Live Report: CA Championship, Round 2
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
NBA FEVER (6 p.m.): If you're watching the Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat game tonight, check out the floor seats. Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane will be courtside. Simon Dyson and Soren Hansen will be in the crowd, too, just a little farther up in the stands. -- Helen Ross
WRAPPING UP ROUND 2 (5:45 p.m.): One of the stories of the second round was the weather. The field avoided most of it with an early start, but still had to deal with a couple of delays. The other, bigger story of the day was Ernie Els. The Big Easy tied for the low round of the day with a spotless 66.
For Els, who turned 40 this year, the 36-hole lead here is the result of a lot of hard work of late. In the past, Els would sink into some bad habits -- bad ball position and poor posture -- and press too much. He recognized that, though, and has put in extra time with Butch Harmon and stopped trying to win the golf tournament on Thursdays.
"I would say by Wednesday, it started feeling a bit more comfortable," Els said. "I feel like I'm close and I don't want to let it go."
If he keeps playing like this, he'll be more than close. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY UNDER WAY (5:12 p.m.): The second round has resumed -- Charl Schwartzel just parred the 18th to finish his two rounds in 7 under, three off the lead.
While players went off early Friday to beat the weather, sun is in the forecast for Saturday and players will go off in twosomes on the first tee beginning at 8:25 a.m. with the last tee time scheduled for 1:55 p.m. -- Brian Wacker
GETTING READY TO RESUME (3:51 p.m.): The driving range will re-open at 4:15 p.m. with the hope of resuming the second round at 5 p.m. When play does resume, there are a half dozen groups that will try to finish play. The last of those groups are through 16 holes. -- Brian Wacker
BLOWING IN THE WIND (3:46 p.m.): The first three hours weren't too bad. Once the cool front came through, though, Robert Allenby and his mates found TPC Blue Monster even more challenging than normal.
The Aussie said that he hit a 5-wood off the tee -- downwind -- at the second hole, which was his 11th of the day. But the wind shifted practically mid-flight, Allenby said, and he had to hit a 6-iron -- dead straight into the wind -- as his second shot.
"So it just changed instantly, right there and then," Allenby said. "So where I would have normally have probably been hitting a wedge in, I hit 6-iron."
Someone asked Allenby if he had ever seen conditions change so quickly. Ahh, yeah. The Aussie's from Melbourne and "we have four seasons in one day there."
Even so, Allenby acknowledged the shift was dramatic.
"To do a complete 180, it was pretty amazing," he said. "And cold air, too. It goes from probably 80 degrees to 60. I mean, it changed. And it got cold pretty quick." -- Helen Ross
ONE AND DONE (3:35 p.m.): Robert Allenby's ace at the 13 th hole on the TPC Blue Monster was the 14 th of his career. He used a 5-wood from 233 yards and watched as it tracked toward the hole.
"Had a perfect 5-wood, ... a little bit of a fade, and just, yeah, it landed perfect, about 15 feet short of the hole and then sort of checked up and then rolled up into the hole," Allenby said.
He joked that the four people or so who were out following his group were "pretty happy." -- Helen Ross
LONG COMMUTE (3:30 p.m.): Soren Hansen is one of three players who made the commute from Malaysia to Miami. To say he's running on fumes might be an apt assessment.
Hansen says he's been wide awake at 2 a.m. every night since he arrived -- and TV's not that fun" at that hour, the 35-year-old Dane added. He finished reading a Finnish thriller the first day here and now he's on to two magazines.
"Hopefully I can get a bit more sleep tonight," said Hansen, who has shown no ill effects on the golf course, shooting matching 69s to sit four strokes off the lead.
Hansen arrived in Miami on Monday by way of London. "You travel with time," he said. "It's not too bad. I think normally I don't struggle with jet lag, but I think it's the fatigue of last week with the humidity and 45 degrees (Celsius)."
The 35-year-old Dane tied for third in Malaysia, which is his fourth top-10 of the season. He's ranked 35 th in the world and has three European Tour titles to his credit, but last year's tie for sixth at the U.S. Open remains his best finish on the PGA TOUR.
