Round 2, AT&T National
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
KIM, FURYK, ROUND 2 FINISHED FOR DAY (5:45 p.m.): Three birdies, three bogeys. That was Anthony Kim's round today. It was not only eight shots worse than yesterday's round, it was far from a flag-hunting day.
Kim hit just 36 percent of his fairways and hit 67 percent of his greens in regulation -- both of which are significantly down from yesterday. As a result, he needed 30 putts and failed to break par for the first time since the final round of the U.S. Open after a run of five straight rounds in the 60s.
Still, Kim is just two shots back of Tiger Woods, who will play tomorrow with Rod Pampling in the day's final pairing. Kim, meanwhile, will play with Jim Furyk, who moved up the leaderboard a few spots with a 67 today.
It's not the dream pairing, but it's not far from it, and they will be playing back-to-back. That alone should inspire plenty of fireworks. -- Brian Wacker
| Sip of Maginnes | |
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Anthony Kim and Jim Furyk are both within two and three strokes, respectively, of Woods as they play their last couple of holes, but no one else is making any major moves up the board right now. -- Brian Wacker
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM (4:35 p.m.): Lucas Glover, who shot a second-round 66 to move into the top 10 earlier today, wasn't exactly seeking any advice from his playing partner, Tiger Woods, on how to deal with all the post-U.S. Open hubbub.
Asked if he was picking Woods' brain for such advice, Glover said, "No, not too much. That's probably for off the course with him. He's so focused on his game. But he likes to cut up and tell stories and jokes and whatnot. But I'll get it out of him later." -- Brian Wacker
KIM STEADY BUT UNSPECTACULAR (4:15 p.m.): It's a different day and a different result for Anthony Kim, who hasn't been able to build on his 8-under 62 from yesterday, playing his first 13 holes today in even par.
Kim has hit a lot fewer fairways and greens in regulation today and has already taken 22 putts after taking just 27 all of yesterday. He's also not hitting it nearly as close to the flag on his approach shots today -- he's averaging just over 44 feet, compared to a field average of just over 34 feet.
So much for firing at the pin. -- Brian Wacker
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CUT CHECK (3:45 p.m.): The projected cut is sitting at 2 over right now and that leaves some notable names in danger of not being around for the weekend, including Nick Watney, Charles Howell III, Todd Hamilton and Alex Cejka. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER ON THE TRAFFIC (3:20 p.m.): The media weren't the only ones to get caught in notorious D.C. traffic here this week.
"I was hoping I could get to my tee time yesterday," joked Tiger Woods. "It took me 30 minutes yesterday -- I started my routine later than I normally would have."
As for future AT&T National tournaments, Woods suggested he would see how the USGA handles it since the U.S. Open will be held here in two years.
"I don't know where they're going to put the parking lots and how they will do all their lot accesses," Woods said. "Most of their events, they run pretty smoothly and maybe we can piggy-back on that." -- Brian Wacker
THIS AND THAT (3 p.m.): Charles Warren made five consecutive 3s to begin his second round and posted 30 on the front-nine -- a 7-stroke improvement from Thursday's first round when he shot 73. It also marked the first time he scored under par in the second round of the AT&T National. Warren finished T45 in 2007 and T27 here last year. ...
Lucas Glover (69-66) posted four consecutive birdies (Nos. 15-18) to make the turn in 5-under 30 today. An inward nine of 36 (8 pars, 1 bogey) has Glover at 5-under for the week, along with Danny Lee and Stuart Appelby after the morning session of play is completed. ...
Lee (68-67) is playing his seventh PGA TOUR event as a professional and has earned $169,304. The New Zealand rookie needs to earn the equivalent of $537,958 (150th on 2008 money-list) to earn temporary membership and receive unlimited invitations. Lee has confirmed starts at the Buick Open, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and a possible start at the Wyndham Championship, where he finished T20 last year as an amateur. -- Mark Williams
BREAKING DOWN PAMPLING'S DAY (2:45 p.m.): It's pretty simple as to why Rod Pampling is in contention going into the weekend here. He's hit 9 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation in each of the first two rounds. He also hasn't had a three-putt on what's become a course that Pampling is starting to build a pretty good track record on as you'll see in the chart below. -- Brian Wacker
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MORE TIGER TIDBITS (2:25 p.m.): Tiger Woods (64-66) bogeyed No. 11 for the second day in a row, but bounced back with three birdies in four holes (Nos. 13, 15 and 16) and leads at 10-under after the morning wave. ...
