The Daily Wrap-up, Round 2: The Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- To say Y.E. Yang has had an erratic career would be putting it mildly.
He beat Tiger Woods to win the HSBC Champions in 2006. Three weeks later, he finished well out of contention at q-school. And he got disqualified when trying to defend his title at Shanghai, because someone following play on the Internet noticed his scorecard was incorrect.
And now, the latest upswing for Yang: He's the leader midway through The Honda Classic.
Yang shot a bogey-free round of 5-under 65, moving to 7 under through two rounds at PGA National. The South Korean was one shot ahead of Will MacKenzie (67), Jeff Overton (67) and Robert Allenby (68).
"Prior to my win at the HSBC Champions in 2006, people in Korea knew me ... but outside of Korea, people really didn't know me at all," Yang said through an interpreter. "But after beating Tiger at the HSBC, people starting recognizing me, not only in Korea but outside as well. To be mentioned in the same context as Tiger, it's very honorable."
Of the top 21 players on the leaderboard, only MacKenzie and Stewart Cink have PGA TOUR wins since 2006.
A who's-who leaderboard?
More people were probably saying "Who's he?"
"It just goes to show how much better, more competitive it's become the last few years," Overton said. "Tiger raised the bar and it's unbelievable how good these guys are. It really is. It's unbelievable how many players have not won yet, but only one guy wins each week. You only have 35 or 40 weeks, you get Tiger winning half of them, so there's not a lot of room for other players."
Seems like there will be this weekend.
Ben Crane, winless since 2005, shot a 5-under 65 on his 33rd birthday to get to 5 under, two shots off Yang's pace. David Mathis (68) was alone at 4 under, and six others were at 3 under, including Greg Chalmers (who shot 64, Friday's best round) and Harrison Frazar (65).
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
COMPTON'S LEGEND CONTINUES TO GROW, INSPIRE
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Was there any doubt the 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole was going to drop for Erik Compton? No, especially not after he was coming off a double bogey on the 17th hole at PGA National.
If there's anything that Compton has proved in his 29 years, it's he knows a thing or two about recovery.
Of course, coming back from double-heart transplants isn't even worth comparing to overcoming a double bogey in the second round of a PGA TOUR event.
But as much as we want to marvel at the fact that Compton is alive today, much less on the leaderboard of The Honda Classic, less than a year after having his chest ripped open and another person's heart installed, he didn't accept a sponsor's exemption this week simply to be a story line.
He has spent the last 10 years as a professional golfer, enduring the same highs and lows as any other golfer who has teed it up for a living. This is his profession, and he showed the last two days he belongs. Consecutive 1-under 69s have him tied for 13th place, five shots out of the lead.
"That felt good making that putt on 18, after what happened on 17," Compton said. "I'm like any golfer out here: I want to make the cut, and then see what I can do on the weekend."
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| Friday's Best |
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The par-5 third hole at PGA National was the easiest with a Friday scoring average of 4.745.
The pr-3 17th hole at PGA National was toughest with a Friday scoring average of 3.390.
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Monday qualifier Sal Spallone holed out for eagle from 155 yards out on the eighth hole. 
Greg Chalmers had seven birdies and one bogey en route to a 64, tying the course record set by Luke Donald last year. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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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.
Tadd Fujikawa made the cut and will be playing this weekend after back-to-back 71s. And what did the little Hawaiian say to me when I asked him about this golf course after his second round was over? "There's too much water on this golf course," Fujikawa said. "They should fill in some of the water hazards cause there are way too many." Now if a guy who lives on an island says there's too much water, what chance does the rest of the field have?
Scott Piercy again finds his name near the top of the leaderboard, tied for 13th going into the weekend. Two years ago, I watched him win The Ultimate Game, a golf tournament that paid $2 million to the winner and $100,000 to the runner-up. There was a $50,000 entry fee and anyone with Nationwide or PGA TOUR experience was prohibited from playing. Piercy won the tournament and as a result gained a ton of confidence, which has helped him tremendously on TOUR. It doesn't hurt that he can hit it miles off the tee, either. After dancing with him on the seventh green (yes, that's right, he was on the front of the green and I was on the back, showing off our dance moves), I have to say his cool, laid-back attitude should work well, especially on this course.
Even with a baby less than a month old keeping him up at night, Erik Compton has refused to take the cart the TOUR has allowed him to use because he wants to build up his stamina. This is a guy on his third heart in just over 30 years, but after making a bounce-back bomb of a birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish at 2 under, he'll have to survive a couple more days on very little sleep. I asked Compton how he felt coming down the stretch on Friday and through bloodshot eyes he sighed and said, "It was a bit of a struggle, but I know there are people out there watching that I can be an inspiration to. And the thoughts of them kept me going." If you need a babysitter, Erik, there are about 10,000 people, including me, that would love to help out. Rest well and come out swinging on Saturday, you are the story of the tournament.
| What the top finishers said... | ||||||||||||||||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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SECOND-ROUND NOTEBOOK: THE HONDA CLASSIC
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- A total of 79 players made the 36-hole cut, and as a result there will be a 54-hole cut on Saturday reducing the field to the low 70 and ties.
• At 37 years, 1 month and 22 days, Korean Y.E. Yang fired a second-round, 5-under 65 to take a single-stroke lead over Robert Allenby, Jeff Overton and Will MacKenzie. Yang is competing in his second Honda Classic (tied for 72nd in 2008).
• Yang is competing in his fourth PGA TOUR event of the season. Among his finishes in the previous three were a tie for 22nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and a tie for 20th at last week's Mayakoba Golf Classic.
• Among his most notable achievements, Yang won the 2006 HSBC Champions Tournament on the Asian Tour by two strokes over Tiger Woods.
• To read the remainder of this story,click here.
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