The Live Report, Round 2: Northern Trust Open
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
MCCARRON ON MICKELSON (9:00 p.m.): Scott McCarron came in with a round of 68 as darkness settled over Riviera and seized the lead at 10 under.
Someone asked him if he had noticed that Phil Mickelson also reached that number with an eagle on his very first hole. Mickelson went on to make four bogeys and just one more birdie in a round of 73, leaving him three strokes behind.
"All I noticed about Phil is that he was wearing a white belt with black shoes," McCarron said, grinning. "Someone should give him a citation."
A reporter made a half-hearted defense of Mickelson's attire, saying the lefthander had a white visor on but McCarron was having none of it.
"Mom always said the belt matched the shoes -- that's it." -- Helen Ross
PHIL'S UP AND DOWN DAY (8:00 p.m.): Friday was a good-news, bad-news kind of day for Phil Mickelson.
He certainly wasn't pleased with his round of 1 over. Not by a long shot. But Mickelson was glad to start the weekend in the mix, three strokes off the lead held by Scott McCarron at 10 under.
"I didn't play very well today," Mickelson said. "(But) this is the first time I'm in contention heading into the weekend and (I'm) excited about it.
"Obviously, I've got to get things turned around. I didn't hit it very well today and hopefully, I'll have a chance to hook up with Butch (Harmon) and see if we can get it ironed out."
Mickelson struggled with his driver again on Friday, hitting just five fairways. Even though he managed to hit 14 greens, he wasn't able to attack the pins and his iron play left a lot to be desired, too.
"I didn't feel bad," Mickelson said. "I just felt like it was close. I couldn't quite get it to click. But we've got two more days."
Mickelson, who has won 15 of his 34 PGA TOUR titles on the West Coast, missed the cut in his season opener at the FBR Open and Thursday's sterling 63 remains his only sub-70 round in three starts. His highest finish this year is a tie for 42nd at the Buick Invitational.
After taking just 22 putts on Thursday, Mickelson needed 34 in the roller-coaster second round that saw him open with an eagle but make four bogeys and just one birdie the rest of the day. He wasn't displeased with the flat stick, though.
"I actually putted very well today," Mickelson said. "I didn't make a lot. A lot of them caught the lip but I started them on the line I wanted with the speed. I just didn't get many to go in. So I didn't feel bad about the putting, but I have some work to do on the full swing." -- Helen Ross
USING THE FORCE (7:00 p.m.): It looks like the leaderboard just got a little more crowded at the top with Luke Donald getting to 8 under. Donald has four birdies and just one bogey today after shooting 67 yesterday. He's also got a good track record here -- not to mention the type of game that plays well at Riviera -- with a third-place finish last year. -- Brian Wacker
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM (6:35 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini is an early candidate for providing the quote of the day with his discussion of hitting the ball out of bounds left on the 503-yard, par-5 first hole -- the easiest on the course all week.
"Actually I just didn't have a chance to get a cup of coffee this morning, so I figured I would hit over in the trailer and see if they had any," Sabbatini said. "The first hole, you've got all the earth to the right. There's no reason to hit it left on that hole. But for some reason this morning, brain had not woken up yet, and made a stupid mistake."
Sabbatini bogeyed the hole, but he recovered pretty well, shooting a 67 to get to 7 under heading into the weekend. -- Brian Wacker
CAUGHT ON TAPE (6:15 p.m.): Vincent Johnson, playing this week on the Charlie Sifford exemption, was just hit with a two-stroke penalty that could prove extremely costly.
Playing the par-4 fifth, Johnson's ball moved ever so slightly as he addressed it in the rough right of the green. Johnson, however, wasn't sure that his ball moved at all so he didn't replace it and played his next shot, making bogey on the hole. But when it was seen on TV that it in fact had moved, rules officials had to track Johnson down to tell him of the infraction.
Johnson graciously accepted the ruling, saying he wasn't sure if it had moved or not. Officials told him that if he was unsure, he could have saved himself a stroke by calling them over before playing the shot.
As a result, he incurred a two-stroke penalty instead of a one-stroke penalty. That dropped the 22-year-old from even par and only one stroke off the cut line to 1 over and two outside the cut. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Johnson's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.
FROM THE INBOX (6:05 p.m.): Nora Findlay of Canada wrote in wondering where our coverage of fellow Canadians Mike Weir and Stephen Ames was. Well, for all the Canadians and fans of Weir and Ames following along...both are tied for 67th at the moment.
Weir opened with a 1-under 70 yesterday and is even par through 10 holes today, while Ames has already finished his round today -- he shot 70. He's right on the cut line at 1 under. -- Brian Wacker
STRICKER PUTTING LOSS BEHIND HIM (5:50 p.m.): Steve Stricker's final-round collapse at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, where he shot a Sudnay 74 to lose by three, stuck with him a while. So much so that he thought about taking three weeks off instead of teeing it up this week at Riviera.
