes, he would likely need a top-five finish or higher to crack the top 125 on the money list to be exempt for 2013. "Oh, it feels great. I don't even know how many (putts) I made," said Atwal, who recently moved his hands higher in order to get over the golf ball better at address. Love knocked his tee shot on the 192-yard 17th to 4 feet and converted for a birdie, setting off a round of cheers from the nearby "Dawg House" grandstands at Sea Island (A party palace of sorts for University of Georgia Bulldogs fans). Love is using a new putter this week, which is believed to be an old belly putter that fellow pro Brian Bateman used to play with. Love, however, does not anchor the putter to his stomach when he putts. "I've been messing around with this putter for well over a year," Love said. "I just haven't had the nerve to put it in play." Meanwhile, Furyk is bouncing back yet again in his first tournament since the U.S. lost the Ryder Cup. He's already had seven top 10s in 2012, but badly wants a victory -- he hasn't won since 2010 -- after a year full of close calls. "I have a lot of confidence in my ball striking right now, but you know, when you don't play a lot, sometimes it's the course management, making the good decisions," Furyk said. "And so far that's all kind of coming back to me slowly and I've kind of gained momentum as the last two rounds have gone on." First-round co-leader and Jacksonville native Bud Cauley carded a 70 and was tied for fourth place, two shots back at 8 under with David Toms (67) and Gavin Coles (65). Cauley tied the course record and set a personal best on the PGA TOUR with a 62 on Thursday. In Round 2, his iron game wasn't as sharp. "Just kind of didn't have it today," Cauley said. "I would have loved to have shot under par, but even is not too bad. So I'm going to go on the range and work on it and hopefully play better on the weekend."

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM ST SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Fanny Sunesson was the most successful female caddie in the history of golf. Henrik Stenson appreciated the opportunity to work with her but wished her career didn’t have to end in such a strange way. Sunesson, who recently told Swedish golf website golf.se, that she is retiring, injured her back last September while caddying for Stenson at a tournament in Switzerland. A marshal lifted a rope that accidentally tripped Sunesson, who fell and injured herself. “When I spoke to her back in 2006, she was semi-retired back then and then she came out and did five full seasons with me,” Stenson said Friday from The McGladrey Classic. “If she wasn’t ready for retirement before then, she definitely was after five years with me.” “She’s a terrific girl and a terrific caddie,” Stenson added. “It’s a shame it kind of had to end like that.” Sunesson famously caddied for Nick Faldo and won four major championships with him in the 1990s. She also caddied for Sergio Garcia and Fred Funk before taking over for Stenson. Together the two won the 2007 Accenture Match Play Championship and THE PLAYERS Championship in 2009. Stenson said Sunesson is doing well, but isn't healthy enough to continue caddying. While he didn’t completely close the door on the possibility that Sunesson would caddie one last time, he was elated to have the opportunity to work with her. “She obviously gave me a lot of comfort being as hard working and dedicated and loyal as she is,” Stenson said. “It’s a great comfort to have her on the bag. If she didn’t have the information I needed when I was out there no one else had it, either.” According to the Swedish golf website, Sunesson will focus on her role as a golf coach and advisor. She was Martin Kaymer’s mental coach when he became the world’s No. 1 player in 2011. Faldo won the 1990 British Open with Sunesson. On Friday, Faldo tweeted: "#FannySunesson--as we strode down 14th fairway Open 1990, 2 ahead to break tension Fanny asks "Are you thinking of getting a dog?"" The ability to keep her players relaxed is one of the reasons Sunesson was so successful. She was asked if she had any regrets. “Yes, to win the U.S. Open and the U.S. PGA,” Sunesson told the website. “It would have been fun to take all the majors. Since it is a bit sad that I could not finish properly with (Henrik). He deserves all the success he can get. I think he will win a major, and it would have been fun to be there when he does.” Stenson is in the top 20 at Sea Island after rounds of 67-68. “We won some nice tournaments together, obviously (THE PLAYERS),” Stenson said. “She didn’t win that with Nick so at least I contributed something nice for her CV. Kind of hard to match four majors.”

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Bud Cauley didn’t hit his irons as well as he did the previous day at The McGladrey Classic. But he made enough putts and par saves for a second-round, even-par 70 that gave him the early lead at 8-under 132 on Friday at Sea Island Golf Club. Cauley took a one-shot lead over Michael Thompson (68), Brian Gay (68), D.J. Trahan (67) and Chad Campbell (67). He hit the same number of greens (14) as he did in a Round 1 62, but had 33 putts instead of the 24 he needed on Thursday. "I had a few nice up and downs out there and left two putts throughout the 4- or 5-footers for par," Cauley said. "So I'm happy. I would have loved to have shot under par. But even is not too bad, and I'm going to work on the irons a little bit and hopefully I'll be close tomorrow." Thompson, who tied for second at the U.S. Open, held the lead at 9 under until he four-putted the par-3 17th for a double-bogey 5. Thompson three-putted from 3 feet. “Just a little bit of nerves,” Thompson said. “It’s been since the U.S. Open since I’ve been in contention. But then again on these Bermuda greens the rules officials tend to cut the holes right where the grain changes. That always makes it difficult.” “It’s just unfortunate,” Thompson added. “But at the same time I’m right where I need to be.” Cauley finished T15 here last season, picking up enough money to earn non-member status for 2012. He became one of the few players to go right from college to the PGA TOUR without having to go to q-school. He’s had six top 10s and nine top 25s in 2012. And Cauley is excited about the possibility of winning for the first time on the PGA TOUR this weekend. "Yeah. It's going to be a lot of fun," Cauley said. Still half the tournament left, but I'm hitting the ball well and I'm seeing the lines on the greens really well, too. So if I can just get a little bit closer, I think I'll do a little bit better."

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- In his ninth season on the PGA TOUR, Zach Johnson has put together quite a resume. The 36-year-old Iowa native has nine victories and an incredible 44 top-10 finishes. He's also finished second seven times. In 2009, Johnson won twice -- the Sony Open and Valero Texas Open -- had nine top 10s and finished sixth in the FedExCup standings. In 2007, Johnson won twice -- the Masters and the AT&T Classic -- had a total of five top 10s and finished seventh in the FedExCup standings. But this season might just be his best to date. "Yeah, it's in there," Johnson said after his first-round 65 at The McGladrey Classic on Thursday. "I could probably answer that question better next week." Johnson, who tees of in the second round at 12:35 ET, won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the John Deere Classic, while taking runner-ups at the RBC Heritage and THE PLAYERS Championship. So far, he's had six top 10s and he finished 12th in the FedExCup standings. BEST SEASONS FOR ZACH JOHNSON

PGA TOUR season	Wins	2nd	Top 10s	FedExCup finish	Earnings
2012	2	2	6	12th	$4.5 million
2009	2	1	9	6th	$4.7 million
2007	2	1	5	7th	$3.9 million

What do you think? Is this Johnson's best season on the PGA TOUR? If not, was it 2007 or 2009?