The Daily Wrap-up, Round 2: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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Sean O'Hair tied for lowest round of the day Friday with a 65 that moved him into the lead at Bay Hill.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Bay Hill was so penal Friday that most players figured it would be difficult for anyone to shoot a low number and separate themselves from the pack. Sean O'Hair apparently didn't get the memo.

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 2 scores
Round 3 tee times
Scorecard: Sean O'Hair
The Live Report: Round 2
Ross: Taylor's luck changing
Player interviews
Notebook: Tidbits from the course
Photos: Round 2
Sirius|XM Podcast: Round 2

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Round 2 highlights
Simpson's hole-in-one
PGA TOUR Today

O'Hair opened with three straight birdies and didn't drop a shot until his final hole, which gave him a 5-under 65 for a three-shot lead over Jason Gore heading into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Tiger Woods remained in the mix for a sixth title at Bay Hill, courtesy of a short game that turned a mediocre round into a 69.

Woods chipped in for birdie on his opening hole for the second straight day, holed another birdie chip on No. 8, and kept his round together with two head-turning chips to save par. He was in fifth place, five shots behind.

"You can make bogeys in a heartbeat out there today because the greens are ... not accepting shots very well," Woods said.

O'Hair was at 8-under 132 and will be in the final group Saturday with Gore, who had four birdies and four bogeys for a 70.

Robert Allenby had a bogey-free round of 65 and was at 4-under 136, along with Ryuji Imada, who had a 66.

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TAYLOR'S LUCK QUICKLY CHANGING
By Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Vaughn Taylor found out what a self-fulfilling prophecy was last week.

He was walking down the 18th fairway at the Copperhead Course during the second round of the Transitions Championship, anxious to close out an extremely forgettable round. Thinking out loud, Taylor said, "I've never finished dead last."

So then he proceeded to hit his second shot over the green and leave his chip shot 15 feet short of the hole. Taylor missed the putt for par, and then the tap-in for bogey caught a pitch mark and stubbornly veered away from the hole, as well.

The double bogey gave Taylor an 83 and a two-day total of 160, which left him at the absolute bottom of the leaderboard. Dead last, one stroke behind Clint Avret, a club professional from Jacksonville, Fla.

"It was just kind of funny," Taylor said wryly, thinking back to the turn of events. "I guess it was meant to be."

What a difference a week makes.

Taylor not only made the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, he is among the leaders at the midway point. Taylor, who fired a 68 on Friday, is tied with Lee Janzen, Nick Watney, Mark Wilson, Hunter Mahan, Tim Herron and Padraig Harrington for sixth at 2 under.

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Top 5 other notables at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Name Score Position Comment Saturday tee time Tiger Woods 3 under 5 Second-round 69 was good on a difficult day of scoring and keeps Woods in the mix for a sixth career title at Bay Hill. 1:32 p.m. Padraig Harrington 2 under T6 Quietly moved into contention with a 68 that was more precise than yesterday's round and has him six back going to weekend. 1:14 p.m. Boo Weekley 2 over T35 Hit exactly the same number of fairways and greens in regulation in Round 2 as he did in Round 1, but was two strokes better today. 10:32 a.m. Rocco Mediate 4 over T55 After opening with a 68, struggled today with a 76 that featured two bogeys and a double bogey in a 40 on the back nine. 9:47 a.m. Vijay Singh 4 over T55 A birdie on No. 5 and another on 17 spared Singh a missed cut as he made it by one with an even-par round of 70 in which he took 30 putts. 9:20 a.m.

