Second-round notebook – Buick Invitational
* It may be playing significantly harder than the North Course, but John Rollins posted the low-round of the tournament on the South Course with an 8-under 64, highlighted by an eagle-two from 124 yards at the par-4 fifth hole. He sits in second place, just one shot off Camilo Villegas’ 11-under lead.* The 64 is 1-stroke shy of his career low of 63, which he most recently carded in the final round of the 2007 FBR Open. This is his lowest round since carding that 63 at the FBR Open in 2007.
* Rollins is making up for a slow start to the 2009 season, having missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii and finishing T70 at last week’s FBR Open
* Because more than 78 players made the 36-hole cut of 2-over, a secondary cut will be in effect following Saturday’s third round to cut the field to the low-70 and ties. This marks the second straight year that 85 players have made the first cut. The last time fewer than 80 players made the cut at the Buick Invitational was in 2003 (75 players).
* Even though it was on the more difficult South Course, Camilo Villegas continued to lead the pack in round-two of the Buick Invitational following a 2-under 70, good for a 1-stroke lead over John Rollins.
* Camilo Villegas has previously held at least a share of the 36-hole lead four times.
Tournament After 36 holes End result
2006 Ford Championship at Doral T1 T2
2006 RBC Canadian Open T1 T5
2008 FBR Open T1 T34
2008 BMW Championship 1 Won
* History reveals that holding the 36-hole lead at the Buick Invitational isn’t necessarily the best position to be in when eyeing victory. Dating back to 1995, just four 36-hole leaders have gone on to win at Torrey Pines.
Year 36-hole leader/winner
2008 Tiger Woods
2001 Phil Mickelson
2000 Phil Mickelson
1997 Mark O’Meara
* While Camilo Villegas continued his assault on the Buick Invitational field in round-two, brother Manny was competing in the first Nationwide Tour event of the season in Panama, as that Tour celebrates its 20th year anniversary. The younger Villegas shot a 1-over 71 and 4-over 74 to finish rounds one and two at 5-over, missing the cut.
* San Diego native Charley Hoffman fired a 6-under 66 on the North Course to move from T33 to third place. Hoffman, who lost on the third hole of sudden death to Kenny Perry at last week’s FBR Open, hit just six of 14 fairways, but managed to hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation.
* Uncharacteristically, two-time Buick Invitational winner Phil Mickelson bogeyed three of the first four par-5s on the easier North Course. Following a birdie-4 at the final hole, Mickelson posted an even-par 72 to enter the weekend nine strokes back of Camilo Villegas.
* Luke Donald, who finished runner-up in the 2004 and 2005 Buick Invitational, is positioning himself well for the weekend. Following an opening-round 2-under 70, he bettered that by a stroke on Friday with a 3-under 69 on the North Course.
* Eric Axley withdrew following his first round Thursday because of sickness. Daniel Chopra and Wes Short, Jr. withdrew in the middle of the second round due to sickness, while Arron Oberholser withdrew in the middle of his second round with a nagging wrist injury
* Amateurs in the field:
Name Rd. 1-2/total Status
Josh Anderson (San Diego, CA) 73-74 +3 (Missed Cut)
Gregor Main (Danville, CA) 70-75 +1 (Made cut)
The last amateur to make the cut at the Buick Invitational was Jamie Lovemark, who did so last year.
* There were no bogey-free rounds in round-two.
* Round-two Scoring averages:
South Course: 74.091
North Course: 71.880
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