The Live Report, Round 2: The Honda Classic
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SECOND ROUND COMPLETE (6:25 p.m.): We're through 36 holes at The Honda Classic and Y.E. Yang is alone in first after a bogey-free round of 65 that included five birdies.
He has plenty of company, however, with three players within one stroke of him. One of those players is Jeff Overton, who underwent an emergency appendectomy late last season. First-round leader Robert Allenby is also among that group, as is Ben Crane, who, like Yang, shot 65 today.
Then there's Erik Compton, whose amazing story keeps getting better. He's just five strokes off the lead at 2 under and this is by far the best the two-time heart transplant recipient has played through 36 holes of a PGA TOUR event. -- Brian Wacker
THE YIN AND YANG (5:53 p.m.): Y.E. Yang has just taken the outright lead at 7 under after making a birdie on his 16th hole of the day (No. 7). That was his fifth birdie of the day and he's just wrapping up what so far has been a flawless round in which he's taken just 21 putts after taking 30 yesterday.
Don't be surprised at seeing Yang's name atop the leaderboard. Even though this is just his third year on the PGA TOUR, the 37-year-old brings a lot of international experience and success with three top 25s on the European Tour in 2007 and two Asian Tour victories in 2006 -- both of which came against quality fields at Korea Open and HSBC Champions Tournament.
Yang also tied for ninth at last year's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and posted five rounds in the 60s at q school to finish T18 in the tournament to earn his card. -- Brian Wacker
BIG EASY STICKING AROUND (5:30 p.m.): Needing a birdie on the final hole to make the cut on the number, Ernie Els found the greenside bunker on the 543-yard par-5 18th. Facing a short pin, Els left himself a tricky 7-footer for birdie, but made the putt to shoot an even-par 70 to earn a spot on the weekend. -- Brian Wacker
ELS WATCH (4:50 p.m.): Defending champion Ernie Els is in danger of missing the cut, though he just got one stroke back with a birdie on No. 16. That moved Els to 4 over for the week, which is currently one shot off the cut line. With the par-5 18th remaining, however, Els will have a shot at making the birdie he needs. -- Brian Wacker
SPALLONE ON A ROLL (4:19 p.m.): Sal Spallone likely won't be sticking around for the weekend after shooting an 81 yesterday, but he's doing his best to make a run at the cut line.
Spallone has birdied his last two holes and made an eagle before that, holing out from 155 yards away on the par-4 eighth hole. He followed that with birdie putts of 10 feet and 29 feet, respectively, to get to 2 under.
Unfortunately for Spallone, however, he started his day by bogeying three of his first four holes with a birdie sandwiched in between. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Spallone's scorecard so far today:
COURSE RECORD SAFE FOR NOW (4:05 p.m.): Rocco Mediate won't be matching the course record of 6 under -- something Greg Chalmers did earlier today -- after bogeying the par-3 seventh hole. Prior to that, Mediate had a bogey-free round going with four birdies. -- Brian Wacker
GROUP WARNED (3:50 p.m.): The threesome of Jeff Overton, Tim Petrovic and Michael Letzig was just warned by a rules official to pick up their pace of play after the group fell out of position after playing the 14th hole. It'll be interesting to see what the effect will be on Overton, who is challenging for the lead. It didn't seem to bother him on his tee shot on No. 15, however, as he hit it to 9 feet. -- Brian Wacker
ROCCO ON A ROLL (3:35 p.m.): Rocco Mediate, who hasn't played since the Northern Trust Open, is currently challenging the course record of 6 under as he finishes up his round on the front nine. Mediate is 4 under on the day after opening with a 3-over 73 yesterday. So far he's played bogey-free golf with three birdies on the back -- including one at the difficult par-4 16th. Mediate is through 15 holes and you can follow his round live by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
WITHDRAWLS (3:23 p.m.): Australia's Jason Day withdrew from The Honda Classic yesterday with a neck injury after posting an 8-over 78 and today Sweden's Mathias Gronberg added his name to the list. After opening with an 89 yesterday, Gronberg played the back nine in 8-over 43 today before pulling out of the tournament with an injury.
