Frys.com Open, Round 2
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SECOND ROUND WINDING DOWN (6:40 p.m.): Tim Clark's charge up the leaderboard has slowed, meaning that, unless something spectacular happens here at the end of the second round of the Frys.com Open, Greg Owen will take a one-shot lead to the weekend.
In a stat-of-the-day type of moment, the top three players on the leaderboard right now -- Owen, Rickie Fowler and Justin Leonard -- all shot 64 today. It's not the lowest score of the week (Nick O'Hern shot 63 yesterday), but it was god enough for those three.
The biggest surprise, though, is Fowler. He's got virtually no experience on the PGA TOUR, but the 20-year-old does boast an impressive college background, becoming the only freshman in NCAA history to ever have won Player of the Year honors. Now he's hoping he can avoid q-school, which starts next week. -- Brian Wacker
ON THE MOVE (5:55 p.m.): There hasn't been a lot of movement in the afternoon wave in terms of players charging up the leaderboard, but Tim Clark is trying to change that.
Clark, whose story of not winning on the PGA TOUR has been well-documented, is 6 under today and 8 under for the week thanks to seven birdies and just one bogey. He's also taken just 18 putts over his first 13 holes today -- no surprise there given his prowess with the putter -- but he's also missed just two fairways and two greens in regulation.
Is this Clark's week? It could be if he keeps playing this week, something he's shown the ability to do sans a victory. Follow the rest of his round with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
OWEN'S LEAD HOLDING UP (5:30 p.m.): Should Greg Owen's 11-under share of the lead hold up, it would mark the first time he has held a 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR.
Owen, who is competing in his 104th event of his career, has a career-best finish of runner-up at the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational. His best finish this year was a tie for ninth at the John Deere Classic.
After last week's tie for 47th in Las Vegas, Owen began the week 116th on the money list. Right now, though, he's projected to move all the way up to 53rd if he wins. -- John Bush
MORE ON FOWLER (5 p.m.): Rickie Fowler, competing in his second PGA TOUR event as a professional and fifth of the year at this week's Frys.com Open, was originally given a sponsor invite into the field this week. However, by virtue of his top-10 finish in Las Vegas last week, he became automatically exempt into this week's field. Should he finish in the top-10 this week, he will earn a spot into next week's Viking Classic field. However, he will have a decision to make as he is currently scheduled to play in the first stage of q-school.
"Right now that's still the plan. First stage is starting next Tuesday," Fowler said.
Unless he wins, of course.
As an amateur in 2008, Rickie Fowler made two starts on TOUR. He missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage and finished in a tie for 50th at the U.S. Open. -- John Bush
FOWLER'S FINE DAY (4:20 p.m.): Last week, Rickie Fowler said he wouldn't mind going to q-school if that's what it took to get his PGA TOUR card for next season. At this rate, he may not have to wait that long.
Fowler made four birdies and an eagle on the 329-yard, par-4 sixth, where he drove the green and sank a 13-footer, for a 64 that moved him to 11 under for the week and into a share of the lead.
It's scary how good Fowler has been so far in his very young career. In his debut as a professional on the PGA TOUR at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, he finished in a tie for seventh. This week, he's missed just two greens in regulation (both today).
As far as Fowler hits it, when you're hitting your irons that good, eventually you're going to win. There are still two rounds to go, obviously, but Fowler is in position to not have to wait very long to win. And with q-school coming up next week, Fowler will have to do just that to avoid it. -- Brian Wacker
Check out Fowler's scorecard below, or click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker:
OWEN GRABS LEAD (4 p.m.): A day after not missing a green in regulation, Greg Owen missed four of them. Not that it mattered much. He shot a second-round 64, matching the lowest round of the day so far with six birdies and an eagle to get to 11 under and one shot clear of the field.
The 64 for Owen is also a career low, besting his previous mark of 65 in the second round of the 2006 Shell Houston Open. More importantly, though, it puts him in position to lock up a PGA TOUR card for next season after having entered the week 116th on the money list.
That eagle for Owen, by the way, came on the par-4 15th, where he holed out from 117 yards. Check out his scorecard below, or click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker
TWEET OF THE DAY (3:35 p.m.): "A trunk slamming Friday but the good news is we will be home by 7:30 tonight."
And ...
"Nothing better than in n out before we leave town. Double double animal style and a chocolate shake. Yum!!" -- John Rollins (@John_Rollins) after his second-round 72.
