Arnold Palmer Invitational: Second-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff ORLANDO, Fla. -- The first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational resumed at 8:45 Friday morning with 11 players completing their opening rounds. Round two started on time at 8:15 a.m. • A total of 79 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 3-over-par 143. Regarding the 36-hole cut -- there has never been an under-par cut in the 29-year history of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club. Three times previously the cut has been at even-par 144 (1997, 2000 and 2004).  Rocco Mediate scratched out a three-shot lead Friday, which ties the biggest halfway lead of the year. (Reuters/WireImage)
• Rocco Mediate owns a three-stroke lead over Paul Casey and John Rollins at the halfway point, matching the largest 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR this year (Brandt Snedeker, Buick Invitational; Jeff Quinney, FBR Open). The largest 36-hole in tournament history is 4 strokes -- Paul Azinger, 1988; Tiger Woods, 2002. • This is Rocco Mediate's 19th start at Bay Hill. He has made 14 cuts, missed the cut three times and withdrawn once. His best finish in Orlando is a T2 in 1993 and a T3 in 2002. • Second-round leader Rocco Mediate (66-65) is trying to become only the fifth player past the age of 40 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Mediate (44) would join Ben Crenshaw (1993/41), Arnold Palmer (1971/41), Kenny Perry (2005/44) and Julius Boros (1967/47) on that list if successful this weekend. • The last time Rocco Mediate was in the lead after 36 holes was on Aug. 6, 1999 at the Buick Open -- a span of 7 years, 7 months and 10 days (or 2,779 days). Since the 1999 Buick Open, Mediate has made 166 PGA TOUR starts (including this week). • This is the ninth time in Rocco Mediate's career that he has held/shared the second round lead in a PGA TOUR event but the first since the 1999 Buick Open. • Paul Casey (64-70) will try to join a list of five players who earned their first PGA TOUR title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Ken Still (1969), Bob Byman (1979), Mike Nicolette (1983), Loren Roberts (1994) and Paul Goydos (1996). • Ernie Els (69-70) extended his current consecutive cut streak to 45 this week. Els, winner of the 1998 Arnold Palmer Invitational, last missed a cut three years ago. That missed cut came here, at the 2004 Arnold Palmer Inviational, when he shot rounds of 73-72 and missed the weekend by one stroke. • Vijay Singh (70-68) is a perfect 15-for-15 in cuts made at this event. Singh first teed it up at Bay Hill in 1993 and has three runner-up finishes to his credit.
• Justin Leonard (73-70) made the 36-hole cut on the number Friday. Leonard missed the cut in all six of his previous starts on the PGA TOUR this year. • Tiger Woods (64-73) has made 11 straight cuts in this tournament since turning pro. Woods missed the cut as an amateur in 1994 but has made it to the weekend every since 1997 and has won four times (2000-2003). • The best rounds of the day on Friday were the 65s posted by Rocco Mediate, John Rollins and Paul Azinger. The players who were bogey-free on Friday were Rollins and D. J. Trahan (68). • Exits on Friday included Craig Perks, who withdrew prior to the start of the second round; Charlie Wi, who withdrew during the second round due to a wrist (left) injury; and Jeff Maggert, who was disqualified for not signing his scorecard after the second round. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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