Verizon Heritage: Rd. 2
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SECOND ROUND WRAPPING UP (5:55 p.m.): The second round is just about complete at the Verizon Heritage, where Brian Gay is putting the finishing touches on a round of 5 under to take a one-shot lead over Todd Hamilton heading into the weeknd.
Gay has plenty of company, however, with 10 players within five strokes. Among that group is also a lot of experience in Lee Janzen, Davis Love III and Rory Sabbatini.
As for what to expect in the third round, keep an eye on Janzen. He was the halfway leader at Bay HIll a few weeks ago and is starting to play like the old Lee Janzen. He also realizes that the clock is ticking and he'd like to secure his spot on TOUR. -- Brian Wacker
VERPLANK IN THE HUNT (5:30 p.m.): Add Scott Verplank's name to the list of players torching the front nine at Harbour Town. Brian Gay already made the turn in 30 and Verplank has birdied his last three holes to get to 4 under on the front, 5 under on the day and 4 under for the week.
Always a straight driver of the golf ball, Verplank's accuracy plays really well at Harbour Town with its narrower fairways and smallish greens. And it's showed in his results with a T10 in 2005, a T5 in 2002, a T3 in 2001 and a T11 in 2000. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHECK (5:10 p.m.): The cutline has dropped a stroke since this morning to 2 over, but that still leaves some notable players headed home early as the second round nears conclusion.
The most notable of those on the outside looking in is Jim Furyk, who is fresh off a T10 at the Masters. He shot 74-71 and is 3 over.
Bill Haas is also going home after struggling to a 77 one day after he shot a 68 and was just four strokes off the lead. Haas never got it going today, playing the back nine in 39 with bogeys on two of his first three holes. He did have two birdies on the front, but he also had four bogeys. That means he'll have the weekend of for the fourth time in his last five events.
Paul Casey and Brad Faxon are among those on the wrong side of the cut line, too. Faxon, who had microfracture surgery in 2007, has had an extremely difficult year with just one made cut in nine events. -- Brian Wacker
ARMOUR STRONG (4:45 p.m.): Tommy Armour III is making a strong run at the leaders today with a round or 3 under through 12 holes. It helps when you have a hole-in-one, too, the way Armour did on the 163-yard seventh hole.
Armour has added two other birdies, though, and for the third time this year finds himself in contention. The 21-year veteran was also in the mix in Houston and L.A., but quickly fell out of contention both times when he made an 8.
That was the second hole-in-one of the day today, by the way, with Lee Janzen having made one on the 17th after starting on the back nine. -- Brian Wacker
MORE ON GAY'S 30 (4:25 p.m.): Brian Gay's front-nine 30 here was pretty special, but it was still two shots shy of the 9-hole record at Harbour Town. The front-nine record is owned by Craig Barlow, who shot a 28 in 2003, while four players -- Jeff Maggert, Steve Flesch, Chris Perry and Brad Faxon -- have shot 29 on the back.
The overall course record here is a 61, shot by David Frost in 1994. -- Brian Wacker
GAY ON TOP (3:55 p.m.): Brian Gay has surged to the top of the leaderboard after making the turn in 30 here at Harbour Town.
Gay made five straight birdies at one point before closing out the front side with a par. He bogeyed the 10th hole, but now is alone in first for the moment at 9 under for the tournament after a 67 yesterday.
Gay is looking for just his second career PGA TOUR victory -- his first came at last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya. Twice this year Gay has finished in the top 10, but he hasn't been in contention since the FBR Open in February. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Gay's scorecard below:
MICHAEL J. FOX ON THE GOLF COURSE (3:00 p.m.): It's good to see Michael J. Fox up and about. He's playing in this week's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am on the Champions Tour. Earlier, he had an interview with the media and revealed a lot about his illness and his ongoing battle. Click here for the complete transcript. -- Brian Wacker
HOW LONG BEFORE RORY WINS? (2:38 p.m.): Not McIlroy, but Sabbatini. The latter has four finishes inside the top 20 this season and is in contention again this week at 4 under after rounds of 70-68. It's hard to imagine that Sabbatini, who finished fourth in the FedExCup just two years ago, hasn't won since 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. -- Brian Wacker
PETROVIC STICKING AROUND (2:20 p.m.): From pizza delivery guy to PGA TOUR pro. That pretty much sums up the Tim Petrovic story, which reached its peak in 2005 with a win in New Orleans. This year has been a different story, however, with Petrovic having missed his last six cuts and 7 of 10 this year. After rounds of 68-70, though, it looks like Petrovic will be sticking around for the weekend.
At one point in his post-pizza days, Petrovic was looking like a rising star on the TOUR with three straight years of finishing in the top 65 on the money list with two of those in the top 45.
Petrovic's hit a bit of a skid the past few years, however, finishing outside the top 100 on the money list in two of the last three years. -- Brian Wacker
BOO'S BATTLE (2:05 p.m.): If two-time defending champion Boo Weekley is going to three-peat here at Harbour Town, he's got some work to do. Weekley, who has been battling a balky putter and a bad back, is in at 1 under through two rounds after 1-over 72 today.
Weekley had a completely wild round today with a front-nine 40 that included three bogeys and a double bogey. He bounced back on the back, however, making three birdies in a four-hole stretch.