Indeed it was for Rollins, who's headed home after finishing his two rounds at the Frys.com Open in 5 over. At least it'll be a short flight -- Rollins lives a couple of states over in Colleyville, Texas. -- Brian Wacker
LEONARD GOES LOW (3:15 p.m.): As mentioned earlier, Grayhawk sets up extremely well for Justin Leonard. He performs well on par-4s and this course has the easiest collection of par-4s on the PGA TOUR -- though only two of Leonard's seven birdies came on par-4s today. Still, when you hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation with 28 putts, it's a good day. Leonard, now 10 under through two rounds following a 64 today, will see how well his first 36 holes will hold up. Right now, he's tied for second, though Rickie Fowler still has a few holes left in his round, and there's probably another four hours left in the second round. -- Brian Wacker
Check out Leonard's scorecard below (click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker):
BUBBLE WATCH (2:45 p.m.): The man on the bubble this week? Chris Stroud, who comes into the Frys.com Open ranked 125th on the money list. After a 65 today, however, his position on the bubble could be short-lived.
Stroud hit just half his fairways today, though did find 13 of 18 greens in regulation on his way to a seven-birdies, two-bogey day.
That moves Stroud to 8 under for the week and, at least for now, into a tie for fifth, three shots back of current leader Greg Owen. If Stroud held that position and everything else stayed the same, he would move to 101st on the money list, which would pretty much guarantee him a TOUR card for next season. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Stroud's scorecard from today (click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker):
CUT CHECK (2 p.m.): It's still early in the second round with many in the field yet to tee off, but it's never too early to take a look at where the cut line is, especially considering that it could make or break a player's chances of getting into the top 125 on the money list.
Right now, the cut line is 1 under, though that number could drop to 2 or 3 under by the end of the day depending how (read: easy) Grayhawk plays once the entire afternoon wave is on the golf course.
As it stands now, some pretty interesting names are currently on the outside looking in, starting with Michael Allen. He of the 342 events played and without a victory, Allen is even par on the week with a couple of holes left in his round, though he's in good enough position on the money list at 107th. Not to mention there's the Champions Tour to fall back on.
Leif Olson is in a more precarious position at 150th on the money list and even par this week. He's 1 under through his first nine holes today and will need to pick up the pace to make the weekend.
Ditto Jason Gore, who entered the week 154th on the money list and is even after a 70 yesterday. He'll tee off in the next hour. Todd Hamilton is in a similar situation, while David Duval, 121st on the money list at the start of the week, is already on his way home after rounds of 70-75. -- Brian Wacker
TIED AT THE TOP (1:25 p.m.): With all the available birdies at Grayhawk, much like last week there's going to be a lot of movement on the leaderboard. For example, there are now five players currently tied for the lead at 8 under, with another three players just one shot back. The scoring, however, does seem to have slowed a bit in Round 2 with Grayhawk playing a little less than a stroke easier than it did yesterday when the par-70 layout played to a 69.318 scoring average. So far today, it's playing to an average of 70.018. -- Brian Wacker
ONE OFF THE LEAD (1 p.m.): It takes a lot of birdies to have a chance to win the Frys.com Open, and Justin Leonard isn't disappointing today. With five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine at Grayhawk, Leonard has moved to within one of the lead at 4 under today and 8 under for the week.
This is a course that sets up well for Leonard (which is why he was one of our Expert Picks this week). Not only did Leonard nearly win at Grayhawk in 2007 until being undone by a final-round 71, he's one of the best on the PGA TOUR in terms of par-4 performance -- and Grayhawk has the easiest set of par-4s of any course on TOUR. Leonard also tends to make birdies in bunches, and he also ranks 23rd on TOUR in birdie average.
You add all that up and it shouldn't come as any surprise to see Leonard near the top of the leaderboard at a course where accuracy off the tee and making a lot of (birdie) putts is at a premium. -- Brian Wacker
DIFFERENT DAY, DIFFERENT RESULT (12:30 p.m.): It's been a different day so far for Nick O'Hern, who led after the first round following a back-nine 28 at Grayhawk. Today, O'Hern was just even par on that stretch with an eagle at the par-5 11th, a bogey at No. 12, a birdie at No. 15 and a double bogey on the 18th hole.
Still, that opening-round 63 still has him in good position for now, just two shots off the lead of Justin Leonard, who is off to a hot start of his own with five birdies through his first seven holes (on the back nine at Grayhawk, no less).
O'Hern's 63 yesterday, by the way, bettered his previous best opening-round score by two strokes, a 65 that he carded at the 2007 Memorial Tournament, which was the site of his only previous first-round lead. He went on to finish in a tie for 23rd that week.
On the year, O'Hern has made 16 of 26 cuts with a a season-best finish of a tie for third at the Shell Houston Open. He missed the cut a year ago in his only previous start at the Frys.com Open, something that obviously won't happen this time around. The only question is what will he do with that first-round lead. The answer so far: Not much. -- Brian Wacker
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