The Daily Wrap-up, Round 2: St. Jude Classic
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Brian Gay held the clubhouse lead after a 4-under 66 when thunderstorms stopped play during the second round of the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx on Friday.
Play was halted and fans and players were cleared from the TPC Southwind course when the horn sounded 10 minutes before thunder could be heard on Friday. Tornado sirens then went off approximately 40 minutes after play was stopped with the storm tossing equipment around the course and knocking power out in parts of town.
Gay was at 10-under 130 through 36 holes, two strokes ahead of Robert Allenby and Bryce Molder (63), with Allenby having three holes to play. A total of 78 golfers still must finish when the second round resumes Saturday.
Phil Mickelson was at 4 under with three birdies and a bogey in his first event since announcing his wife Amy has breast cancer. This is a tuneup for the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and his preparation showed when he pulled an iron instead of driver or a wood on the tee a couple of times.
Hundreds of fans followed Mickelson from hole to hole yet again at TPC Southwind, many wearing pink in support of Mickelson and the fight against breast cancer.
"The star this week is Phil Mickelson," said John Senden, who shot a 66.
Mickelson appeared much more relaxed on Friday, even laughing a couple of times during breaks with playing partner Padraig Harrington. He started tied for 19th at 2 under and began with three straight pars on a day with almost no wind and near perfect scoring conditions until the storm approached.
He finally got going with a birdie on No. 4 -- the first of three birdies over the next six holes.
He mashed his drive 348 yards on the par-4 ninth, staying dry when his ball stopped within a few feet right of the pond guarding the front left of the green. He stuck his approach within 5 feet from the pin and rolled in another putt for birdie to move to 5 under.
Then came the struggles with the putter. Mickelson left a birdie attempt short on No. 11 and had to tap in for par. He pulled an iron off the tee on the par-4 No. 12 and laid up to avoid the lake along the right fairway before dropping his second shot 12 feet from the cup. His birdie attempt rolled just right of the hole and a couple feet past.
Then Mickelson pushed his drive into the rough, coming up a couple feet short of knee-high weeds. He bogeyed the hole but not because of that drive. He missed a 25-footer for birdie, then lipped out a 3-footer for par when the ball hit the back of the cup and turned out right.
He laid up again on the par-4 15th and had a short birdie putt he pushed a couple feet past with his frustration starting to show.
Mickelson rebounded with a strong drive on the par-5 16th, a good scoring hole especially with him 210 yards away. The horn blasted so he handed his ball to his caddie, got into a cart and was driven off the course. He didn't stop to talk as he headed to his car to beat a storm with sideways rain and winds that tossed equipment across the course.
Woody Austin (66) was at 133 in a group that included David Toms, the two-time champ here who was at 7 under with four to play. Rich Beem (68) and Loren Roberts (67) were among those tied at 134. John Daly was even par after a 68.
Gay birdied five of his first eight holes and got as low as 12 under when he birdied the par-4 12th and 15th. But he bogeyed his final two holes and fell back to 10-under 130 through 36 holes.
It's the third time Gay has led after 36 holes but the 130 total is the best of his career. He needed only 23 putts and has a tournament-best 14 birdies after picking up in the morning where he left off the first round on Thursday. He won at Hilton Head in April by 10 strokes and said he likes to be in the lead.
"I did pretty good being ahead last time, so I was telling myself on the back nine out there to, I was really trying to push and try to make as many birdies as I could but ... probably pulled the wrong club on a couple of holes coming in," Gay said.
Allenby lost here in a playoff a year ago. He had just bogeyed No. 6 when the horn sounded. With humidity making conditions very sticky, he didn't mind coming back on Saturday.
"I'll probably look at it as a bonus. To get off the golf course, rest and rest up well tonight and get ready for tomorrow. Sure tomorrow is going to be a long day, but that's fine," Allenby said.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brett Wright offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
David Toms hit his ball into the air from 123 yards at the 15th hole Friday and as it hit 6 inches short of the hole and bounced off the flagstick, landing 3 inches away, the double blast from the horn signified the end of play for the evening. At 5:23 p.m. local time, inclement weather was rolling in and Toms had to mark his ball and head for the evacuation van that shuttled his group back to the safety of the clubhouse. In less than 20 minutes, 60 mph winds rolled in and out of the TPC Southwind area. A severe summer storm with hail, wind, rain and a tornado warning were in and out before I could drive the 6 miles to our hotel. The PGA TOUR is so good at getting the players off the course, but they are even better at getting the spectators off the course in the event of dangerous conditions. They were posting "take shelter" warnings on the scoreboard an hour before the stoppage of play.
Brian Gay, Bryce Molder Woody Austin and Guy Boros have a huge advantage over the other players who still have to finish Round 2. These guys can sleep in and come to the golf course in the usual fasion and go through thier normal pre-round routine. The others, like Robert Allenby, David Toms, and Camilo Villegas, will have to arrive at the course around 5 a.m. local time to get ready for a 7 a.m. restart, after which they will have some lunch and prepare again to start round 3.
Jason Day told me that even though the greens are very fast (about 12 on the Stimpmeter) that after playing at Muirfield last week (where they were lightning fast and a rumored 14), he feels like he can be aggresive this week.
The short-lived storm delivered a massive amount of rain and wind that caused a lot of branches to fall around TPC Southwind. The grounds crew will be up all night getting the course playable, removing limbs and debris and conditioning the wet bunkers back to life. The greens will be softer and this will allow every player in the field to go "hole hunting" and create very favorable scoring conditions. The greens are rolling very true and with the slight drop in speed we will see many players taking more aggresive lines and making more putts. Look for the leaderboard to be more dynamic over the weekend.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | ||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-3 14th at TPC Southwind | ||||||||||||||
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