As for that putter, it's still giving him a bit of problems. Weekley took 30 putts today with four of those coming on No. 9, which he four-putted from just under 12 feet. -- Brian Wacker
ACES UP (1:50 p.m.): Over on the Nationwide Tour, former University of Georgia All-America Brendon Todd made history today when he made a hole-in-one on the 147-yard 17th hole for a second day in a row at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic.
"It's still hard to believe," said Todd after posting a 1-under 71. "It's a bit surreal, even now."
Todd is the first player in the 20-year history of the tour to ace the same hole twice in the same tournament.
"It's just pure disbelief," said Todd. "It was a stroke of good luck, twice in a row. I guess it's like catching lightning in a bottle." -- Joe Chemycz
To read more about Todd's ace, click here.
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BACK-TO-BACK BOGEYS AND A BOUNCE BACK (1:30 p.m.): Alex Cejka was on the bogey train today, having made back-to-back bogeys on No. 12 and 13 -- he started on the back -- to fall back to 5 under and out of the lead. But the journeyman German (say that five times fast) bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 15th hole after hitting his third shot to just over 6 feet.
Should Cejka be able to recover and go on to win, that would be the second time in three weeks we've had a veteran player break through for their first win on the PGA TOUR with Paul Casey having gotten his first a couple of weeks ago in Houston. -- Brian Wacker
CEJKA OFF TO SLOW START (1:05 p.m.): First-round leader Alex Cejka is only three holes into his second round, but things already aren't looking too good for the German. He bogeyed the par-4 12th to drop a stroke and out of the lead and has a lot of players circling around him with a sea of red numbers.
Todd Hamilton has already passed Cejka and is in with a 66 after a birdie on the 18th hole just now, while Davis Love III also jumped up the leaderboard with a 67 that has him three back of Hamilton's 8-under lead.
Others making moves: Charley Hoffman and Rory Sabbatini, both at 3 under today at the moment, and Lee Janzen, who birdied the second hole to get to 7 under for the week after opening with a 65 yesterday. -- Brian Wacker
NEW LEADER (12:50 p.m.): Todd Hamilton just moved to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a bogey by Alex Cejka on his third hole of the day, the par-4 12th at Harbour Town.
Hamilton is wrapping up his round of 4 under and finally seems to be putting everything together after starting his year by missing 7 of 9 cuts to start the season.
"I may have had some 74s and 75s, but a drive 5 yards left here, 5 yards right there, a couple of times during the round, and those 74s and 75s could have been even pars; a few putts here and there, also," Hamilton said last week. "On paper, it doesn't look very good, but it wasn't to the point where I was going to quit playing the game."
After finishing the last four years outside the top 125 on the money list, the turnaround couldn't have come at a better time for Hamilton -- his 5-year exemption for winning the British Open is up after this season. -- Brian Wacker
EARLY CUT CHECK (12:35 p.m.): There's still a lot of golf to be played today, but the cut line right now is sitting at 1 over. That leaves Jim Furyk, among others, on the outside looking in. Furyk shot a 3-over 74 yesterday and isn't doing anything today at even-par through 15 holes. You have to think Furyk is a little gassed after being in contention last week at the Masters.
Other players in danger of heading home early from Hilton Head: Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Webb Simpson and Lucas Glover. It's been an especially shaky two months for the rookie Simpson. After opening the year with a pair of top 10s and three of his first four finishes in the top 20, Simpson missed three straight cuts before finishing T11 at Bay Hill and T52 in Houston. -- Brian Wacker
FEDEXCUP UPDATE (12:20 p.m.): There are two players in the field this week at Harbour Town that could overtake FedExCup points leader Geoff Ogilvy with a win: Paul Casey and Zach Johnson.
Johnson may still have a shot at doing just that. Though he's six back after opening with a 1-under 70 yesterday, he's far from out of it.
Casey, on the other hand, has some work to do if he's going to catch his buddy Ogilvy. He shot a 73 yesterday and said after last week's Masters that he's just flat exhausted. It's kind of hard to blame him. He broke through for his first career win on the PGA TOUR the week before at the windblown Shell Houston Open and followed that with a long week at Augusta National. By the time he finished Sunday, you could see it in Casey's face and body language that he was just beat.
Meanwhile, a total of 13 players could move into the top 5 of the FedExCup standings with a win, while 27 players could climb into the top 10 with a victory. -- Brian Wacker
LOVE-ING HARBOUR TOWN (12:05 p.m.): Todd Hamilton isn't the only one making a move today. Davis Love III, a five-time winner here, is 3 under through his first 14 holes and is now within three of the lead at 4 under.
Love, whose last victory at Harbour Town was in 2003, battled the wind late yesterday and hoped to take advantage of going out early today. So far, so good.
Love is hitting fewer greens in regulation today, but he's getting it up-and-down pretty well with 10 one-putts and 19 total putts through 14 holes. He's also hitting a lot more fairways, having missed just two today. -- Brian Wacker
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HAMILTON ON THE RISE (11:45 a.m.): It looks like Todd Hamilton is carrying the good feelings he had at Augusta National last week to the Verizon Heritage.
The one-time British Open champion, who has made just 3 of 10 cuts this year, has charged into contention with a round of 4 under today to get to 7 under for the week. Hamilton, who is through 13 holes today, has just one bogey here this week and that came yesterday. -- Brian Wacker
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