The Live Report, Round 2: Transitions Championship
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| Transitions Championship | ||
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ISHIKAWA MAKES CUT (7:25 p.m.) -- Ryo Ishikawa has made his first cut in just his second start on the PGA TOUR. The 17-year-old sensation from Japan shot a 2-over 73 on Friday. That, along with Thursday's 2-under 69 has Ishikawa at even for the tournament and six shots off the lead.
ISHIKAWA GIVES ANOTHER SHOT BACK (6:38 p.m.) -- Ryo Ishikawa missed the green on the long par-4 sixth hole (his 15th hole of the day) and made bogey. He now sits only one shot inside the cut line.
STRICKER, WATNEY IN THE FINAL GROUP FOR SATURDAY (6:25 p.m.) -- It looks like it will be Steve Stricker and Nick Watney alone at 6 under, which will put them in the final pairing for Saturday's third round. Stuart Appleby and Jonathyn Byrd both bogeyed the 18th hole on Friday to fall to 5 under.
HERE'S THE FIELD FOR ARNIE'S HOUSE (6:07 p.m.) -- We just recieved the full field for next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Some of the notables in the field are Tiger Woods, Ryo Ishikawa and heart transplant survivor Erik Compton.
• To see the full field for next week, click here.
RYO ISHIKAWA UPDATE (6:03 p.m.) -- Like everyone else in the field, Ryo Ishikawa is finding that Copperhead is a lot tougher right before the sun goes down. He's made two bogeys in his last four holes but is still two shots inside the cut line. He also still has a par-5 remaining left to play.
• To follow the rest of Ishikawa's round with Shot Tracker, click here.
TOUGH DAY FINALLY ENDS FOR FURYK (5:46 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk finished with his highest round on TOUR in nearly two years on Friday, and his 78 was the result of a 34-putt day on Copperhead's greens.
The 65 Furyk shot on Thursday will enable him to make the cut, albeit by one shot.
Here is look at Furyk's final scorecard:
CUT LINE MOVES TO ONE OVER (5:30 p.m.) -- The cut line has moved from even to 1 over. Former champion K.J. Choi just bogeyed the 16th hole to move to 1 over and will need to par the final two holes to see the weekend.
The cut line is even more critical here than most tournaments. The cut line of 1 over is only seven shots out of the lead -- that is how bunched-up the field gets here -- and if you can make the weekend, a round of 68 can do wonders. Unlike some tournaments, players on the cut line are not out of the hunt.
MORE ON THE FIRST HOLE; BOO FIGHTING TO MAKE CUT (5:10 p.m.) -- With the field finishing up the second round, we just noticed that the first hole has only given up two eagles in the first two days, and neither one of them were by players who hit the green in two. As we noted earlier, both Charles Howell and Stuart Appleby holed out from off the green.
Boo Weekley just came through the first hole, and he must have known that was sitting right on the cut line. Weekley went for the green on his second shot and nailed it to 10 feet from 248 yards out, but he missed the putt.
Weekley is one over for the tournament and needs to get back to even par to ensure playing on the weekend. Boo is one of the best ballstrikers on TOUR, but for whatever reason, he has not been comfortable at Copperhead, which is practically a home game for the Jay, Fla. resident, who lives several hours away in the Florida Panhandle. Weekley missed the cut here in both 2007 and 2008.
RYO ISHIKAWA UPDATE (5 p.m.) -- Like our John Maginnes said earlier, Ryo Ishikawa is wearing pink today, but the real story is the lack of drama the Japanese teenager has faced on the course. The 17-year-old has done a brilliant job of avoiding the big numbers that seem to affect every player in the Transitions Championship field.
Ishikawa has been remarkably consistent over two days in Tampa. He's made only one bogey in his first 27 holes, and he appears to be in a good shape to make his first cut on the PGA TOUR. He's only hit half of his greens, but his putter has been solid, and he's stayed out of the Copperhead Course's many bunkers.
BYRD'S TWO-SHOT LEAD LASTED 10 MINUTES (4:50 p.m.) -- Jonathan Byrd's lead is back to one after he found the bunker on the par-4 12th hole. He blasted out to 10 feet, but he left the putt a foot outside the cup. Byrd's had a crazy day -- he only has three pars. He's racked up six birdies, but Byrd has also carded three bogeys. Not surprisingly, his 12 birdies leads the field this week.
