Round 2, THE PLAYERS Championship

text size

May. 8, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in today's second round of THE PLAYERS Championship. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
8:20 am ET No. 10		Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott Mickelson hit only half his fairways and 39 percent of his greens Thursday. He needs a better day to make the cut. Track 'em
1:10 pm ET No. 1		Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Ernie Els Woods couldn't buy a putt Thursday, but still broke par. If he can make some putts, he can move up quickly. Track 'em
1:30 pm ET No. 1		Zach Johnson, Sergio Garcia, K.J. Choi After his opening 71, defending champ Garcia was already talking about going home. Will he be motivated in Round 2? Track 'em

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Mark Carnevale previews Friday's second round:

Overnight rain certainly had an effect on play in the first round, as the rain softened the greens and players took advantage of the good scoring conditions. Assuming we do not get any more rain, the golf course will get firmer and faster, creating some difficult scoring conditions. I would expect the better rounds to be posted in the morning of the second round.

Friday's forecast

Mostly Sunny
Temp: 91 high/71 low
Friday should be mostly sunny and pleasantly warm throughout the day. The winds should blow in from the south-southwest at 9 or 10 mph.

I was out walking and covering Phil Mickelson in Round 1. At the start, it looked like Phil was headed for the round of the day, but a back-nine 39 after a front-nine 34 leaves Phil at 1 over par and outside the the cut line headed into the second round. Expect Phil to figure out his compass and hit some more greens. He was only 7 for 18 in Green in Regulation in Round 1. Of course he will need to right the ship in order to play the weekend.

Once again, there is a mixed leader board as players with all different styles of play performed well in the first round. One player who stood out to me was Alex Cjeka, who hit all of his fairways and 17 of 18 GIR. If he keeps that up, he will have a chance at his first PGA TOUR win.

But we have along way to go in this edition of THE PLAYERS. Focus on the players who are hitting fairways and greens, and more than likely they will give themselves a chance to win on Sunday.

Only 14 golf balls found the water on the par-3 17th, which was played pretty benign in Round 1 considering the hole was located in the most difficult position -- at least to me -- back left. Somehow 17 will fight back the rest of the way and will claim its usual number of victims.

Stat of the day

Scott Verplank carded a pair of eagles on Thursday. The first came at the 449-yard, par-4 15th hole, where Verplank holed it from 141 yards. The second was at the 532-yard, par-5 second hole, where his 40-foot putt found the cup. Before Thursday, Verplank had made just two eagles all season.

NOTEWORTHY NUGGETS
• Ben Crane led the field with nine birdies on Thursday. He also had 14 one-putts in his round, tying the most one-putts by any player in the last 25 years at THE PLAYERS Championship.

• The first-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win THE PLAYERS 13 times since the tournament began in 1974, including each of the past two seasons since the tournament moved to a May date. Four of those have been wire-to-wire victories.

• Camilo Villegas' opening 67 is his first sub-par opening round at THE PLAYERS and marks his career-low round at TPC Sawgrass. His three previous opening-round scores were 74 (2006), 80 (2007) and 74 (2008).

• Making his 12th start at THE PLAYERS, Tiger Woods broke par in the first round for only the sixth time, with his 1-under 71. It's been 22 rounds since Woods last finished a round at TPC Sawgrass in the top 10, and that streak is twice as long as his next longest streak at any course.

Thus far at TPC Sawgrass

Round	Leader	Low round (par 72)	Key links
	Ben Crane (-7)	65: Ben Curtis	Daily Wrap-Up \| Live Report Helen Ross column \| Notebook

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry updates action from the first round of the 2009 PLAYERS and previews what to watch for in the second round. Watch it
	Shot of the day Scott Verplank holes out for eagle on the par-4 15th hole during the opening round of the 2009 PLAYERS Championship. Watch it
	First-round highlights After an almost-perfect 65, Ben Crane leads by a stroke after the Round 1 of the 2009 PLAYERS Championship. Watch it