Woods took the outright lead for the first time at 9 under at 10:46 a.m. ET with a birdie at the first hole (his 10th). He held the lead for 90 seconds before being joined by Rod Pampling, who birdied No. 15. Woods regained the solo lead again, this time at 10-under at 12:29 p.m. ET with a birdie at the eighth (his 17th) with Pampling already in the clubhouse at 9 under. ...
Woods' 10-under 130 marks just the second time in history that a double-digit score under-par after 36 holes has been posted during a tournament at Congressional CC. Danny Edwards was 10 under after 36 holes (67-67) in the 1981 Kemper Open and eventually finished in a tie for sixth after shooting 73-72 on the weekend. ...
Woods has previously held the 36-hole lead/co-lead 37 times on the PGA TOUR, going on to win 31 times. The last time Woods led after 36 holes was at the 2008 Buick Invitational, which he won. ...
At No. 4 in the FedExCup standings, Woods is the highest-ranked player in the field this week. With a victory here, he would become the first player to top 2,000 points this season. Woods, Sean O'Hair (69-TBD) and Lucas Glover (69-66) are the only three players who have a chance to oust Kenny Perry from the No. 1 spot this week, but all three would need a win to do so. -- Mark Williams
AK DOING OK (2:05 p.m.): Anthony Kim has just one birdie today, rolling in a 5-footer on the par-4 fifth, but he's also yet to make a bogey in the tournament through his first 23 holes.
That's a pretty rare feat for Kim, who admittedly fires at too many flags sometimes.
"I guess I can't help myself," Kim said after yesterday's round. That's understandable considering Kim ranks second on the PGA TOUR in birdie average. Today, though, he seems to be containing himself just a little. -- Brian Wacker
TALKING TIGER (1:45 p.m.): Even though Tiger Woods shot a 66 and is in the lead here at the AT&T National, this was one of those rounds where he just found a way to score and make a good number in an admittedly less-than-great ballstriking day.
"You always have one day where it didn't quite feel as good as the others," Woods said. "Today, I hit the ball a little scratchy, but putted better."
Not that the scratchiness has anything to do with rust or his game not being all the way back. Woods said he's able to have full practice sessions after rounds, can spend "all day" working on his game at home and get some serious work done with instructor Hank Haney.
He also added that a little more loft on his driver and that "tweener" shot with the driver in which he chokes down a bit on the club have allowed him to work the ball a little bit more -- that's especially important at a place like this. "It's allowed me to shape shots and control my ball flight," Woods said. "I wasn't able to do that before." -- Brian Wacker
KIM OFF (1:15 p.m.): Anthony Kim, who has since lost his overnight lead to Tiger Woods, teed off a little over 20 minutes ago and so far is off to a solid start with pars on each of his first two holes. Can he match the 29 he shot on Congressional's front nine yesterday? It's doubtful, but you never know. It's still pretty soft out there. Follow Kim's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
ROUTE 66 (12:45 p.m.): Tiger Woods just capped off a round of 4-under 66 to move to 10 under and, at least for now, into the lead by himself at the AT&T National, a tournament he's hosted for three years, but never won.
Well, Woods is certainly in good position to win now. He hit fewer fairways and greens than yesterday, but needed just one more putt (28) than he did Thursday. When he's driving it and putting it this well, he usually doesn't lose.
Woods didn't play in last year's tournament because of his season-ending knee injury and in the tournament's first year he finished in a tie for sixth. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER AT 10 (12:35 p.m.): Tiger Woods just took the lead (again), moving to 10 under with one hole to play, the par-5 ninth. He wasn't kidding about being a selfish host. -- Brian Wacker
OVERTON OUT (12:20 p.m.): Jeff Overton just became the second player to withdraw this week, pulling out with a wrist injury a few minutes ago. Overton, who shot a 1-under 69 yesterday, shot a front-nine 40 today before withdrawing.
