Round 2: Travelers Championship

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Kenny Perry had the advantage of an early tee time on Friday morning.

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Travelers Championship

PGATOUR.COM's The Live Report has all the news and notes from the Travelers Championship, and we'll be providing updates from TPC River Highlands all day long for each round, so check back often. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live Scoring | PGA TOUR Network | Facebook | Twitter | FanZone

PLAY DONE FOR THE DAY (6:02 p.m.) -- Second-round play has officially been suspended for the day and will resume at 8 a.m. Saturday.

There are still a few dozen players yet to finish the second round, but everyone has completed at least 27 holes. The field will be re-paired and sent off two tees after the second round is completed Saturday.

Round 2 hospitality tickets are not good for hospitality on Saturday, but they will be honored for general admission. General admission stubs from Friday will be honored for Saturday general admission. -- Brian Wacker

LIVE@ IS OFF THE AIR (5:22 p.m.) -- Our exclusive LIVE@ coverage is suspended for the day due to inclement weather. We will have regularly scheduled coverage on Saturday starting at approximately 10 a.m. ET.

RAIN DELAY AT HARTFORD (4:35 p.m.) -- As predicted, rain has arrived at TPC River Highlands, temporarily signaling a suspension of play. We will post new information as soon as it becomes available.

Our Brian Wacker was on the course, and he just Twittered this update:

"Severe t-storms are rolling in fast on us. Warnings are on scoreboards and skies to the west are darkening. So much for the weather holding off ... the horn just blew suspending play with dangerous t-storms fast approaching."

WALK WITH ME AT TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS (4:30 p.m.) -- If you're heading to the Travelers Championship, be sure to stop by the Subway Fan Zone, located just behind the 17th green (next to the first and 18th fairways).

In an effort to encourage golf as a great form of exercise whether you're playing or watching, Ron Sutton, President and CEO of ACCUSPLIT, will be available to answer your questions about how walking can impact your life.

"[Walking] is man's best medicine, but it's the beginning of all cures," Sutton said. "Walking has been a natural exerciser for the body since the beginning. It's the easiest way to get a balance of activity in our lives.

"We need to burn 15 percent of our calories though activity. It's the universal way of doing that. When you walk, everything functions better."

Sutton encourages golf as one of the easiest ways to walk. Players and caddies this week at TPC River Highlands have been averaging 14,000 steps a day.

EISENHOWER NAMED TO WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME (4:25 p.m.) -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower will be posthumously elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame on Nov. 2. Eisenhower was selected in the Lifetime Achievement Category.

Eisenhower

"One would be hard pressed to find any single person who did more to popularize the game of golf, not only in the United States but throughout the world, than President Eisenhower," Arnold Palmer said. "His visibility, coupled with his passion for the game, were the inspiration for literally millions of people picking up the game for the first time.

"Those involved in golf today owe him a great debt of gratitude."

Eisenhower becomes the first President elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was famous for playing golf twice a week during his first term as President. A 1955 heart attack curtailed his play, but the President continued to play golf until his death in 1969.

GO LOW OR GO HOME (3:55 p.m.) -- We appear headed for the lowest cut this year on the PGA TOUR at the Travelers Championship. If the cut were made right now, it would come at 3 under.

The lowest previous cuts in 2009 have been 1 under at the Northern Trust Open, Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular, Shell Houston Open, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Valero Texas Open and HP Byron Nelson Championship. -- Helen Ross

LUCAS COVERED IN SHAVING CREAM! WE HAVE VIDEO! (3:50 p.m.) -- Thanks to our friends over at THE GOLF Channel for helping us secure video of Johnson Wagner throwing a pie into the face of Lucas Glover on Wednesday.

Glover

Actually, Wagner used a black paper plate covered in shaving cream, but it still did the job rather well. The person who seemed to enjoy the prank the most was Glover himself, because, well, he and Wagner are good friends. He playfully hugged Wagner before toweling himself off and hitting his tee shot, although he couldn't see where it went. Pressure washers are hard to come by on the tee box.

Speaking of Glover, he made the cut despite shooting a one-over 71 in the second round on Friday. His putter, which was so solid at Bethpage Black, betrayed him a little -- he took 32 putts.

To watch video of Wagner's prank during the pro-am, click here.

GOYDOS CATCHES MOORE (3:35 p.m.) -- Paul Goydos is another player in the field without a bogey this week, and the veteran is one of the few players with a mathematical chance to take the lead away from Kenny Perry.

Goydos is two under on the day as he makes the turn onto the front nine at TPC River Highlands. He's currently at nine under, two behind Perry and even with Ryan Moore, who is already in the clubhouse.

