Second round: Consecutive 64s give Verplank the lead
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Scott Verplank shot his second straight 8-under 64 to take a three-stroke lead on Friday in the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney, the final official U.S. PGA TOUR event of the season.
Steve Marino (66) and Troy Matteson (68) were tied for second, but the real drama was at the bottom of the standings.
Friday was cut day in the event that ends the race for spots in the top 125 on the final money list, the cutoff for full 2009 PGA TOUR cards.
"A guy from the PGA (TOUR) just told me I'm projected at 125," said Brad Adamonis, who birdied the last hole to finish 1 under but missed the cut. "I probably won't look at the standings until the tournament is over. At least that's my plan. I'd probably throw up if I did."
Whether he comes in at 125 depends on what happens this weekend with the players behind him who made the cut at 5 under.
Bob Tway, who played with Verplank and shot a 62 after a first-round 73, made the cut and needs to finish in the top 12 to make the top 125. Tway, ranked 131st, and Verplank combined for 20 birdies on the Palm Course on Friday.
Erik Compton, who's had two heart transplants and got a sponsor exemption, shot a 68 and made the cut by two strokes. He'll play in the second round of Q-school next week, only six months after his second transplant.
Tway still holds the course record of 61 at the Lake Buena Vista course, where the tournament was formerly held.
Verplank, who sank a 60-foot putt on 14 for an eagle 3, has suddenly found his putting stroke and hinted his round could have been better in what he called perfect playing conditions.
"I stayed out too late at the parks last night with my kids, so I was a little lethargic when we started," said Verplank, who has made a tournament-record 13 straight cuts. "My equilibrium was off, and then something happened where I fell into a zone and didn't know where I was."
Adamonis played on Thursday with his own private gallery -- his parents, wife and aunt and uncle. They groaned when he hit his tee shot into the water on 14 and cheered when he birdied 18.
David Adamonis, a Miami-area golf coach who has fought prostate, lymphoma, lung and throat cancer the last three years, toted his son's bag for the last two holes.
"He made mistakes he wouldn't normally make," David Adamonis said. "I told him to just play and what happened, happened. Sometimes self-imposed pressure doesn't help."
Some of the players who lose their cards will go back to Q-school. Those who've won tournaments, or have some notoriety, such as 2002 PGA Championship winner Rich Beem, likely will rely on sponsorship exemptions.
Mike Allen, who has made it through nine Q-schools, shot a 67 to make the cut at 137. He feels confident about his chances, and with the experience of 13 trips to the final round of the Q-school, he's not easily fazed.
Allen, whose friend at Mesa Country Club in Arizona placed a sign on his locker proclaiming Allen "the Q-school all-time money winner," said he can relax a bit now that he made the cut.
"Otherwise I was toast," said Allen, 49, who can qualify for the Champions Tour in January. "I made the cut, so I have a lot of control over my own destiny right now."
Verplank was tied for the two-day tournament record before a bogey on 18. The record of 17 under is held by Chris DiMarco, Carl Petterson and Justin Rose.
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| Friday's Best at the Magnolia Course |
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The par-5, 542-yard fourth was easiest with a Friday scoring average of 4.387.
The par-4, 492-yard fifth was toughest with a Friday scoring average of 4.274.
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Last week's champion Ryan Palmer has been on fire in the past two weeks. He was 7-under on Friday at Disney World and the highlight of his round and the entire day was his hole-out for eagle on the 8th hole. 
Bob Tway's card featured 11 birdies, including five in a row on the back nine, and just one bogey. His 10-under-par score moved him from a tie for 109th into a tie for 19th.| QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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SECOND-ROUND NOTEBOOK
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The 36-hole cut was at 5-under with 71 players making the cut.
• Prior to this year, Scott Verplank had played 50 rounds at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. His best career rounds came Thursday and Friday when he shot an 8-under 64 each day. Verplank's best finish at Disney was a tie for second in 2003.
• The last time Verplank held the 36-hole lead was last year at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. It is the 11th time Verplank has held a 36-hole lead. He won the first two times he held a lead after 36 holes at the 1985 BMW Championship and the 1988 Buick Open.
• Verplank has a streak of 13 straight rounds at par or better dating back to the first round at the BMW Championship in September. The current leader in rounds at par or better is Steve Marino.