Those have been the only withdrawls this week. -- Brian Wacker
BEAR TRAP CLAIMING MORE VICTIMS (3:08 p.m.): The water fronting the par-3 15th hole just claimed its 16th ball of the day when Kevin Streelman rinsed his tee shot a few minutes ago. In the first round, the Bear Trap -- holes 15 through 17 -- saw 54 balls get wet. -- Brian Wacker
YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS UP (2:46 p.m.): There are two pretty amazing storylines developing as the second round continues at PGA National.
The first is that of Erik Compton. Surviving two heart transplants, which has been widely written about, is amazing enough. Contending at this week's Honda Classic, despite not having status on TOUR, is another. That's exactly what he's doing, however, after shooting back-to-back 69s that currently has him tied for 10th.
The other developing/amazing story is that of Jeff Overton, who survived an emergency appendectomy late last season. He's 4 under through 10 holes after three birdies on the front and another on No. 10. He's now 7 under for the week and, for the moment, the new leader.
One of the other interesting nuggets about Overton is that until last night he had no idea what the Bear Trap was. Maybe ignorance is bliss -- Overton played all three holes in even par yesterday. -- Brian Wacker
WILSON MAKES EARLY EXIT (2:16 p.m.): Mark Wilson was a pre-tournament favorite heading into this week after his easy victory in the Mayakoba Golf Classic. But Wilson, who won The Honda Classic in 2007, is already headed down the road after hanging up back-to-back 75s. It is Wilson's fourth missed cut in seven starts.
Still, Wilson doesn't have to worry about much, because his ballstriking is not what let him down at PGA National. His main culprit this week was putting -- he took 61 putts to rank near the bottom of the field. -- Ryan Smithson
MATHIS FINALLY TEES OFF (1:52 p.m): As Michael Collins wrote in The Starter, one of the dark horses heading into the second round is Nationwide Tour graduate David Mathis.
You may not know a lot about Mathis, so here's the rundown: He made the TOUR after years of grinding on the mini-tours, and he earned his card after winning the BMW Charity Pro-Am last year on the Nationwide Tour. The BMW Charity Pro-Am is one of the toughest tournaments on the schedule, so it's no surprise that Mathis has adapted well to PGA National.
Mathis, 34, isn't a long hitter, but he hits it straight, and he's already one of the best bunker players on the TOUR. One of his only flaws is the inability to keep large numbers off his card -- he's already made eight double bogeys in 2009. He is 32nd in par-3 performance and 43rd in par-5 performance, but only 144th in par-4 performance. -- Ryan Smithson
ON THE BUBBLE (1:27 p.m.): Right now the cut line is sitting at 3 over -- and it could move even higher before the day is up. At the moment, however, some pretty notable names are in danger of missing the cut, including defending champion Ernie Els.
Els still has most of his second round to play, but he's already 1 over on the day through two holes. Meanwhile, Stuart Appleby is already in at 4 over after rounds of 74-70. Ryan Moore, Webb Simpson and Justin Rose, who shot 79 today, are all headed home for the weekend as well. -- Brian Wacker
AFTERNOON GROUPS (1:15 p.m.): As the second round continues at PGA National, don't expect to see a lot of low scores for the groups that teed off late today. The wind is starting to pick up and the greens are getting a little crusty.
One player who took advantage of his early tee time is Ben Crane, who shot a 5-under 65 to move to 5 under for the week, just one shot off the lead.
"If you get off early like I did, you'll play in calmer conditions," Crane said. "But it's a hard golf course all the way around."
Crane, who battled back injuries all last year and is playing this season on a Major Medical Extension, said this is the best he's felt in a long time. Crane took just 25 putts today after hitting 13 of 18 greens and 12 of 14 fairways.
One other important note about Crane: Today is his 33rd birthday. Not a bad day for the two-time PGA TOUR winner. -- Brian Wacker
MCILROY UPDATE (1:05 p.m.): Rory McIlroy's PGA TOUR career is about as old as a newborn baby, but he continues to play well. A week after making it to the quarterfinals of the Accenture Match Play Championship, the 19-year-old finds himself in contention again after opening 70-68 to get to 2 under, just four strokes off the current pace.