BYRD NOW UP TO BY TWO (4:45 p.m. ) -- Jonathan Byrd hit another 350-yarder, but this one was straight down the 11th fairway on the 575 yard par-5. Believe it or not, Byrd had a 5-iron left to the green, and he hit his ball right over the flag. Easy birdie, and he now leads by two.
FURYK FRUSTRATED (4:32 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk simply can't get any putts into the hole today. He used only 25 putts in Round 1, but he already has 24 through 13 holes today.
Furyk lofted a gorgeous iron over the water to 8 feet on the par-3 13th, but his birdie putt never touched the hole. Furyk still doesn't have a birdie in the second round after scoring seven birdies on Thursday.
THAT WORKS TOO (4:21 p.m.) -- Jonathan Byrd just showed why hitting it long -- even if it's not straight -- can still be an advantage even at a tree-lined course like Copperhead.
Byrd blasted a 350-yard hook into the trees on the 10th hole, but he was left with a clear line to the 10th green. With the pin on the right side of the green, Byrd executed a nifty recovery to 12 feet. He made the putt to become the first player in the tournament to hit the 7 under mark.
A NEW PLAYER IN THE GAME (4:10 p.m.) -- Jeff Overton has moved to 5 under on the strength of three early birdies in Round 2, so clearly the afternoon winds hasn't bothered him much. Starting on hole No. 10, Overton sank birdie putts of 32, 13 and nine feet to move into the top five on the leaderboard.
BYRDIES (3:50 p.m) -- We almost forgot all about three-time PGA TOUR winner Jonathan Byrd until the Georgia resident hit the six under mark as he approached the turn on Friday. Byrd had a solid 67 on Thursday and followed that up with four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine on Friday.
Byrd is coming off his best performance of the season, a tie for 13th in the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular last week. Byrd's success this week at Copperhead isn't really a surprise since the course plays a heavy emphasis on tee-to-green play. Byrd is currently second in Total Driving and 20th in Greens in Regulation on the PGA TOUR in 2009.
CUT LINE UPDATE (3:45 p.m.) -- The cut line is still sitting right at even par, despite our earlier prediction that it would inch higher throughout the day. Players who are in the clubhouse at 1 over include Bo Van Pelt, Matt Bettencourt and Steve Elkington.
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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FURYK GOING BACKWARDS (3:30 p.m.) After a day where he could do nothing wrong, things are headed in the opposite direction for Jim Furyk at the Copperhead Course.
For lack of a better term, Furyk's ballstriking simply isn't as sharp as it was on Thursday. Case in point: On the 430-yard par-4 ninth, Furyk uncharacteristically hooked his drive into the left rough, where he had to pitch out. He hit a fine pitch to nine feet, but he ran the putt a foot by the hole for his third bogey of the day.
Here's a look at Furyk's card:
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER (3 p.m.) -- Peter Lonard began the second round with a good chance to make the cut despite opening with a disappointing 74 on Thursday. Those hopes evaporated on Friday when he shot a dreadful 41 on the front nine, which included two double bogeys.
After making a bogey on the 10th hole, Lonard caught fire -- albeit too late. The Aussie reeled off four birdies in a row starting at the 11th hole, and he finished with a 31 on the back side after birdieing the par-3 17th.
RYO OPENS WITH A BIRDIE AGAIN (2:47 p.m.) -- Ryo Ishikawa opened his Friday round in style by blasting a 330-yard drive down the center of the fairway on No. 10 before pitching to six feet. Easy birdie. He's now three under for the tournament and looking better then ever in his bid to make the cut in just his second PGA TOUR start.
Ishikawa shot 69 in the first round after birdieing the first two holes.
PGA TOUR official Doug Milne writes: "Assuming Ishikawa makes the cut, he would become the fifth-youngest player to do so in PGA TOUR history. He would also become the second youngest foreign player to make the cut, behind Canadian Bob Panasik, who made the cut at the 1957 Canadian Open at the age of 15 years, 8 months, 20 days."
• To follow Ishikawa's round via Shot Tracker, click here.
WATNEY ON PUTTING (2:28 p.m. ET) -- As our instructional expert, Travis Fulton,explained earlier this year, Nick Watney's success in 2009 has mainly been attibuted to improved putting.
Recently, Nick Watney moved to Las Vegas to be closer to his swing coach Butch Harmon," Fuklton wrote. "During the off-season, the two put together a game plan to improve his game. They didn't have to look very far to figure out that the problem was on the greens."
After his 67 on Friday, Watney elaborated on his improved performance on the greens, saying that he and Harmon have worked more with getting the putterhead on an inside line on the backstroke.
He's also been using a Momentus Golf trainer to groove his stroke.