"It's tough to perform well over here," Hansen said. "I'm starting to get the hang of it. ... Last year at this tournament had sort of a turnaround for me. I shot 64 on Saturday, and you know, I sort of got the hang of it last year, and carried on and played well into the U.S. Open. I do enjoy playing over here I must admit.
"Playing over here is a little different because competition is harder, and you've got to score well. I think that I'm starting to get a bit more used to the guys over here, as well, and so, yeah, I like it over here."
NO WGC SLAM FOR POULTER (3:14 p.m.): Three weeks ago, Ian Poulter captured his first PGA TOUR title and first World Golf Championships title when he won the Accenture Match Play Championship.
One of the reasons Poulter won that event was because of his putting, which carried him most of the week. That hasn't been the case at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, though. Poulter took 30 putts on Friday (after taking 29 the day before) and is currently 6 over through two rounds after a 78 Friday that featured seven bogeys and just one birdie. -- Brian Wacker
RAIN HAS ARRIVED (3:02 p.m.): The weather delay might last a little longer. It's now pouring at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. -- Brian Wacker
DIFFERENT STROKES (2:55 p.m.): Soren Hansen teed off in the second group of the day. As a result, he missed the worst of the weather but he couldn't help but notice the dramatic change just before he finished.
Consider this: Hansen, who shot his second straight 69 to move into a tie for fifth at 6 under, hit a 3-iron into the par-4 18 th on Thursday -- and a wedge today.
"What an amazing switch, standing on the 17th tee and all of a sudden the temperature dropped 15 degrees and the wind switches 180 degrees, and you've played the last two holes downwind," Hansen said. "A little bit of luck there, so, yeah, that was good. A little bit different playing the last hole." -- Helen Ross
PLAY SUSPENDED (2:44 p.m.): Just when it looked like they'd get the second round in, play was suspended at 2:37 p.m. The players have been taken in from the course with lightning in the area. This marks the second delay of Friday's action with a 13-minute stoppage less than an hour ago. With only a half-dozen groups left on the course, though, play should be able to be completed at some point. Stay tuned, though. -- Brian Wacker
ALLENBY IN WITH 67 (2:41 p.m.):The second round of the CA Championship is winding down at TPC Blue Monster at Doral and probably just in time with some nasty weather on the way.
Ernie Els will take a one-shot lead to the weekend, but he has company, most notably Robert Allenby, who is one shot back after a 67 on Friday. Perhaps the most interesting/misleading stat for Allenby? The fact that he's second in the field in putting with 49 total putts. Of course, on two of his holes this week he hasn't needed the flat stick after holing out from the fairway in the first round and making a hole-in-one in Round 2. -- Brian Wacker
PICK FIVE (2:38 p.m.): It's not too hard to figure out the difference between Mike Weir's round of 66 on Friday and the 73 he shot in the opener.
He played the par 5s on Thursday in 1 over -- "That's what killed my round," Weir said -- but managed an eagle and two birdies in the second round. As a result, the Canadian is 5 under at the midway point of the CA Championship and five strokes off the lead.
"It was a bear," Weir said. "That wind was really difficult. There was a few times out there it looked like it was going to bluster up there and start to pick up and then that front came through and it laid back down can changed a little bit. I'm happy with that round." -- Helen Ross
SLOW START (2:30 p.m.): Padraig Harrington's father always told him to make sure he played well midseason so that he was in peak form for the majors. As it turned out, that's been the yardstick for his son's career.
The earliest Harrington has won on the PGA TOUR was at the 2005 Honda Classic. His other four titles -- three of them majors -- have all come in July, August or September.
"When you spend your winter working on things, it does take a while to get everything back together again," he said. "So that's my nature. I'll be happy, if I hit peak form from the Masters through to The Ryder Cup, you're going to have a successful year."
Harrington will start the third round of the CA Championship at 6 under and four strokes off the lead held by Ernie Els. He hasn't had a top-10 in four previous starts this year, though, and he admits he normally warms up by contending a few times first.
"I don't normally win out of the blue, no. It's very rare," Harrington said. ""If you're following me, and the odds are good, I'm probably out of form. I slowly go back into form. So unfortunately I tend to show form before I win like a good horse." -- Helen Ross
BUSY MAN (2:14 p.m.): Padraig Harrington is just hoping for a late tee time for Thursday's first round of the Transitions Championship.