Friday's Best

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The par-5 12th hole was easiest with a Friday scoring average of 4.542. EAGLES: 4 BIRDIES: 52 PARS: 56 BOGEYS: 6 OTHERS: 0 The par-4 16th hole was toughest with a Friday scoring average of 4.466. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 2 PARS: 69 BOGEYS: 39 OTHERS: 8

SHOT OF THE DAY ROUND OF THE DAY Rookie Webb Simpson made a hole-in-one, jarring one from the tee on the par-3 17th hole. Watch his shot Sean O'Hair tied for the lowest score of the day, making six birdies and just one bogey to take the lead. Check out his scorecard

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It's a U.S. Open-type feel except for the fairways are a hell of a lot wider. I think we haven't seen the greens repel like this before. We might get some rain tomorrow and it would change everything. But as of right now, the wind is blowing, and it's getting a little difficult out there." -- Tiger Woods on the tough course conditions at Bay Hill.

INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Michael Collins offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.

Vijay Singh came dangerously close to breaking a streak I know he is very proud of. But he's now made 16 straight cuts at Armie's tournament. After a dreadful 74 in the first round, he shot even par with two birdies and two bogeys to get inside the cut by one shot. Afterward, he stayed to sign autographs, chat with volunteers, and even give a joke to yours truly (that I can't print, but promise was hilarious).

Robert Allenby was bogey-free in Round 2, but it was only because he got up-and-down on 15, 16 and 17 for par. Believe me when I tell you that he is playing Russian roulette with this golf course. But the Aussie was lucky enough to walk away with the bogey bullet still in the chamber. I wouldn't recommend he try that again anytime soon -- the golf gods have a way of exacting a hefty price when you test your luck too often.

The most fun I had all day was joking back and forth with Jason Gore on the course as he was shooting even par to stay at 5-under. We are both hugeE fans of Family Guy and Dave Chappelle, so when he walked off the 13th green after making birdie he said to me "It's a celebration!" doing his impression of Chappelle doing an impression of Rick James. I respond, "Because I'm Rick James...!" Even after his round at the end of our interview I said a line from a character from Family Guy, "Have a graet weekend, giggity giggity, giggity goo!" He almost fell down. And as he walked over to do the podium, he turned back and whispered in a laugh, "What is wrong with us?!" We know it's a game, and Jason might just be laughing all the way to the bank this week.

What the top finishers said...

Player Position Score Comment Sean O'Hair 1 8 under "I've always been a fan of -- all my junior wins have been on tougher golf courses. I've always seemed to feel more comfortable on tougher golf courses, where you don't have to feel like you've got to shoot 20-under par to win the golf tournament. I've always been a good wind player, just because I'm from west Texas, so I'm used to wind. I'm very comfortable playing in Florida. I've lived here for a little bit and played a lot of junior golf here, especially at this golf course, and it's a place I feel very comfortable." Jason Gore 2 5 under "I'm such a streaky player that I'm just crazy enough or stupid enough or stubborn enough or whatever you want to call it to go out and play well this weekend. I'm just going to do the same thing and stay focused and know that this golf course is playing pretty difficult and just focus on what I'm doing and keep moving forward." Robert Allenby T3 4 under "Obviously Arnie wants it a little bit tougher than normal. Obviously Sean O'Hair is not playing it too tough. But I think it's playing fantastic. The greens are in fantastic shape and the whole course is just perfect."

Read full interview transcripts

Sean O'Hair Jason Gore Robert Allenby Full archive

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SECOND-ROUND NOTEBOOK: ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The 36-hole cut came at 5-over 145 with 74 players making it to the weekend. Third-round tee times will be between 8:26 a.m. and 1:50 p.m.

• After birdies at Nos. 10, 11 and 12, his first three holes of the day, Sean O'Hair distanced himself from the field in Round 2 by tying this week's tournament-low 5-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Jason Gore.

• O'Hair has previously held at least a share of the 36-hole lead just once. At the 2005 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, he began the weekend tied for first with Brett Wetterich before ultimately finishing second.

• O'Hair is off to a solid start this season. Prior to his lone missed cut at last week's Transitions Championship (an event he won in 2008), he has posted three top-10s and finished no worse than 25th. He finished fourth at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, tied for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for 25th at the FBR Open, tied for fifth in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for 13th at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

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KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 411-yard par-4 18th.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.