"I'm making a lot of the 5- and 6-footers that I do have," Watney said. "Last year I struggled a bit with my putting and he came out one day and told me he thought it [the Momentus trainer] would help, and it has."
| Massive improvement with the flatstick | |||||||||
| Nick Watney's putting stats in 2008 compared to 2009: | |||||||||
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ANOTHER EAGLE ON NO. 1 (2:10 p.m.) -- Stuart Appleby kicked off his second round by holing out from around the green on the first hole for an eagle. Ss we mentioned below, eaglee on the double-dogleg first hole are extremely rare.
Appleby then birdied the third hole when he rolled in a 40-footer from the left side of the green. On the par-3 fourth hole, his run continued when he stuck his tee shot to 14 feet and made the putt.
Appleby is now five under for the tournament after shooting 70 on Thursday. Appleby is another one of those players who is off to a slow start in '09 -- he's still looking for his first top-25 finish of the year.
FURYK LOSES THE LEAD (1:54 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk missed the green on the long par-4 third and failed to get up and down, so he's fallen to 5 under.
There are now a dozen players within a shot of the lead as the afternoon groups continue to tee off.
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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OGILVIE MATCHES THE LOW ROUND OF THE WEEK (1:52 p.m.) -- Joe Ogilvie, still searching for his first top-25 finish of the year, currently shares the low round of the day with Charles Howelll III. Ogilvie's one-bogey-66 matches the six under that Furyk fired on Thursday.
Ogilvie teed off on the back nine and hit 14 greens to shoot his second-lowest round of the year. The Duke grad is mired in 153rd in the FedExCup standings.
"This is a tough golf course and I drove the ball in the fairway for the most part, and saw some putts drop," Ogilvie said. "I hit the ball solid all day. It was a round that I haven't played very often this year, that's for sure."
Here is a look at Ogilvie's card:
FURYK HITS THE COURSE (1:20 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk parred the 560-yard par-5 first hole to begin his second round.
• If you want to follow Furyk with Shot Tracker, click here.
MORE BOGEY-FREE ROUNDS (12:59 p.m.) -- Steve Stricker just finished his day with an unusual 67. For a player widely considered one of the better putters on TOUR, Stricker struggled with 30 putts after hitting 16 of 18 greens on Friday. Stricker's 14-par, four-birdie day put him tied for the lead with Furyk, who is currently warming up before his 1:02 p.m. tee time.
Nick Watney also had an off round. A place like Copperhead places heavy emphasis on finding the fairways, and Watney hit only three of them on Friday. Like Stricker, he didn't have a bogey.
SEE, I DIDN'T NEED Q-SCHOOL (12:20 p.m.) -- Rich Beem raised some eyebrows when he didn't mail in his q-school application despite missing the top 125 on the money list in 2008. His five-year PGA TOUR exemption from winning the 2002 PGA Championship officially came to an end for the colorful veteran, and he was left without a PGA TOUR card for 2009.
Instead of going to q-school, Beem assumed -- correctly, as it turns out -- that he would be able to get into a handful of events via sponsor's exemption or his Past Champion's status. A funny thing happened on the way to mailing all those letters, though -- Beem has actually played very well early in the year and sits a respectable 58th in points.
He's played so well -- he tied for 14th at the the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer and tied for sixth at the Mayakoba Golf Classic -- that he's been able to take a couple of weeks off. That is a rare luxury for any player without a full-time TOUR card.
Beem was able to get into the field at the Transitions Championship, and the Copperhead Course suits his game. Beem has always been a streaky ballstriker with a inconsistent putter, but his game has responded this week. Nothing fancy, just good, solid golf. He shot 71 on Thursday and followed that up with a brilliant bogey-free 67 on Friday morning to easily make his sixth cut in eight events this year.
Beem is already halfway towards his goal of securing a full-time PGA TOUR card for 2010. He also has some extra motivation for playing his way back into the best events -- the PGA Championship is being held again at Hazeltine, where Beem shocked the world with his victory back in 2002.
FURYK'S LEAD SAFE? (12:15 p.m.) -- We've sat here and watched Charles Howell III and Troy Matteson catch the 6 under that Jim Furyk posted on Thursday, but both players are struggling to hit the clubhouse. Matteson has bogeyed twice since getting to 5 under after 11 holes, and Howell just bogeyed the par-4 sixth.
We're less than an hour from Furyk's tee time. It will be interesting to see how he does. Anything under par today is a great score.