Depending on how he plays this week, the Dubliner is headed to Tampa on Sunday night or Monday morning. Harrington will play a practice round on Tuesday and then head to Washington, D.C., to attend the St. Patrick's Day celebration at the White House.
"I don't know what time I'll get back in the morning," Harrington said. "Well, you know, as in Wednesday night. Hopefully, 50-50 chance of getting a late tee time."
He won't have to worry about packing, though. Asked whether the dinner was a black-tie affair, Harrington smiled.
" It's a green tie," he said. "Brought my green tie with me. I believe it's a suit and green tie, anyway. That's what I'm wearing." -- Helen Ross
PHIL GONE WILD (2:05 p.m.): Phil Mickelson is currently 3 under on his round and 4 under for the week with three holes left, which has him currently in a tie for 14th. That's the good news. The bad news is that Mickelson, who is using two drivers this week, continues to struggle off the tee.
In the opening round, Mickelson hit just three fairways. Friday, he's hit just four. While Mickelson has hit 73 percent of his greens in regulation, if he has any hopes of catching the leaders -- he's six back right now -- he's going to have to straighten out at least one of those drivers. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY RESUMED (1:51 p.m.): Play just resumed at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where there was a 13-minute delay due to lightning. -- Brian Wacker
THE HOLE STORY (1:43 p.m.): Once again, the 18th hole at TPC Blue Monster at Doral is playing as the most difficult on the golf course. Though it's slightly easier today, it's claimed plenty of victims. Nine balls have found the water so far -- one more than Thursday -- and the stroke average for the 479-yard par-4 is currently 4.298. As many double bogeys (3) have been made there as birdies. -- Brian Wacker
MAKING IT LOOK EASY (1:30 p.m.): Ernie Els played about as good a round of golf as someone could play at TPC Blue Monster at Doral Friday. He made six birdies and zero bogeys, going a perfect 16-for-16 on putts inside of 10 feet.
The last time Els had a bogey-free round was the third round of this year's Sony Open in Hawaii. It's been a good year for the Big Easy, though, with three finishes in the top 12 and what could be something much bigger after a 66 Friday. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY HALTED (1:28 p.m.): It's raining and with lightning in the area, play has been suspended at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Stay tuned, though, it shouldn't last too long.
STERLING DEBUT (1:15 p.m.): Bill Haas is making the most of his first World Golf Championships appearance. He shot 66 on Thursday and moved to 7 under for the tournament, which is three strokes off the lead.
Haas, who picked up his first PGA TOUR victory earlier this year at the Bob Hope Classic, said the wind didn't blow quite as hard as it did during the first round.
"A little different direction," Haas added. "Instead of straight down the holes, they are a little cross; or straight in, they were a little cross, which helps.
"But when I finished my 17th and 18th hole were straight downwind, it totally flipped with this storm coming in. And honestly it started raining and I didn't think we were going to finish on the 17th green, so got a little fortunate to play 18 downwind."
He polished off his round in style, too, with a 22-foot birdie putt on the hole that ranked the second most difficult on TOUR last year. Haas didn't make a bogey all day.
Haas and his father Jay join Craig and Kevin Stadler as the only father-son duos to have played in a World Golf Championships event. Jay competed in eight between 2003-2005 and his best finish was a tie for fifth at the Accenture Match Play Championship. -- Helen Ross
LONG TIME COMING (12:41 p.m.): It's awful early to think about hoisting the Gene Sarazen Cup but consider this.
Should Robert Allenby go on to win his fifth PGA TOUR event on Sunday, he'll break a victory drought of nearly nine years. The Aussie's last win came at the 2001 Marconi Pennsylvania Classic.
Allenby is playing in his 218th tournament since that victory. He's posted 51 top-10s and finished as the runner-up six times during that span. -- Helen Ross
ALONE AT THE TOP (12:31 p.m.): Robert Allenby continues to play well and he's back on top at 10 under after making an eagle at the first hole and birdie at No. 2.
Allenby held sole possession of the lead most of Thursday, too, before stumbling at the finish with four straight bogeys. His eagle Friday came from 19 feet and he made a 22-footer for the birdie on the next.
