Notebook: Round 2, THE PLAYERS Championship

Weather -- Partly cloudy and hot with a high of 89 degrees. Winds ESE 10 mph.

• The 36-hole cut came at 2-under 142 with 70 players advancing to the weekend.

• John Merrick (70-72), in the penultimate group of the day, holed a birdie putt from 13 feet, 4 inches at the final hole to deny 15 players at 1-under 143 from advancing to the weekend. Those at 1-under included defending champion Henrik Stenson, along with major champions Angel Cabrera, Vijay Singh, Stewart Cink and David Toms.

• Defending champion Henrik Stenson (69-74) missed the cut by a shot. Just seven defending champions have missed the cut the following year at THE PLAYERS: Calvin Peete (1985 champion), Sandy Lyle (1987 champion), Jodie Mudd (1990 champion), Steve Elkington (1991 champion), Nick Price (1993 champion), Stephen Ames (2006 champion) and Henrik Stenson (2009 champion).

• The year 2010 marks the fifth time the cut has been under-par in the history of THE PLAYERS. Here are under-par cuts through the years:

• A total of nine second-round leader/co-leaders at THE PLAYERS have gone on to win the tournament, most recently Phil Mickelson in 2007.

• Six of 18 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win on the PGA TOUR in 2010, most recently Jason Bohn at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

• Here's a look at the top five on the FedExCup standings.

Lee Westwood, 67-65 -- 132 (-12)

• The 36-hole leader Lee Westwood is making his seventh start on the PGA TOUR this season. The World No. 4 has three top-10s, including a solo runner-up at the Masters Tournament. He also has a runner-up (Omega Dubai Desert Classic) and a T3 (Commercialbank Qatar Masters).

RELATED

Leaderboard: Round 2
Daily Wrap-up
Round 3 Tee Times
The Live Report
Photos: Round 2
Transcript archive
17th hole updates, notes

Second-round coverage

WEEKEND NOISE: Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods hope to make big moves back into contention the next two days. Column COURSE INSPECTION: Surprised by the low scores? You shouldn't be. Softened TPC Sawgrass will yield an unpredictable weekend. Column SUPER SLOCUM: Heath Slocum quietly moved up the leaderboard with a strong start and a superb finish. Story CUT WATCH: John Merrick's closing birdie moved the cut line and sent several stars home early. Story GLOVER LIFTS JINX: Lucas Glover accomplished a first in his fifth career PLAYERS start. He hopes more come this weekend. Story VIVA ITALIA: Francesco Molinari faced a tough decision. His choice paid off for him and his caddie. Story WESTWOOD'S WINDOW: Lee Westwood again has an opportunity for that major U.S. victory. Is he ready to seize it? Story

• Westwood's 132 is two strokes off Greg Norman's first 36-hole low total of 130 en route to victory in 1994.

• Through 36 holes, Westwood has posted just two bogeys, No. 16 in Round 1 and No. 18 in Round 2.

• Lee Westwood is ranked T79 in driving distance at 284.8 yards through 36 holes. The lowest-ranked player in driving distance to win here since 1983 was Fred Couples in 2005, who was ranked 80th with an average of 253 yards.

Ryuji Imada, 67-66 -- 133 (-11)

• The 67 in Round 1 and 66 in Round 2 were Imada's first rounds in the 60s at THE PLAYERS. His previous bests were two rounds of 70 in 2009 (R2) and 2007 (R4). Imada has made 14 trips around the Stadium course.

• Ryuji Imada has had limited success at THE PLAYERS -- in four previous starts, he has made two cuts with a best finish of T45 last year.

• Imada has two top-1•0s in 10 starts this year -- T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open and T7 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Francesco Molinari, 68-65 133 (-11)

• Francesco Molinari became the first player to hit every green in regulation in a round at TPC Sawgrass since 1992 when in-depth hole-by-hole statistics were first recorded. It marked the 11 th time on the season that a player had hit all 18 greens in regulation.

• Molinari is looking to become the fourth player to win his first PLAYERS start -- joining Jack Nicklaus (1974), Craig Perks (2002) and Hal Sutton (1983).

• Molinari's older brother Edoardo chose to play the BMW Italian Open this week in his native land. Edoardo is 1-under through 36 holes and seven strokes off the lead.

Heath Slocum, 67-66 -- 133 (-11)

• Heath Slocum has one top-10 finish (T8/Verizon Heritage) and one missed cut (Transitions Championship) in 12 starts this season.

• In seven previous starts at THE PLAYERS Heath Slocum has missed the cut twice (2003, 2006) and a best finish of T44 in 2007.

