Second-round notebook – The Memorial Tournament
JUSTIN ROSE: After a year away from Muirfield Village, England’s Justin Rose is again performing well at the Memorial Tournament. In three career starts, his best finish was fourth place in 2004 when he posted four consecutive under-par rounds. In 2006, he finished T14. (He finished T75 in 2005). Of his 14 rounds here (including this week), he has broken par eight times. Rose is looking for his first top-10 finish of the 2008 PGA TOUR season. His best finish to date was a T14 at the PODS Championship.
Ten years after he burst onto the golfing scene as an amateur by pitching in on the last hole to tie for fourth in the 1998 British Open at Royal Birkdale (where the British will again be held this year), Rose is still without a PGA TOUR win. He has six international victories, the most recent at the 2007 Volvo Masters. He, like Donald, would be the first Englishman to win the Memorial Tournament. Rose would be the youngest winner (at 27 years, 10 months, 1 day old on Sunday) since Tiger Woods won in 2001.
Rose is also trying to join the ever-growing list of PGA TOUR winners in their 20s in 2008. There have already been nine 20-something winners in 22 events this year, compared to seven in all 48 events in 2007. Matt Kuchar could also join this list – he will be 29 years, 11 months and 11 days old on Sunday.
Nine times have players in their 20s won the Memorial Tournament: Roger Maltbie (24 in 1976); Jim Simons (28 in 1978); Tom Watson (29 in 1979); Keith Fergus (27 in 1981); Hal Sutton (28 in 1986); Tiger Woods (23 in 1999, 24 in 2000, 25 in 2001); Carl Pettersson (28 in 2006).
MATTHEW GOGGIN: Mathew Goggin, 65-72=137 (-7), is tied with Kenny Perry for the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley lead. Goggin is making his first start at the Memorial Tournament. No player in the history of this event has won in his first start (other than Roger Maltbie, who won the first Memorial in 1976, of course).
Three players have made the Memorial Tournament their first PGA TOUR victory: Keith Fergus (1981); Kenny Perry (1991); and Tom Lehman (1994).
Including yesterday and today, Goggin has held a tournament lead a total of five times in his career. This is his first 36-hole lead.
The second-round leader has gone on to win 11 times in the Memorial Tournament’s history: Carl Pettersson (2006); Kenny Perry (2003, 1991); Tiger Woods (2000, 1999); Fred Couples (1998); Tom Lehman (1994); Hale Irwin (1985); Keith Fergus (1981); Tom Watson (1979); Jim Simons (1978).
The only player in the Memorial Tournament's history to lead after the first round and go on to win the event was Ernie Els in 2004 (68-70-66-66=270).
The tournament has never had a wire-to-wire winner.
KENNY PERRY: Two-time Memorial Tournament Champion Kenny Perry, 66-71=137 (-7), is looking to join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the Memorial Tournament three times.
In Perry’s two previous wins at the Memorial Tournament (1991, 2003), he was the second- and third-round leader.
Perry would be the oldest winner in the Memorial Tournament history (47 years, 9 months, 21 days old on Sunday). Jack Nicklaus currently holds the record for oldest Memorial Tournament history (44 years, 4 months, 6 days). Perry would also be the oldest winner on TOUR this year – a mark currently held by Steve Lowery, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at 47 years, 3 months, 29 days.
Perry, who has won nine times on the PGA TOUR, is looking for his first victory since winning the 2005 Bank of America Colonial, 72 starts and just over three years ago. He’s also aiming to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup Team (Perry is currently 17th on the points list; the top 8 automatically make the team and Captain Paul Azinger gets four captain’s selections). The Ryder Cup will be staged at Vahalla Country Club in Louisville, Ky., 140 miles from Perry’s front door in Franklin, Ky., and 50 miles from Elizabethtown, Ky., where he was born.
JERRY KELLY: Jerry Kelly’s best finish in 11 previous starts at the Memorial Tournament is a T9 in 2002.
This (3rd) is his best position in the tournament heading into the weekend. His previous best position after 36 holes was 15th in 2006 (he eventually finished T57 after closing with rounds of 75-79).
Kelly is looking for his third PGA TOUR win. His two other victories – Sony Open in Hawaii and Advil Western Open – both came in 2002.
LUKE DONALD: Luke Donald, 68-71=139 (-5), is making just his fifth career start at the Memorial Tournament with his best finish coming last year, T35. Donald won the 1999 Jack Nicklaus Award, which earned him a spot in the field at the 2000 Memorial Tournament, where he finished T51 (as an amateur).
Donald has two top-five finishes on the PGA TOUR this year – a second at The Honda Classic and a T3 at the Northern Trust Open.
He would be the first Englishman to win the Memorial Tournament.
FRED COUPLES: Fred Couples, who is making his 19th appearance in Dublin, Ohio, has shot rounds of 72-71 this week and is currently T11. In his last 10 starts in the event, Couples has six top-10 finishes, including a victory (1998) and two seconds. In his last 13 rounds at Muirfield Village, Couples has broken par 12 times.
MISCELLANEOUS: The 36-hole cut was 6-over-par 150 with 76 players playing on the weekend. Six-over is the highest cut at the Memorial Tournament since 1990, when the cut fell at 157 (+13) – a tournament record. The cut has never been at par or better in this event’s 32-year history.
This is the 13th over-par cut on TOUR this year, but the highest according to par and total strokes in 2008. This is the highest cut since the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont 150 (+10).
Today’s stroke average of 75.856 is the highest of the year (second-highest is the fourth round of THE PLAYERS Championship at 75.176).
Johnson Wagner had the round of the day with a 67 (-5). Daniel Chopra, 68 (-4), and J.B. Holmes, 59 (-3), are the only other players to shoot in the 60s. Today’s total of three rounds recorded in the 60s is the fewest in any one round at the Memorial Tournament since the third round of the 2003 event (one round in the 60s). It’s the fewest posted in the second round since 1990 (two rounds in the 60s).
Bogey-free rounds - Thursday: Rod Pampling, 67 (-5); Friday: NONE
The par-three eighth played as the most difficult hole on Friday with an average of 3.475, giving up only nine birdies (compared to 19 on Thursday).
One player with 10 or more starts at the Memorial Tournament extended his perfect cut records on Friday at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Jim Furyk has made 12 consecutive cuts at the Memorial Tournament; he is at 145 (+1). Ernie Els ended his streak of 14 consecutive made cuts at the Memorial Tournament, while David Duval ended 10-in-a-row streak.
It was a birthday present for hometown favorite Travis Perkins, who played in the last group today, and made the cut on the number at 150 (+6), despite making bogey on his last two holes (No. 8 and 9). Perkins, a rookie, is a native of Springfield, Ohio, and graduated from Olentangy High School, just 12 miles northeast of Muirfield Village. Perkins now lives in Lakeland, Fla. He turned 30 today.
Briny Baird withdrew after nine holes today due to illness.
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