Judging by his play so far -- a 5-under 66 today that has him at 8 under for the week and near the top of the leaderboard -- it looks like he made the right decision to come back now.
"That one [the Bob Hope] stuck with me," Stricker said. "The next week at Phoenix, I shouldn't even have played. I should have just gone home. Mentally, I wasn't in it, down in the dumps. It just felt like I threw a tournament away.
"I've had to pick myself up a number of times out here on TOUR, so I'm used to it. You just need to go on, you need to move on, and just try to keep doing what you know how to do, and for me, that's just keep working at it and keep trying to get better and try to get myself in that position again." -- Brian Wacker
FURYK IN THE FIRE (5:34): Jim Furyk, who is making just his second start of the season, finds himself tied atop what's quickly becoming a very crowded leaderboard at Riviera.
After a 66 yesterday, Furyk is 3 under through 10 holes today. Given how accurate he's been, it's easy to see why. Furyk has yet to miss a fairway today and has hit 7 of 10 greens in regulation. He had similar numbers yesterday, with 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens.
Furyk has never won at Riviera, but he does have a pretty good record here with a T3 two years ago and a T12 in 2006. -- Brian Wacker
MCCARRON FEELING GOOD, PLAYING WELL (5:10 p.m.): It's taken more than two years, but Scott McCarron is finally feeling good after having elbow surgery in 2006 that sidelined him for all of 2007 and continued to be bothersome in 2008.
"Yeah, I'm very healthy right now," McCarron said yesterday. "The elbow feels really good right now and I'm actually in better shape right now than I think I've ever been on TOUR. I'm at about the same weight I was when I first came out 15 years ago."
McCarron isn't wasting any time today, either. After an opening-round 64, he birdied two of his first three holes and has moved to 9 under for the tournament. That, at least for the moment, has the 43-year-old atop the leaderboard.
Part of the reason why McCarron might be playing so well here is that he moved down from Reno, Nev., to La Quinta, Calif., to practice and get ready for the season. So far, it appears to be paying off. -- Brian Wacker
RYO UPDATE (4:50 p.m.): If Ryo Ishikawa is going to make the cut here, he's got some serious work to do. Right now, the cut line is at 1 under and Isihikawa is at 2 over after a 73 yesterday.
The 17-year-old Japanese sensation, who just parred his first hole of the day, No. 10, struggled mightily with the putter on Thursday. He took 29 putts in the first round, including three from 5 feet on the par-4 seventh, which he double bogeyed. He also hit just 50 percent of his fairways and 50 percent of his greens.
The back nine here is a bit easier than the front so it will be important for Ishikawa to get off to a good start and make some birdies before he hits the front nine, which will only play harder as the day wears on. -- Brian Wacker
You can follow Ishikawa's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.
LUNDE ON THE LEADERBOARD (4:35 p.m.): This season's been feast or famine for PGA TOUR rookie Bill Lunde. In four starts, the San Diego native who now calls Las Vegas home has twice missed the cut and twice finished in the top 15, including a season-best T6 at last week's rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
This appears to be another good week for Lunde. Through two rounds, he's 6 under after turning in a round of 4-under 67 today. Watch out for him this weekend, too. The third round has been when he's scored the lowest this season with a Saturday average of 66.5, which is good for seventh on TOUR. -- Brian Wacker
GOING DEEP (4:10 p.m.): Next week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship will be played on a course, Ritz Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain, that will measure 7,800-plus yards. That's more than 500 yards longer than Riviera, where taking it long off the tee isn't required. Just take a look at the five longest drives of the week so far and that player's position on the leaderboard. -- Brian Wacker
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS (3:50 p.m.): There's a good reason why Phil Mickelson is in the lead for the first time this season. A couple of weeks after missing eight putts from 6 feet and in during a single round, Mickelson has the flat stick rolling a lot better. -- Brian Wacker
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PERFECT 10 (3:27 p.m.): That didn't take long ... Phil Mickelson just eagled the 503-yard first hole at Riviera. After reaching the green in two, Mickelson drained his 27-foot, 11-inch putt to get to 10 under and two shots clear of the field.
Follow Mickelson's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
MICKELSON ON THE COURSE (3:22 p.m.): It didn't seem likely that Phil Mickelson would still hold the lead when he teed off in the second round of the Northern Trust Open, but he still does. As he stood on the small pad of a tee at the foot of the clubhouse, Mickelson had to be licking his chops. After a brilliant opening-round 63, he has the opportunity to put together another solid round and put some distance between himself and the field.
There is the sense that Phil could be on the brink of something very special. The defending champ has made it interesting here the last couple of years. He lost to Charles Howell III in a playoff two years ago. He was in a back-nine dog fight with Jeff Quinney here a year ago when he won. With a couple of solid rounds on Friday and Saturday we could be looking at a Mickelson runaway by Sunday. -- John Maginnes
SINGH'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE (3:10 p.m.): Vijay Singh appears headed for his second straight missed cut since returning from knee surgery that kept him sidelined for a month.