Allenby has been extremely resilient during the second round -- following his double bogey at the 16th hole with a 13-footer for birdie at the next. Allenby has made an ace, an eagle and four birdies in moving to 6 under for the day. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (12:02 p.m.): The rain has arrived. Keep your fingers crossed. The final groups of the day have 10 holes left.
GREAT ROUND (11:48 a.m.): Mike Weir just made an 18-footer for eagle at the first hole to get into the mix at 5 under.
The Canadian hasn't made a bogey in his first 10 holes on Friday. He got his round off to a great start by getting up and down for birdies on Nos. 10 and 12 and making a 6-footer for another at the 11th.
Weir is 6 under for the day -- the best round going so far. -- Helen Ross
UP AND DOWN (11:33 a.m.): J.B. Holmes, the last man in the field, has had an interesting second round.
Holmes has only made five pars in his first 12 holes but still finds himself at 4 under and currently tied for 10th. He's offset the three bogeys with a quartet of birdies -- including three in his last five holes.
Holmes may be known for his long drives but he's really improved his putting this year while working with Dave Stockton. He tied for third at the Northern Trust Open and shared second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier this year.
The big-hitting Holmes punched his ticket to the CA Championship with tie for 12th at The Honda Classic on Sunday. At least it was an easy drive from Palm Beach Gardens to Miami. -- Helen Ross
BROTHERLY LOVE (11:21 a.m.): There are two players named Hansen and one named Hanson playing in the CA Championship.
The "brother" playing the best right now is Soren Hansen, who is tied for second place at 6 under, two off the lead held by Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel. He's 3 under through 13 holes after making five birdies and two bogeys Friday.
The 36-year-old Dane may not be a household name in the United States. But he's a three-time winner on the European Tour and played in his first Ryder Cup two years ago at Valhalla. His best finish on the PGA TOUR is a tie for sixth at last year's U.S. Open.
Interestingly, he lists basketball among his other interests in his bio on the European Tour website. Wonder what Hansen thinks of March Madness? -- Helen Ross
HOLDING UP WELL (10:56 a.m.): If there ever was a day when jet lag might catch up with Phil Mickelson, you'd think Friday would be it.
The defending champion didn't get to Doral until Wednesday night. He finished his first round late Thursday afternoon and had a very quick turnaround with a 9:34 a.m. tee time on Friday.
Mickelson, though, is holding up well. He's made two birdies in his first five holes and is 3 under for the tournament, five behind the leaders. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (10:47 a.m.): The first groups to tee off have already reached the back nine and the final groups are three holes into their rounds. Still no rain at TPC Blue Monster. Will we continue to be lucky? -- Helen Ross
ACES HIGH (10:31 a.m.): Forget those four straight bogeys that put a bitter end to his round on Thursday. Robert Allenby just used a 5-wood from 233 yards to ace the lucky 13th hole, which was his fourth of the second round.
The hole-in-one has lifted Allenby into a tie for the lead at 7 under with Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel. It's the fifth hole-in-one in the history of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. -- Helen Ross
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VIJAY VS. THE MONSTER (10:22 a.m.): It's really no surprise that Vijay Singh is playing well at the TPC Blue Monster this week. While he's never won a TOUR event in Doral, he has knocked on the door many times in his career.
In 11 starts from 1994-2006 when Doral hosted a regular TOUR event, Singh finished in the top 10 five times, with his best finish a tie for second in 1996.
And since the TPC Blue Monster began hosting the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in 2007, Singh posted another tie for second in 2008.
Through his first seven holes Friday, Singh is 6 under for the tournament, one shot off the lead.
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HARD WORK PAYS OFF (10:05 a.m.): Ernie Els didn't exactly come to the World Golf Championships-CA Championship with momentum.
The 75 he shot in the final round of The Honda Classic was his worst of the season. And that tie for 67th Sunday was glaring after four top-20 finishes, including joint fifth at the Farmers Insurance Open.
"I've had a pretty decent season up to that point," Els acknowledged. "We haven't really played in big winds, and last week the wind blew, and as I say, I just got my ball position way too far up in my stance, started chasing the ball, was hitting these big, high hooks and big cuts. It wasn't pretty. So I really had to work on it.
"Sometimes that's a good thing, because then you really go back to the board and start over, basically."