• Prior to this year, Slocum had posted three rounds in the 60s (of 24 total rounds played) at the Stadium course (69/R3/2007, 69/R1, 2008, 69/R2/2009).

• Heath Slocum has birdied holes 9-12 in each round this week to be 8-under for that stretch.

Lucas Glover, 70-65 135 (-9)

• Lucas Glover posted his lowest round on the PGA TOUR since an identical second-round 65 at the 2010 SBS Championship.

• Lucas Glover has missed the cut in each of his four previous starts at THE PLAYERS (2006, 07, 08, 09).

Ben Crane, 67-69 136 (-8)

• Ben Crane is seeking his second victory of the season after winning the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego in January. His only other top-10 in 2010 was T9 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

• Ben Crane is making his sixth appearance at THE PLAYERS. Crane has improved his results in each of his five previous starts.

Robert Allenby, 66-70 136 (-8)

• Robert Allenby is making his 223 rd start since his last PGA TOUR victory at the 2001 Marconi Pennsylvania Classic.

• Coming into this week, Robert Allenby has made 445 career starts across five different Tours (PGA TOUR, European, Japan, Australasian, South African) for 111 top-10 finishes -- or 24.94%.

Ryan Moore, 67-70 137 (-7)

• The 6-under-par 30 on Nos. 10-18 on Friday for Ryan Moore matched 10 players for the Stadium Course low 9-hole total for the back nine, most recently Daniel Chopra last year in the second round. Moore was 8-under-par through 11 holes, but had two double-bogeys (Nos. 5 and 8) and a bogey (No. 3) as he closed with a 40 for a second-round 70.

Davis Love III, 69-68 137 (-7)

• Davis Love III shot 69 in Round 1 and 68 in Round 2 for his 18th and 19th career rounds in the 60s at TPC Sawgrass. He passes Fred Couples (18 rounds in the 60s) as second on the all-time list for rounds in the 60s. Nick Price tops the list with 22 rounds in the 60s.

Tiger Woods, 70-71 141 (-3)

• Tiger Woods made his 13 th consecutive cut at THE PLAYERS, dating to 1997. He missed the 2008 PLAYERS due to injury.

• Tiger Woods averaged 276.4 yards off the tee in 1997 -- his shortest driving distance average in tournament history. Through 36 holes in 2010, Woods has averaged 258.5 yards off the tee.

• Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Nos. 1 and 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, have identical rounds of 70-71 through 36 holes.

Miscellaneous

• Of the five rookies in the field, Alex Prugh (69-73 T58) and Troy Merritt (71-70 T46) made the cut. Derek Lamely (71-73), Rickie Fowler (73-74) and Rory McIlroy (73-72) all missed the cut. The best finish by a PGA TOUR rookie at THE PLAYERS was posted by Fulton Allem and Camilo Villegas with a T3 in 1988 and 2006, respectively. Other top-10 finishes by rookies at THE PLAYERS: Jeff Quinney (T6, 2007) and Dave Rummells (T10, 1996).

• Eight players posted bogey-free rounds on Friday -- Ryuji Imada (66) Francesco Molnari (65), Lucas Glover (65), Spencer Levin (67), Jerry Kelly (66), Heath Slocum (66), George McNeill (67) and Tim Petrovic (70).

• Jay Haas missed the cut in his record-setting 29 th start at THE PLAYERS. He finished at even-par 144, carding a double-bogey on his final hole on Friday. Also in the field is Haas' son and 2010 Bob Hope Classic winner, Bill Haas, who sits at 7-under-par 137 through 36 holes. The Haas' are one of seven father-son combos to play in THE PLAYERS Championship but the first to play in the event at the same time.

• International players have won five of the last eight PLAYERS Championships. Three international players (Westwood/ENGLAND, Imada/JAPAN, Molinari/ITALY) occupy the top three spots on the leaderboard after 36 holes.

• Three of the last five winners of THE PLAYERS have led/co-led in both Greens In Regulation and Driving Accuracy (Fred Funk/2005, Stephen Ames/2006, Sergio Garcia/2008).

• Balls in the water on the famed par-3 17 th hole since 2003:

• Scoring Averages at the par-72 TPC Sawgrass:

• The all-time lowest round two scoring average was 71.264 in 2005.

• The all-time lowest cumulative scoring average through two rounds was 71.324 in 1993.

• Mathew Goggin (72-80) recorded a 9 at the par-4 4 th hole in round two for the highest single-hole score in the 2010 event to date. Goggin's 9 ties the second-highest score at hole No. 4 in tournament history. Phillip Hancock posted a 12 at the 4 th hole in 1985.