LIFE BEGINS AT 42 (3:17 p.m.) -- It's still early, but we feel one of Kenny Perry's main challengers heading into the weekend will be David Toms, who has yet to make a bogey this week at TPC River Highlands.

Toms has enjoyed a startling career renaissance this year. His 69.45 scoring average this year is second on TOUR, and he's hitting it straighter than ever off the tee with enough distance (285 yard average) to keep the strain off his iron play.

It's no wonder he's played so well at par 70 courses this year -- he leads the TOUR in par 4 performance. TPC River Highlands is a par 70 course, and Toms finished tied for second at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx, which is another par 70 track.

SERGIO UNDER THE RADAR (2:50 p.m.) -- Sergio Garcia is a distant 120th in FedExCup points, and he badly needs a good finish this week if he expects to go deep in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Garcia

The playoffs begin in (gulp) eight weeks, and Garcia must be higher in the points to garner a quality draw. As our Brian Wacker noted yesterday, this will probably be Garcia's last event in the United States until after the British Open.

Garcia is playing extremely well on Friday -- he's three under on his first nine -- and he's made only two bogeys this week. Both of the bogeys came Thursday during our LIVE@ coverage of the 15th and 17th holes, when Garcia found the water.

To follow Garcia with Shot Tracker, click here.

EARLY CUT LINE UPDATE (2:30 p.m.) -- As Bob Stevens noted during LIVE@, the course is playing almost a stroke tougher today, but the cut line is still sitting at 3 under.

Some notables currently fighting to make the cut: Justin Rose (2 under), Stuart Appleby (even), Stewart Cink (even).

ROOKIE IN THE MIX (2:11 p.m.) -- There's a hundred dreamers every December at q-school, but Aaron Watkins is one of the lucky ones to make it through and earn the shot to play in the big leagues on the PGA TOUR.

Watkins

Watkins has only been able to get into 11 events this year, but he's used the time to show he can play against the best in the world. He tied for seventh in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after contending all week, and he's only three shots back of leader Kenny Perry after a 65-67 start in Hartford.

Watkins is a little guy -- only 5-foot-8 -- but he's a good mid-iron player and deadly with a wedge. He's been comfortable all week in his first start at TPC River Highlands. He had a couple of bad holes on the back nine Friday when he bogeyed Nos. 13 and 14.

"I still hit two bad shots and laid two bogeys and I don't need to do that tomorrow," Watkins said.

Watkins said the experience from New Orleans will help.

"I was really nervous Saturday and Sunday, but I think going into this Saturday and Sunday being through that is going to help me a little bit," he said.

FORGET WHAT WE SAID ABOUT THE RAIN (1:55 p.m.) -- The sun has peeked out from behind the clouds during our LIVE@ coverage. Our cameras showed J.J. Henry bomb a driver over the green at the par-4 15th, where the pin is located on the back right today.

PUTTING HOLDING PERRY BACK (1:50 p.m.) -- Kenny Perry hit the ball perfectly all day Friday -- he hit 16 greens and didn't miss a single fairway -- and yet, he shot 68, seven shots worse than Thursday.

The answer? Putting. Perry used 32 putts in the second round -- exactly seven more than Thursday.

"I'm used to it. I don't normally putt well anyway," Perry said. "It was just like I didn't have any touch. What I felt was the right speed was always short, and then when I tried to hit it, I couldn't stroke it.

"I was hitting the putt, then I was blowing it right to the break. So I definitely didn't have much feel out there today."

MAYBE HE WASN'T KIDDING (1:27 p.m.) -- Michael Allen, 50, won the Senior PGA Championship last month at Canterbury Golf Club for his first win on the Champions Tour.

Allen

Did he stay out on the over-50 circuit? No. He has unfinished business on the PGA TOUR, namely, scoring the PGA TOUR win that has eluded him.

He was painfully close a couple of times in recent years. He tied for third in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in 2008 after shooting a disappointing 70 on the final day. He was solo second at the 2007 Turning Stone Resort Championship.

Allen joked that he wanted to become the first player in history to win on the Champions Tour before winning on the PGA TOUR, and he's got a shot this week at TPC River Highlands. Allen matched Ryan Moore for the lowest round of the morning wave with a 65, and he didn't make a single bogey. He heads into the weekend at 7 under total.

At 50 years, four months and 27 days, Allen could become one of the oldest winners ever on TOUR:

RYAN MOORE INTERVIEW (1:10 p.m.) -- Ryan Moore is in with a 65, his lowest round of the year, to move into second behind Kenny Perry.