The hours on the range refining his technique apparently have paid off. The Big Easy has birdied two of his first five holes Friday and moved to 6 under for the tournament, one stroke off the lead.
"I got out of whack," Els said simply. "My ball position, my posture and my stance, just the basics. When that's not right, I normally don't hit the ball very well. So I went back to the drawing board, basically, and just worked on all of that. And that's a feel thing. That just makes you've got to just hit a million golf balls to get used to a new feel, and so that's what I did."
Els didn't need to get a feel for TPC Blue Monster, though. He's a former champion at Doral, winning the 2002 Genuity Championship. -- Helen Ross
ANOTHER CHANGE (9:38): Charl Schwartzel must not have liked all that company at the top of the leaderboard. So he proceeded to eagle the first hole from 10 feet to take a two-stroke advantage.
It's early, to be sure, but it doesn't look like the South African, who won twice in his homeland earlier this year, is going to wilt under the pressure. The 25-year-old is playing in his seventh World Golf Championships event. -- Helen Ross
PROPER PERSPECTIVE (9:30 a.m.): Robert Allenby has just teed off. Will he be able to get rid of the bad taste left by the end of his first round when he bogeyed the last four holes, in the process turning a commanding lead into a one-shot deficit behind leader Charl Schwartzel?
"It is what it is," Allenby said Thursday after his first round. "You know, there's three more days of golf. It ain't over. I think I'm only one shot off the lead. I might have been four in front, as someone told me, but it's not a sprint. It's a marathon.
"We have three more days and we have gnarly weather coming in. It's not going to be an easy golf course tomorrow, that's for sure."
TORRID PACE (9:19 a.m.): Bill Haas just made his 10th birdie in 23 holes to move into a tie for the lead with Charl Schwartzel, Soren Hanson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.
Haas opened the second round with three straight birdies and then added a fourth at the fifth hole to move to 5 under for the tournament. He missed a 6-foot eagle putt at the first hole, then rolled a 16-footer at No. 2, a 10-footer at the third and an 8-footer on the fifth hole.
Haas had it going on Thursday, too -- playing his first 14 holes in 4 under. But he closed with three bogeys in his last four holes to fall back into the pack. -- Helen Ross
BACK ON TOP (9:08 a.m.): An hour into the second round and two players have joined Charl Schwartzel at the top of the leaderboard.
Vijay Singh got up and down for birdie from the greenside bunker at the par-5 10th hole to move to 5 under. Ditto for Ernie Els, who is two groups behind.
That should take the taste of the 18th hole on Thursday out of their mouths. Singh had held sole possession of the lead when he came to what is annually one of the toughest holes on the PGA TOUR while Els was tied.
Singh hit his drive there into the water and went on to make double bogey while Els' second shot found the lake on the way to a bogey. So Schwartzel, who tees off at 9:24 a.m., was in the lead alone overnight. -- Helen Ross
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES, PART II (9:06 a.m.): Unlike the first-round leader (previous note), whoever leads after today's second round will see his chances of winning the tournament improve significantly.
In eight of the previous 10 CA Championships, the second-round leader/co-leader has won the tournament, including the last four CA Championships. Five of those eight times, however, involved Tiger Woods, golf's ultimate closer.
Still, that's an 80 percent chance of closing the deal, compared to 40 percent for the first-round leader.
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PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES (9:03 a.m.): If history is any indication, Charl Schwartzel has a 40 percent chance of emerging as this week's champion.
In the 10 previous CA Championships, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win four times. Schwartzel, who tees off in about 20 minutes off the first tee at TPC Blue Monster, grabbed the first-round lead Thursday with a bogey-free 5-under 67.
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ROUND 2 WEATHER (8:31 a.m.) -- So far, so good. As the second round of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship gets under way, the skies are gray but no rain is falling.
It looks like the worst of the weather won't arrive until around noon -- when the final groups are making the turn. There is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms until noon when it switches to 80 percent for the rest of the day.
The rain is expected to be heavy at times and the accumulation could be more than 1 ½ inches. Temperatures will be in the lower 80s and the winds will again be gusty in the 15-25 mph range. The skies will clear and the sun returns for the weekend. -- Helen Ross
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| Play TPC Blue Monster at Doral | |
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