Singh opened with a 1-over 72 yesterday and just turned in a round of 71 that has him at 1 over for the week, which is two off the cut line at the moment.
Singh hit more greens and fairways today, but he's just not making many birdies. His most costly hole came yesterday when he double bogeyed the par-4 18th after driving it right then hitting his approach shot left of the green. -- Brian Wacker
WHITE BELT (2:50 p.m.): Looks like first-round leader Phil Mickelson, who tees off in about 20 minutes, is sporting the same ensemble of all black with a white belt that he wore during the final round of the Buick Invitational.
"OK, I have had a look at it and it's not ideal," Golf Digest fashion director Marty Hackel told the magazine's Web site. "You are correct in that if you wear a white belt and have a big waist you should select trousers that have less contrast."
The last time Mickelson wore the white belt he shot a 75. If he shoots another 63, however, no one's going to care what he's wearing. -- Brian Wacker
WHERE TO MAKE BIRDIES (2:30 p.m.): If anyone is going to break free from a bunched leaderboard, their best opportunity to do so might be by making birdies on the front nine at Riviera. Of course that's easier said than done since the par-35 front is playing to s troke average of 35.085, while the par-36 back is playing under par at 35.754.
Also, most of the tough holes are on the front with Nos. 8, 2, 4 and 9 ranking first, third, fifth and sixth, respectively, in difficulty. The back nine here has just two holes -- Nos. 12 and 15 -- that rank among the top 10 in difficulty at the moment. -- Brian Wacker
BOHN MAKING BIRDIES (2:10 p.m.): Jason Bohn has a serious birdie streak going right now with birdies on eight of his last 11 holes, including four in a row, as he finishes up his round on the front side here at Riviera.
As a result, the 2005 B.C. Open champ who had just two top 10s all of last season, has moved from 113th on the leaderboard to 21st. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Bohn's scorecard so far:
ARMOUR'S ENTOURAGE (1:50 p.m.): Tommy Armour III is more Hollywood than Turtle from Entourage. I know that because Turtle had dinner with Michael Collins earlier this week and you wouldn't see TA III doing that. You are more likely to see him with his old pal George Clooney.
So it should be no surprise that the soon-to-be 50-year-old is shining in the Hollywood Hills this week. Tommy quietly made his way around Riviera with four birdies and no bogeys in the opening round. He's added four birdies to just one bogey today and that has TA III just one shot back with four holes left in his round. He is looking to make his first cut of the year after a slow start and at this point that seems assured. -- John Maginnes
PEREZ IN HUNT AGAIN (1:35 p.m.): Pat Perez, who recorded his first career PGA TOUR victory at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer earlier this year, has just one career top-10 here at the Northern Trust Open. But he's looking to change that this week. Perez is 3 under on the day and 5 under for the tournament.
Since winning, Perez hasn't finished inside the top 35, but this week he's playing well and is top 10 in driving distance and greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
STRICKER STRIKES (1:15 p.m.): There's still a lot of golf to be played, but it looks like Steve Stricker's doing a pretty good job of putting the final-round collapse at the 50th Bob Hope Clasic hosted by Arnold Palmer behind him.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner just eagled No. 1 at Riviera after hitting his second shot to 5 feet. That was Stricker's first eagle of the year -- he had six of them in 2008 -- and more importantly moved him to 5 under for the day and 8 under for the tournament.
Stricker began his day on the back nine at Riviera, where he made three birdies. So far, he hasn't missed a fairway this week and he's hit 90 percent of his greens with an average distance from the hole of 15 feet, 8 inches. That's pretty telling considering Stricker ranked 178th on TOUR in driving accuracy and 94th in greens in regulation last season. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Stricker's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.
EARLY MOVERS (1:00 p.m.): Phil Mickelson won't tee off for a couple of hours, but he's already getting some company on the leaderboard.
K.J. Choi is among the players making an early move today at 2 under for the day through his first nine holes. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise. One of the PGA TOUR's most accurate players off the tee and into the green, Choi is well-suited for Riviera's tight fairways and small greens. He's also done well in L.A. before with a T7 in 2008 and a T5 in 2003.
Others climbing the leaderboard include D.J. Trahan, who has two T6s this year -- at the Mercedes-Benz Championships and last week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Trahan is 3 under through his first 10 holes today.
Geoff Ogilvy, who won the season-opening Mercedes Benz-Championships, birdied the last three holes of the back nine this morning to get to 4 under for the day through 10 holes. Ernie Els, meanwhile, has the day's best round going so far at 5 under after a 32 on the back and his sixth birdie of the day on No. 1. -- Brian Wacker
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