FEDEXCUP UPDATE (12:04 p.m.) -- With Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson nowhere near the top 10, the best shot of a new FedExCup points leader rests with Nick Watney, who is only 234 points leader Geoff Ogilvy. Watney can pass Ogilvy with either a win or a solo second place finish.
Watney is currently three under on his day Friday and is working on a rare bogey-free effort at Copperhead. Honestly, they should hand out extra FedExCup points for a bogey-free round at Innisbrook. Not a bad idea. Only four players -- Mathew Goggin (67), Mark Wilson (68), David Toms (68) and Retief Goosen (69) were bogey-free on Thursday.
Overnight leader Jim Furyk can move into the top five in the FedExCup standings with a win. Furyk has finished in the top-10 in each of his last two starts, earning 268 points. In his first two starts, he only managed to earn a total of 61 points.
MORNING MOVERS (11:50 a.m.) -- Nick Watney continued his hot play on the PGA TOUR in the second round of the Transitions Championship. Win McMurry has all the highlights and top shots from the morning wave at Copperhead.
Former major champions Retief Goosen and Tom Lehman are also among those in the early hunt in the second round.
For exclusive video highlights of the morning wave from the second round, click here.
REPORT: HOLED BUNKER SHOTS LEAD TO LOW SCORES (11:30 a.m.) -- Eagles at Innisbrook -- either the bird kind or the kind where you shoot two under on a hole -- are rare.
Especially on the front side. No one in the field made an eagle on Copperhead's front nine on Thursday. The first hole at Copperhead is a double-dogleg 560-yard par-5. Even though it's the second-easiest hole on the course, it has a reputation as un-eagleable (no, that's not a real word).
Enter Charles Howell III. CH3 went for the green on his second shot on Friday and pulled it into the left bunker, but he holed out from 50 feet for the first eagle of the week on the front side. The shot sent Howell to three under on the day and apparently fired him up, because he reeled off birdies on the third, fourth and fifth holes to move into a tie for the lead with Jim Furyk and Troy Matteson.
We haven't heard much about Howell since the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he finished solo fourth. He's made a boatload of cuts in 2009 -- his only missed weekend was the FBR Open -- but Hawaii remains his only top 25 of the year.
| The first hole at the Copperhead Course | ||||||||||||
| First-round stats from the 560-yard par-5 opening hole: | ||||||||||||
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WHAT WILL THE CUT BE? (11:20 a.m.) -- The cut line just popped up on the PGATOUR.COM leaderboard, and early indications suggest that it will be right around the even mark, but expect that number to climb slightly throughout the day. The cut was 3 over in 2008, and 2 over in 2007.
ROUGH START FOR PERRY (11:02 a.m.) -- Kenny Perry was among the leaders after Round 1, but the veteran came unglued on Friday morning, going out in 39. He teed off on 10 and started his round with a double bogey after driving into the trees that line the fairway on the Copperhead Course.
Perry followed up the early mishap with three bogeys in the next five holes before birdieing the par-3 17th. Perry's poor start is even more indication that Copperhead has a zero tolerance policy for less-than-perfect ballstriking -- Perry has hit less than half of his fairways and less than half of his greens so far.
MAKE IT FIVE FOR MATTESON (10:34 a.m.) -- Matteson has just birdied his first two holes on the front side, which gives him the outright lead at 7 under. He's five under with seven holes to go, so he'll have to stay hot to tie the course record of 62 (nine under).
FLORIDA SWING WILL CONTINUE WITH WOODS (10:28 a.m.) -- As expected, Tiger Woods announced on his site on Friday that he will defend his title in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard next week. Woods won the event last year with a birdie on the 72nd hole.
The field is also highlighted by Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa. The full field list will be available on PGATOUR.COM later Friday.
• For more about Woods' appearance at Bay Hill, click here.
MATTESON TAKES ADVANTAGE EARLY (10:20 a.m.) -- He's not longer the only Troy on TOUR (q-school grad Troy Kelly) but Troy Matteson might be the only man capable of overtaking Jim Furyk this morning at Innisbrook.
Matteson, who finished second here last year, made the turn in 32 after a flawless nine in which he nailed every fairway and missed only one green. His ballstriking was so good that he had a legitimate shot at a super-low front nine, but he didn't get many putts to fall.
His run put him only a shot behind Furyk, who faces a tough 1:02 p.m. tee time. Players with an afternoon tee time will face higher winds and rock-hard fairways and greens.
Matteson teed off on the 10th hole on Friday, so we'll see how he does on the front nine, which is only slightly easier.
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