• Marino (tied for second) has 16 consecutive rounds at par or better which is the longest active streak on TOUR. He has gone 40 holes without a bogey going back to the 14th hole of the final round of the Ginn sur Mer Classic.
• Verplank has now made 13 consecutive cuts at the Children's Miracle Network Classic which is the longest active streak for the tournament.
• Verplank has been at par or better at the Disney event since 2004, a streak of 17 straight rounds. Verplank only has five rounds over par in the 52 career rounds at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.
To read the remainder of these notes, click here.
INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Satellite Radio announcer Bob Stevens offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
One of the fun quirks of the Children's Miracle Network Classic is that many of the players are given the opportunity to pick their pro partners for the first two rounds, unlike every other TOUR event where pairings are computer-generated. The players, obviously, love to play with their pals and in some cases, it seems to make a difference.
Scott Verplank and Bob Tway have been buddies since their days at Oklahoma State in the mid-80s and treated the first two rounds at Disney World like their own little slice of the Magic Kingdom, Verplank shooting back-to-back 64's to take the tourney lead and Tway shooting his best round in 20 months, a 63, to make the cut after an opening 73. Verplank's just looking for a confidence boost in what has been, for him, a disappointing season. At 131st on the Money List, Tway really needed the boost as he tries to save his card for 2009, when he turns 50 in May.
Three weeks ago, Steve Marino was Marc Turnesa's biggest fan as the New Yorker won his first TOUR event in Las Vegas. This week, its Turnesa's turn, supporting a relaxed, but still winless, Marino into the final group on Saturday.
Kevin Streelman and Brett Rumford just met in June when paired together at the Travelers Championship in Hartford. The two rookies wives actually hit it off even better and this week they joined up again. Streelman rode the karma of playing with Rumford -- he had his first top 10 finish on TOUR at the Travelers Championship -- to get to the weekend at Disney World tied for seventh. Unfortunately, it was Rumford who needed the big week. At No. 164 on the Money List, he missed the cut by one.
But maybe the most unique of friendships was struck on the final hole of Matt Jones' round with his Aussie buddy Jason Day. Both are comfortably inside the cut line, but Jones' excellent 64 was saved when his drive at the final hole hit the cart of my colleague Mark Carnevale well outside the rope line, keeping it from a swampy hazard. After saving par, he admitted he owes Carney one someday. It could be a big one. When you're No. 133 on the Money List, you can use all the friends you can find.
This weekend, the players go back to being paired by scores. It promises to be more compelling theatre, but it might not be as much fun.
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HAPPY (ALMOST) BIRTHDAY TO TROY
Troy Matteson will have a special weekend regardless of how he finishes the Children's Miracle Network Classic. Not only is he currently tied for second at the event, but the PGA TOUR winner will also turn 29 on Saturday.
| 5 | In a total of 52 rounds, the number of rounds in which Scott Verplank has shot over par. |
| 29 | Length, in feet, of the birdie putt Erik Compton made to assure himself a spot on the weekend. |
| 40 | Number of holes Steve Marino has played consecutively without a bogey. |
What makes it even more unique is that his cousin Luke Stewart was born in the same hospital just two days before Matteson, so they are going to get together on Saturday and celebrate with their families.
"He lives just down the road...so we're going to celebrate both our birthdays tomorrow," Matteson said on Friday. "It's always nice to play good around your birthday. It's nice to be at a golf tournament. It's nice to have your family around.
"There's been some birthdays that you're in college, you're on the road with the team and nobody's there. But it is nice to play good. It's a lot better than having to leave on Friday because you missed the cut."
Plus, he's well aware that he's only got one year before he leaves the "20-somethings" club.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow and having a good birthday. I guess this is my last one in my 20s, so I better savor it," he said.
THINGS TO WATCH ON SATURDAY
1. Martin Laird. He's 126th on the Money List and moved up the ranks at the Disney World event with a 66 on Friday. Can he earn enough to advance at least two spots into the top 125 come Sunday?
2. Ken Duke. He's quietly positioned himself in a tie for seventh with scores of 66 and 67. Duke is 31st on the Money List and playing without the pressure that many other players in the top-10 on the leaderboard are facing as they try to retain their PGA TOUR cards. Will that help him this weekend?
3. Tommy Gainey. Gainey has gained more attention for his personality this year than his golf game, but he's currently tied for 13th at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. At No. 228 on the Money List, he's a long shot to gain fully exempt status next year but he's hoping for a win and a Disney-style miracle.
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