McIlroy had his irons working again today, hitting 15 of 18 greens on his way to a four-birdie, two-bogey effort. He's also taken advantage of his length off the tee, birdieing both par-5s on the course each of the first two days. -- Brian Wacker
GRONBERG'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE (12:50 p.m.): Mathias Gronberg, who turned in a back-nine 50 on his way to shooting 89 yesterday, is already 1 over today through two holes.
You have to give the Swede credit for not withdrawing after what obviously was a very difficult round to swallow yesterday, but things may not get any better today.
Gronberg became the first player to shoot 50 over nine holes since Phil Tataurangi at Greensboro nine years ago. Gronberg isn't alone, however. It was the 31st time this year someone has failed to break 80 in a PGA TOUR round. -- Brian Wacker
MACKENZIE SHOOTS MATCHING 67s (12:25 p.m.): This week's tournament is a home game of sorts for Will MacKenzie, who lives in nearby Jupiter and plays out of The Dye Preserve. It's also an opportunity for him to get back to playing "Will MacKenzie golf," as he called it Friday after turning in his second straight 67.
By that McKenzie means keeping things simple, making some putts and playing the type of golf that won him last year's Viking Classic and the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open.
Since winning the Viking Classic, McKenzie has struggled. He closed out '08 with a missed cut and three straight finishes outside the top 60. It didn't get any better this year. Following a T12 at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, MacKenzie missed four straight cuts.
That streak will end this week with MacKenzie heading to the weekend in contention.
"I felt good out there again today," said MacKenzie, who has his swing coach and sport psychologist on site this week. "I'm working, I mean I'm really working to play good golf. I'm making some putts and keeping my head down and releasing the putter. Having some things to think about in my pre-shot routine is helping me." -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at MacKenzie's cards from the first two days:
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (12:15 p.m.): Stewart Cink is about a half hour away from his second-round tee time and though Robert Allenby has reached 7 under, Cink will have a good chance of keeping pace if he plays the way he has so far.
Cink led the field in driving distance and greens in regulation after the first round and made just two bogeys. Of course there's a good reason Allenby is in the lead at the moment -- he's T7 in driving accuracy, T12 in greens in regulation, third in total driving (distance and accuracy combined) and first in ball-striking. -- Brian Wacker
CHALMERS TIES COURSE RECORD (11:50 a.m.): Aussie Greg Chalmers just turned in a 6-under 64, which ties the course record set by Luke Donald in 2008.
It should be noted that The Honda Classic has only been played at PGA National since 2007, though Chalmers was about as flawless as one could be on Friday. He made seven birdies and just one bogey and he played the Bear Trap in 1 under with a birdie on No. 15 that was followed by two pars.
As a result, Chalmers moved from T81 into a tie for fourth at the moment.
Chalmers' career-low round came in the final round of the 2002 Buick Invitational, where he shot a 63 to jump from T78 to T13. -- Brian Wacker
MORNING MOVERS (11:35 a.m.): As you'll see in today's Morning Movers, Robert Allenby and Sergio Garcia are headed in opposite directions as they play their second round.
Allenby, who began the day with a one-shot lead over Garcia and a handful of other players, has since posted a couple of early birdies to remain at the top of the leaderboard, while Garcia went backwards with a couple of early bogeys before adding two birdies in his last four holes to get back to even par for the day.
For highlights of Allenby, Garcia and others, click here 
. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD CHECK (11:25 a.m.): Robert Allenby, who led after a first-round 66, has since moved to 6 under for the week thanks to a couple of birdies on the front nine at PGA National.
However, the day's best round so far belongs to fellow Aussie Greg Chalmers, who is 5 under through 16 holes today after opening with an 3-over 73 yesterday.
Chalmers, who began his day on the back nine, birdied Nos. 12 and 13 then added another with a 30-foot putt on the par-3 15th, the first hole of the famed Bear Trap, which he played in 1 under today. Since then, he's added three more birdies on the front nine and moved from T81 into the top 10. -- Brian Wacker
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