Verizon Heritage: Second-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 1-over-par 143. The 71 players playing on the weekend is the smallest cut at the Verizon Heritage since 1986, when 70 players managed to make the cut.  At 6-under 136, Aaron Baddeley is the leading past champion at the halfway point. (Sam Greenwood/WireImage)
• Outright leaders are nothing new at the Verizon Heritage. The last time there were co-leaders through 36-holes in Hilton Head Island was in 1996, when Jeff Sluman and Tom Watson shared the lead at 6 under par. In fact, in the previous 38 years of the tournament, there have been co-leaders only 11 times. • Ernie Els' two-round total of 130 is one shot shy of his all-time mark of 129, which he recorded at the 2003 Mercedes Championships en route to his 11th PGA TOUR victory. • Els' two-round total of 130 is one shot off the all time Verizon Heritage 36-hole record of 129, which was set by Jack Nicklaus in 1975 and matched by Phil Mickelson in 2002. • Ernie Els is currently No. 1 on the PGA TOUR in putting average through the Masters Tournament. His average of 1.716 putts per green in regulation puts him .001 ahead of Justin Rose. Through two rounds at the Verizon Heritage, Els is averaging 1.667 putts per GIR and ranks T17. • The front nine at Harbour Town has been kind to Els as he is 9 under par for that side, while managing to navigate the back nine in 3 under par. • Five-time Verizon Heritage champion Davis Love III rallied Friday with a bogey-free round. Love carded a 2-under 69 and finds himself tied for 60th. • 2006 Verizon Heritage Champion Aaron Baddeley is tied for seventh through 36-holes, putting him in great position to defend his title. If he successfully defends his title this week, Baddeley would be the first to do so since Davis Love III pulled off the repeat in 1992. • Two-time PGA TOUR winner Vaughn Taylor, whose second-round 66 put him into the top 10 (T10), will be looking to secure the first consecutive top-10s of his career. Taylor finished T10 at the Masters Tournament last week. • Fifty-one year old Fred Funk, who is third with an 8-under total of 134, managed to make his 15th consecutive cut at the Verizon Heritage; a feat that ties both Chip Beck and Peter Jacobsen for the tournament record. Last year through 36 holes, Funk had a two-round total of 134 and was three strokes back of leader Jim Furyk. He sits four strokes back of Ernie Els at the halfway point this week. • The Clemson University fivesome of Lucas Glover, D.J. Trahan, Jonathan Byrd, Charles Warren, and Matt Hendrix had mixed results through 36 holes. Trahan (T24), Warren (T42) and Byrd (T60) all managed to make the cut, while Hendrix and Glover failed to make it to the weekend. • 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson continues his consistent play with rounds of 70-68--138 and is tied for 13th heading into the weekend. This is Johnson's third start in Hilton Head. He has never missed a cut and his best finish is a T47 in 2005. • Jim Furyk (71-73) missed the cut by one shot and saw his current PGA TOUR consecutive cut streak come to an end. The 2003 U.S. Open champion had made 20 straight cuts, dating back to the 2005 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Vijay Singh is now the current cut streak leader with 19 in a row. Coincidentally, last week at the Masters, Ernie Els missed the cut by two shots and saw his current PGA TOUR consecutive cut streak come to an end. The two-time U.S. Open champion had made 46 straight cuts, dating back to the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational.
• There were eight bogey-free rounds on Friday, compared to just two on Thursday (Jose Coceres, Nick O'Hern). The eight players with clean sheets Friday were Ernie Els (65), Bo van Pelt (67), Jason Bohn (68), Kent Jones (65), Davis Love III (69), Nathan Green (66), Ryan Palmer (67) and Jonathan Byrd (67). • Harbour Town played a little easier on Friday. The scoring average on Thursday was 72.267, compared to 71.055 on Friday, 1.21 strokes easier on day two. • Nathan Green recorded a double eagle-2 at the par-5 second hole using a 3-iron. It is the second double eagle of the season (Tim Petrovic, Pebble Beach Golf Links). Going back to 1970 there has never been a double eagle recorded at Harbour Town in the Verizon Heritage. • Todd Hamilton needed only 22 putts to get around Harbour Town on Friday....Boo Weekley, who is T7, is the only player to record two eagles for the week. Weekley has eagled the par-5 second hole both days. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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