Verizon Heritage: Second-round notebook
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Brian Gay birdied five consecutive holes (Nos. 4-8) Friday on his way to a 5-under 66 and a one-stroke lead over Todd Hamilton (66) after 36 holes at the Verizon Heritage. It was the best birdie streak at the tournament since Boo Weekley birdied the same five holes in Round 3 in 2008.
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• Gay is making his 10th start at Harbour Town, with three previous made cuts (tied for 42nd in 2001, tied for ninth in 2006, tied for 16th in 2007). So far this season, the 2008 Mayakoba Golf Classic champion has made 10 cuts in 11 starts, with a tie for fifth at the Sony Open in Hawaii his best of five top-25 finishes. He is currently No. 29 on the FedExCup points list.
• The second-round lead is the second of Gay's career. His first came at the 2001 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, when he shared the lead with Phil Mickelson on the way to a tie for fifth.
• This is the 13th straight year that the Verizon Heritage has produced an outright second-round leader. The last time there were co-leaders through 36 holes was in 1996, when Jeff Sluman and Tom Watson shared the lead at 6 under. In the 41-year history of the event, there have been co-leaders after two rounds just 11 times.
• The cut came at 2-over 144, with 78 players advancing to the weekend.
• Todd Hamilton, winner of the 2004 British Open, is making his sixth appearance at the Verizon Heritage. Prior to Friday, his only made cut at Harbour Town resulted in a tie for 22nd in 2005. Prior to rounds of 68-66 this week, his only sub-70 effort at Harbour Town in 12 previous rounds was a 2-under 69 in the second round in 2005.
• Hamilton finished tied for 15th at last week's Masters Tournament, his best showing on TOUR since a tie for 10th at the 2006 John Deere Classic. An opening-round 68 in Augusta left him tied for sixth and three strokes behind first-round leader Chad Campbell, while a 2-under 70 on day two propelled him to fourth place and three shots behind Campbell and Kenny Perry. He finished with rounds of 72-73.
• Tommy Armour III posted a hole-in-one on the 163-yard seventh hole with an 8-iron. It represents the fourth ace of his PGA TOUR career (1990 Independent Insurance Agent Open, 1991 Centel Western Open, 1997 Greater Vancouver Open).
• Lee Janzen joined in on the fun with a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole, holing an 8-iron from 176 yards on his way to a 1-under 70. Janzen is tied for third place with Alex Cejka at 7-under 135. The ace was the 16th overall at the Verizon Heritage and the 15th on TOUR in 2009.
• Five-time Verizon Heritage champion Davis Love III made his move on Friday with a 4-under 67, moving to 5-under 137 and solo-sixth place. In 24 appearances at the tournament, Love owns a 69.875 second-round scoring average. The last time Love recorded an over-par score in the second round here was 1999 (74).
• Love celebrated his 45th birthday on Monday. He has celebrated his birthday numerous times at this event, but never won the title on his birthday. Three of his wins have come on April 19 (the date of this year's final round), while the others have been on April 20 and April 21.
• Jim Furyk, at 3-over 145, missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage for the third time (1997, 2007) in 11 starts. He entered the week with five top-15 finishes in his last six starts at the tournament, including a tie for 15th in 2002, tie for 10th in 2003, tie for second in 2005, second in 2006, missed cut in 2007 and fourth in 2008.
• Defending champion Boo Weekley posted a 1-over 72 to fall to 1-under 141. It represents his first over-par effort in 10 rounds at Harbour Town. It could have been worse for Weekley, as he made the turn at 4-over 40 and stood at 2-over for the tournament through 27 holes. He birdied three holes on the back nine to get back in the thick of things as he chases his third consecutive tartan jacket.
• The Verizon Heritage has not had a defending champion miss the cut since 1992 champion Love did so the following year.
• Scott Verplank made his 60th round at Harbour Town his best, recording a 5-under 66 to move to a tie for seventh. He is making his 17th start at the Verizon Heritage, with 10 straight made cuts and a career-best tie for third in 2001.
• Eight of the nine past champions of the Verizon Heritage made the cut this week. The list includes: Weekley (tied for 27th), Aaron Baddeley (tied for 48th), Peter Lonard (tied for 48th), Stewart Cink (tied for 36th), Love (sixth), Justin Leonard (tied for 48th), Jose Coceres (tied for 27th), Glen Day (tied for 65th) and Bob Tway (tied for 79th).
• Robert Allenby, at 3-over 145, missed his first cut since the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii. He entered the week tied with Tiger Woods for the TOUR lead with 33 consecutive made cuts. This was Allenby's seventh start at the Verizon Heritage, with a tie for 14th in 2008 his best outing.
• At 3-under 139 through two rounds, Ernie Els appears to be back on track at Harbour Town after missing the cut in 2008. His prior nine starts before 2008 yielded seven top-10 finishes, including a runner-up effort in 2007.
• The scoring average through 36 holes at the par-71 Harbour Town is 71.874. The average on Thursday was 71.962, while the average on Friday was 71.785.
• The second-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win six of 15 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently by Paul Casey at the Shell Houston Open.
• There were four bogey free rounds on Friday, bringing the total for the week to nine. The list includes: Hamilton, Heath Slocum, Brad Adamonis and Lucas Glover on Friday and Cejka, Gay, Bill Haas, Aron Price and Nathan Green on Thursday.
• Jerry Kelly withdrew during the second round with an illness.
• Twenty-nine players are participating in the Verizon Heritage after having teed it up at Augusta National a week ago. The list includes Allenby (missed cut), Aaron Baddeley (tied for 48th), Briny Baird (tied for 27th), Casey (tied for 48th), Cink (tied for36th), Tim Clark (tied for 36th), Luke Donald (tied for 48th), Ken Duke (tied for13th), Els (tied for 13th), Steve Flesch (missed cut, Jim Furyk (missed cut), Mathew Goggin (tied for 48th), Hamilton (second), Dudley Hart (missed cut), Trevor Immelman (tied for 21st), Dustin Johnson (missed cut), Zach Johnson (tied for 27th), Leonard (tied for 48th), Billy Mayfair (missed cut), Rory McIlroy (tied for 48th), Jose Maria Olazabal (tied for 13th), Carl Pettersson (missed cut), Chez Reavie (missed cut), Rory Sabbatini (tied for seventh), Jeev M. Singh (tied for 21st), Brandt Snedeker (missed cut), D.J. Trahan (missed cut), Camilo Villegas (tied for 36th) and Weekley (tied for 27th).
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