Turning Stone Resort Championship: Second-round notes
 
Sep. 21, 2007

Steve Flesch fired a second-round 65 in the Turning Stone Resort Championship on Friday and now takes a one-shot lead heading into the final 36 holes.

The 36-hole cut fell at four-under-par 140 with 70 players making it to the weekend. Four-under par is the second lowest 36-hole cut on the PGA TOUR in 2007 (Wyndham Championship, five-under par).

This is the sixth time in Flesch's PGA TOUR career, and the second time this year, that he has been a leader or co-leader through 36 holes:

Year Tournament Scores Result
2007 Reno-Tahoe Open 63-69-69-72 -- 273 Won
2003 Las Vegas Invitational 62-64-66-68-74 -- 334 T6
2002 Reno-Tahoe Open 70-64-70-73 -- 277 T6
2000 National Car Rental Classic 63-65-66-69 -- 263 2
1998 Freeport McDermott Classic 66-68-71-71 -- 276 2

Flesch and Phil Mickelson (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, THE PLAYERS) are the only left-handed players to hole at least a share of a 36-hole lead on the 2007 PGA TOUR.

Flesch becomes the 11th player to hold/share multiple 36-hole leads on the PGA TOUR in 2007 (Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott, K.J. Choi, Aaron Baddeley, Tim Clark, Luke Donald, Stuart Appleby).

The 40-year-old Flesch is looking to record the ninth victory by a player in his 40s on the 2007 PGA TOUR. So far this year, there have been more wins by players in their 40s (eight) than players in their 20s (seven).

Brendon de Jonge came into the week T8 in birdie average on the PGA TOUR and has kept that reputation intact with 10 birdies and two eagles through 36 holes.

Every player on the PGA TOUR enjoys playing with a familiar face, and de Jonge is no different. He was paired with his former Virginia Tech teammate Johnson Wagner on Thursday and Friday, and has now played five of his last eight rounds on TOUR with Wagner. De Jonge is 18-under par in those five rounds.

Jeff Gove's rounds of 65-67 --132 have him T2 through 36 holes of the Turning Stone Resort Championship. This is only the sixth time in Gove's PGA TOUR career that he has been in the top 10 through 36 holes. This is also his highest standing through 36 holes (previous best was third through two rounds of the 2006 Booz Allen Classic).

Charles Warren's second-round 65 got off to a hot start as the former NCAA Champion found himself six-under through his first six holes. If a match up of Flesch v. Warren sounds familiar, it's because these two finished first and second, respectively, at the Reno-Tahoe Open earlier this year.

Jeff Maggert's second-round 64 is one shot shy of the course record (63) at Atunyote Golf Club, which was set by Steve Allan in the second round of last year's B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone Resort.

Maggert hit 18 of 18 greens in regulation on Friday en route to carding his round of 64.

This is the first time in Chris Stroud's rookie year that he has opened a tournament with back-to-back rounds in the 60s (69-65 -- 134).

The good news for Flesch is that in 40 official PGA TOUR events in 2007, the 36-hole leader/co-leader has gone on to win the event 13 times.

At the end of the 2007 season, the top 125 players will have full exempt status for the 2008 season. Players outside the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list, but inside the top 10 through two rounds at the Turning Stone Resort Championship:

Rank Player Scores Standing
171 Brendon de Jonge 66-66--132 T2
152 Jeff Gove 65-67--132 T2
167 Chris Stroud 69-65--134 T5
220 Matt Hendrix 67-67--134 T5
157 Craig Bowden 70-65--135 T8
126 Bill Haas 69-66--135 T8

Through 36 holes, four rookies find themselves in the top-10 and looking to capture their first PGA TOUR title: Brendon de Jonge, Matt Hendrix, Chris Stroud, and Jeff Overton.

Rookie Watch (through THE TOUR Championship)
Player Events -- Cuts Top-10s Money Score
Brandt Snedeker 28 -- 22 6 $2,723,943 DNP
Anthony Kim 25 -- 19 4 $1,531,209 DNP
Jeff Quinney 24 -- 14 5 $1,443,409 69-71-- 140
John Mallinger 24 -- 14 3 $1,243,270 67-70-- 137
Steve Marino 26 -- 19 4 $1,119,612 72-70-- 142
George McNeill 23 -- 15 1 $684,067 72-71-- 143

There are currently 10 players in the top 10 who are still looking for their first PGA TOUR victory: Brendon de Jonge, Jeff Gove, Charles Warren, Matt Hendrix, Chris Stroud, Matthew Goggin, Jeff Overton, Briny Baird, Bill Haas, and Craig Bowden.

Robert Gamez (68) was the only player in the field to hit 14 of 14 fairways on Friday.

In terms of second-round scoring, Friday's round at the Turning Stone Resort Championship ranks as the fourth-lowest scoring round on the 2007 PGA TOUR (First: Buick Invitational, Torrey Pines North, 69.154).

Scoring Average
Day Front 9 Back 9 Total
Thursday 35.071 35.607 70.679
Friday 34.791 35.101 69.892
Cumulative: 70.287

An amazing 16 players carded bogey-free rounds on Friday: Jeff Gove, Jeff Maggert, Briny Baird, Carl Pettersson, Bill Haas, Robert Gamez, Joey Sindelar, Craig Lile, Jarrod Lyle, Tommy Armour III, Kirk Triplett, Alex Cejka, Nick O'Hern, Tim Herron, Scott Gutschewski, and Mathias Gronberg.

Bill Glasson withdrew prior to the start of the second round with a neck injury.