Moore played well last week at the U.S. Open, quietly finishing in a tie for 10th. He's anxious to get back on track after a nagging hand injury prevented him from playing his best.

"I had surgery on my [left] hand three years ago," Moore said. "I just kind of wasn't using it the same way, and that was kind of what hit me recently was just to start using my left hand a little bit more the way I used to."

"I'm a very left-side dominant golfer and having hurt my left hand, it just kind of made things really difficult. Essentially, it's just been a power struggle in my golf swing between my right and left side and they haven't really been working well together, and I've just simply started making them work together again."

Here is a look at Moore's scorecard:

AND I WONDER, STILL I WONDER .. WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN (12:57 p.m.) -- If you live in the Northeast, this has probably been the rainiest June you can remember, and it's about to get worse.

Rain has been falling since 11:30 a.m., and thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon. Currently, the rain hasn't prevented the field from coming in.

During our LIVE@ coverage on the 17th hole, the rain started really coming down hard at 1 p.m. ET.

"Biggest downpour of the day," noted LIVE@ analyst Craig Perks.

PERRY IN THE CLUBHOUSE (12:48 p.m.) -- It was a strange second round for Kenny Perry, who hung onto the lead through the morning wave despite playing his final 10 holes without a birdie.

Perry was two under on the day as he teed off on the par-4 18th -- his ninth hole of the day -- and he stayed at two under the rest of the way. Perry finished with 10 pars in a row.

Here is a look at Perry's scorecard:

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR TWITTER FEED (12:34 p.m.) -- Our Brian Wacker is following Lucas Glover, Vijay Singh and Chad Campbell in the morning wave on Friday. Here is some tidbits from his Twittering on Friday:

Singh

"Just ran into Vijay Singh's new trainer, Gabe Lopez, who Vijay hired on March 1. Lots of flexibility stuff with Vijay."

"Lopez used to train former Mr. Olympia Dexter Jackson and Lopez himself is a short fire hydrant of a guy who's as fit as could be."

"Rain has now stopped...cursed myself by running back to get rain gear. Congrats for Lucas Glover haven't stopped though. And they love him."

"Lengthy birdie putt fell for Mr. U.S. Open at No. 4...and raindrops have too. Heavy stuff won't for a bit. Vijay just gave a kid a ball."

To follow the day's play with our Twitter feed, click here.

IN THE BAG: HUNTER MAHAN (12:17 p.m.) -- PGA TOUR regulars sometimes carry some surprisingly old equipment. Take 2007 Travelers Championship winner Hunter Mahan.

Mahan is 27 years old, but he carries a Ping lob wedge that isn't much younger than him. Like a lot of pros, he's keep the same 3-wood in his bag for years.

"I am not one to switch clubs, so when I find something, I like to keep it around," Mahan said.

To see what all Mahan carries in his bag, click here.

MEET KYLE STANLEY (11:55 p.m.) -- Between Lucas Glover's victory in the U.S. Open last week to Charles Warren's 63 in the opening round of the Travelers Championship, we figured we couldn't bring you any more Clemson University news.

Stanley

We were wrong.

Kyle Stanley announced this week that he was leaving Clemson after his junior season to turn pro at the Travelers Championship. Like Glover and Warren before him, he enjoyed tremendous success on the Clemson Tigers golf team, placing second in the NCAA Individual Championship.

Glover, Warren and Stanley are part of a large group of PGA TOUR players who receive instruction, mental and fitness help from the expansive facility at Sea Island Golf Resort.

Stanley leaves Clemson after his junior year as a three-time NCAA All American and the only player to win both the ACC Freshman of the Year Award and the ACC Player of the Year Award in the same year. He made the cut at the U.S. Open last week, earning an exemption to second stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.

If he keeps playing well, Stanley has an outside chance of avoiding q-school altogether. He looks like he's going to make the cut again this week after opening with a solid 66 on Thursday and is one under after nine holes on Friday morning.

In addition to the Travelers Championship, Stanley is already in the field for the John Deere Classic, U.S. Bank Championship and Wyndham Championship.

To follow the remainder of Stanley's round with Shot Tracker, click here.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINNERS (11:27 a.m.) -- Round 1 leader Kenny Perry has a shot at becoming the 11th player to win wire-to-wire in Hartford. The last player to do it was Peter Jacobsen, who shocked the golf community in 2003 by shooting 63-67-69-67 to win by two shots.

Jacobsen, who was 49 at the time, had not won on TOUR in eight years, but he made it look easy. Jacobsen also easily holds the record for most years between Hartford victories (1984, 2003).

MOORE/MAHAN (11:10 a.m.) -- We keep waiting for Ryan Moore to break out with a victory on the PGA TOUR, and we might only have to wait a couple of more days.

