The Daily Wrap-up, Round 2: Quail Hollow Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Bubba Watson overpowered Quail Hollow and wound up with a perfect day -- he tied a course record with a 30 on the front nine, shot 7-under 65 to share the lead, and doesn't have to play with Tiger Woods.
Retief Goosen, a two-time U.S. Open champion who thrives on fast greens, had another 68 on Friday to join Watson atop the leaderboard at the Quail Hollow Championship with an 8-under 136.
Woods seized control with a 55-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole and had a two-shot lead for most of the back nine until a sloppy finish, making bogeys on two of the last three holes for a 72 that left him one shot behind.
Still, it was shaping up for an entertaining weekend packed with star power.
Ten players were separated by two shots going into the weekend on a course that proved it doesn't need rough to be frightening, not with firm, slick greens that made it difficult to get close to the hole.
Former Masters champion Zach Johnson, one of eight players who had at least a share of the lead at one point, was the only player to reach 10-under par until he bogeyed the last three holes for a 67 and joined the group at 7-under 137 that included Woods, Jim Furyk (66) and George McNeill (68).
Another shot back was Phil Mickelson, whose 71 was anything but routine. Lefty was finding his groove until he four-putted from 40 feet for double bogey on the 17th hole. He also had a two-putt par that featured two clubs -- a 64-degree sand wedge on the fourth green to get over a steep slope and a putter for the remaining 5 feet.
He will play with Camilo Villegas, who had a 67.
Watson has never won a tournament and doesn't get much attention except the freak show he puts on with his outrageous length, such as the 380-yard drive at No. 5 that left him a 9-iron into the green on the 569-yard par 5. He plays practice rounds with Woods when he can, but he expected a pairing with Woods in a tournament might be vastly different.
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WATSON HOPING TO WANDER TO A WIN
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
CHARLOTTE -- He might be thinking about washing his white car with the black rims, or how he wants to buy some new tennis shoes, preferably with bright colors.
On Friday it was a golf course in Ohio that he wants to sneak off and play -- a month from now during the Memorial Tournament. Only Bubba Watson was in the process of shooting 65 and climbing into a tie for the lead at the Quail Hollow Championship.
So it's up to Watson's caddy, Ted Scott, to bring him back to reality.
"He's like, shut up, let's talk about this putt right now. We're here," a grinning Watson said, his words tumbling out of his mouth rapid-fire. "I'm like, yeah, but this (other) golf course is so much fun."
Quail Hollow was pretty entertaining on Friday, though. Watson blazed through the front nine, his second of the day, with a record-tying 30 and sprinted -- just like he likes to play the game -- to the top of the board in a tie with Retief Goosen at 8 under.
The big-hitting Watson, who is looking for his first TOUR win, only hit four fairways on Friday as he averaged 316 yards off the tee. He led the field in greens in regulation, though, as well as in distance to the pin with his approach shots.
His physical skills aren't in question. But Watson knows he needs to find a way to remain focused over four rounds if he's to join two other Milton (Fla.) High alums, Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley, in the winner's circle.
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| Top 5 notables at Quail Hollow Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Friday's Best |
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The 566-yard par-5 15th hole was easiest with a Friday scoring average of 4.483.
The 217-yard par-3 17th hole was toughest with a Friday scoring average of 3.503.
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Tiger Woods rolled in a huge 56-foot birdie on the ninth hole to close out his front nine in 1 under. 
Bubba Watson came within one of tying the course record and did match the front-nine record with a 30 on his way to taking the lead. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||||||||||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent John Maginnes offers these observations from Friday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
It was a wild Friday at Quail Hollow that saw some of the biggest names in the game running up the leaderboard and others making plans for an earlier than expected departure. Padraig Harrington was 4 under with two to play on Thursday, but finished triple bogey-double bogey and Friday started similarly with two more 6s. The rest of the day was little more than a practice session for a man that will defend two major championships later in the year.
Other major champs were on the move in the other direction. Names like Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are accompanied by Retief Goosen and Zach Johnson at the top of the leaderboard. It somehow seems fitting that a guy named Bubba would crash the major champions party in North Carolina. The longest player on the PGA TOUR, Watson made three bogeys and still shot the round of the day with a 65 to push to the top of the board. He is in some pretty heady company.
Every player that made the cut is within 8 shots of the lead and could conceivably still win the golf tournament, at least mathematically. For someone to make that big a move they would have to make a bunch of birdies, but the problem is that there are major champions damming the river that leads to the winner's circle.
SECOND-ROUND NOTEBOOK: QUAIL HOLLOW CHAMPIONSHIP
By John Bush, PGA TOUR Staff
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bubba Watson (65) and Retief Goosen (68) moved to the top of the leaderboard at 8-under 136 at the midway point of the Quail Hollow Championship, one stroke ahead of Tiger Woods (72), Zach Johnson (67), Jim Furyk (66) and George McNeill (68).
• Watson's 65 equaled the round of the week (Woods, Round 1) and fell just one shy of the tournament-record 8-under 64 posted by Kirk Triplett (2004, Round 1), Bo Van Pelt (2006, Round 2) and Rory Sabbatini (2007, Round 2).
• The front-nine 6-under-par 30 for Watson (his final nine) matched the 9-hole front-nine record (Triplett, 2004, Round 1; Trevor Immelman, 2006, Round 1; Bill Haas, 2006, Round 1; Pat Perez, 2008, Round 3; Woods, 2009, Round 1).
• Watson is making his fourth career start at the Quail Hollow Championship, with missed cuts in 2006 and 2008 and a withdrawal after the third round in 2007. Prior to his 65 on Friday, his previous best round at Quail Hollow was a 3-under 69 during the third round in 2007.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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