Yesterday, Bubba Watson, who had been bothered by severe allergies all week, also withdrew. -- Brian Wacker
PAMPLING'S TAKE ON CONGRESSIONAL (12:05 p.m.): The biggest reason Rod Pampling, who hasn't won on the PGA TOUR since 2006, has had success at the AT&T National? It's not a bomber's paradise.
"It's a classic old golf course, you've got to play shots. We're not sitting out there just smashing away," Pampling said. "It's positional golf. You have to think about what you're doing out there. It's just a thinker's course."
Indeed it is. It's also still playing soft, though Pampling said it was starting to firm up and that should make it a lot more difficult the next couple of days. Now we'll just have to wait and see how well his 9-under two-day total holds up. -- Brian Wacker
HOT ROD (11:35 a.m.): Rod Pampling nearly matched his career-best round with a 64 here just now to move to 9 under and, at least for now, into a tie for the lead.
Pampling had seven birdies and just one bogey while taking advantage of continued soft conditions. He also took just 26 putts.
Playing well here is nothing new to Pampling -- last year he finished third, ironically at 9 under for the week after rounds of 66-69-71-65. We'll have more from Pampling shortly as he makes his way into the interview room in about 10 minutes. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Pampling's scorecard from today:
MOLDER ON THE MOVE (11:10 a.m.): Even though Bryce Molder has gone the other way today, playing his second round in 1 over with two holes to play, he's put himself in good position to become exempt for the British Open via a mini money list.
The AT&T National is the sixth event in a six-tournament series (THE PLAYERS Championship, the Memorial Tournament, St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship, AT&T National), where the top two money winners not previously exempt can earn an exemption into the year's third major.
Below is a look at the list of non-exempt players, their current position on the list and the money they have earned in five of the six events. -- Mark Williams
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TIGER ON TOP (10:45 a.m.): That didn't take long -- Tiger Woods is in the lead for the first time this week after making a birdie at No. 1, where he hit his approach to inside of 6 feet and made the putt. That's the second day in a row Woods has birdied Congressional's first hole, which is playing to a stroke average of 3.964, or the sixth-easiest hole on the golf course. Woods has now birdied 7 of his last 16 holes. -- Brian Wacker
ROD ON A ROLL (10:40 a.m.): Rod Pampling has moved up the leaderboard and into contention at 8 under thanks to a round of 5 under through his first 14 holes today. That's what happens when you hit nearly every green in regulation here at Congressional, where, at least from the looks of it, you can expect to see more low numbers again today because the greens are still pretty soft.
From the in case you were wondering department, Pampling's best round this year is a 65 -- which is what he's on pace for here. He shot that twice, in the final round of the FBR Open and in the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship. -- Brian Wacker
LOOKING AHEAD (10:20 a.m.): Many of the players near the top of the leaderboard here at the AT&T National have never played Turnberry, site of the British Open in two weeks. That includes Tiger Woods, Anthony Kim, etc. One player who has, though, is Steve Elkington, who played there in 1994.
"It's difficult, obviously, but it depends on the weather," Elkington said. "You've got to be able to drive it like a genius down some of these alleyways."
That's one reason we've seen Woods choking down on the driver lately. Yes, he has sometimes needed a "tweener" off the tee here at Congressional, where driver was sometimes too much and 3-wood not enough. Don't be surprised to see Woods use similar swings in a couple of weeks, though.
As for Elkington, he played well here yesterday with five birdies on his way to a 65. Today, the Aussie has five bogeys through his first 11 holes. -- Brian Wacker
TRACKING TIGER (10 a.m.): More soft conditions and cool, calm weather have equaled more birdies this morning, especially for Tiger Woods. Yesterday, Woods said he's always enjoyed being a selfish host and that would be winning the tournament. Well, he's off to a good start with three birdies in his last four holes to get to 8 under for the week.
Unlike yesterday, Woods is hitting a lot fewer fairways -- 40 percent through seven holes as he plays the back nine -- but he continues to find the green in regulation, hitting 86 percent of them with just 12 putts so far.
The guy Woods and everyone else is chasing, Anthony Kim, won't tee of until 12:50 p.m. and it will be interesting to see what Kim can do in the afternoon after a record-setting 62 in the morning yesterday. Just a hunch, but the course should still be pretty soft at that point. Just not 62 soft. By the way, you can track Woods' round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
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