Moore

Moore is already four under on his round today after shooting a 66 on Thursday. This tournament has been kind to first-time winners -- J.J. Henry (2006) and Hunter Mahan (2007) made this event their first victory on TOUR.

It's easy to draw parallels between Moore and Mahan. Both players were amateur prodigies -- Mahan was runner-up at the U.S. Amateur in 2002, and Moore won it the U.S. Amateur in 2004.

Moore has been close in his three full seasons on TOUR. He had to watch Adam Scott drain a 50-foot putt to win the HP Byron Nelson Championship in a playoff in 2008, and he finished second at the Memorial in 2007.

Here is a list of players who have become first-time winners on the PGA TOUR in 2009:

A FRIENDLY REMINDER ABOUT LIVE@ (11 a.m.) -- We're in the fourth installment of our 2009 live coverage, and this week, we're streaming live from the 15th and 17th holes at TPC River Highlands. The 15th hole is especially intriguing to watch -- players repeatedly tried to hit the green with their tee shots on the 296-yard par 4.

During our LIVE@ coverage, Charles Warren's ball rolled right over the cup, and he two-putted for an easy birdie. (Click here to view the best shots from Round 1).

You can always bookmark www.pgatour.com/livegolf to see the schedule for our live coverage. In addition, our Brian Wacker is Twittering 36 holes a day all week at the Travelers Championship, You can read his Tweets by clicking here.

PERRY ALREADY ON HIS BACK NINE (10:45 a.m.) -- Overnight leader Kenny Perry teed off at 7:42 a.m. with a two-shot lead, and he's tacked on three more birdies to extend his lead to four shots.

To follow the remainder of Perry's round with Shot Tracker, click here.

Glover

GLOVER GOT A SURPRISE IN PRO-AM (10:30 a.m.) -- Lucas Glover may have won the U.S. Open on Monday, but he's still one of the guys. Just ask Johnson Wagner, who delivered a "gift" to the newly crowned major champion just before Glover teed off at the Travelers Championship pro-am.

As Glover prepared to tee off, Wagner snuck behind him and placed a pie full of shaving cream directly in Glover's face as fans took pictures. Glover hit his tee shot -- with his face still covered in shaving cream -- to the howls of the gallery.

Glover, by the way, continues to play well at TPC River Highlands. He's just outside the top 10 at 5 under for the tournament and even through his first seven holes of the second round. -- Helen Ross

The Hartford Courant had video of the event. Click here to watch it.

SMITH, GREEN FAMILY TRAGEDIES HITS PLAYERS HARD (10:25 a.m.) -- Chris Smith played in eight events at TPC River Highlands, and his peers on the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour are honoring the memory of his family this week.

Smith

Chris Smith's wife, Beth Smith, was killed in a car accident on June 21, near Angola, Ind. His daughter Abigail, 16, and son Cameron, 12, were critically injured and are currently hospitalized in Fort Wayne, Ind.

On the Nationwide Tour this week, players and caddies at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup in West Virginia are wearing black ribbons.

Smith has made eight Nationwide Tour starts and three PGA TOUR starts in 2009.

On the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour this week, players are wearing green ribbons in support of Ken Green, who was seriously injured in an RV accident on June 15 that killed his brother Bill, 56, and longtime girlfriend Jeanne Hodgin, 52.

Ken's injuries forced the amputation of his lower left leg on June 15. He is scheduled to be released from a Mississippi hospital on Thursday, June 24. He faces outpatient procedures for a sub orbital fracture near his left eye. His goal is to return to playing golf and competing on the Champions Tour.

"You know, these are tragedies," Paul Goydos said on Thursday. "It's been a rough year in a sense on the PGA TOUR."

"As players, we'll do what we can to help them out," said 2007 Travelers Championship winner Hunter Mahan. "We're obviously here for them and here for everybody. But it's a tough situation to go through three kind of tragedies like that. It's just very tough."

Watch: Caddies in West Virginia support Chris Smith

Groups We're Watching

Tee time Players   7:42 a.m. ET No. 10 Kenny Perry, D.J. Trahan, Aaron Baddeley First-round leader Kenny Perry will try to follow up Thursday's 61 with another low round. 1:03 p.m. ET No. 10 Hunter Mahan, Paul Goydos, David Toms Goydos sits at 7 under after one round, while Toms is two strokes back at 5 under. 1:34 p.m. ET No. 10 Lucas Glover, Vijay Singh, Chad Campbell Glover followed up that U.S. Open win with a 65. Singh also fared well on Thursday with a 4-under 66.

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