Second-round notebook – Turning Stone Resort Championship
* Matt Kuchar missed the cut in his only other appearance at the Turning Stone Resort Championship in 2007.* With a top-25 finish this week, Matt Kuchar will set a personal-best with nine for the season. He recorded eight top-25s last year. His lone victory came at the 2002 Honda Classic.
* On Thursday, play was suspended due to darkness at 6:30 p.m. ET with six players left to complete the first round. First-round play resumed at 7:30 a.m. ET Friday. Second round tee times remained on schedule with the first group starting round two at 7:15 a.m. ET Friday.
* A total of 75 players made the cut, which came at one-under 143. In 2007, the cut was 4-under 140, while last year the cut was 4-over.
* Vaughn Taylor opened with a pair of 67s to move into first place after the second round at 10-under 134. Taylor leads Nicholas Thompson, Leif Olson and Matt Kuchar by one stroke and Scott Piercy, Bo Van Pelt and Fredrik Jacobson by two strokes.
* Vaughn Taylor is looking for just his second top-10 finish of the season (T8 at Buick Open).
* Taylor, who is No. 131 on the Tour money list with $519,282, has earned over $1 million his first five seasons on Tour (2004-2008).
* Taylor turned his only other second-round lead/co-lead into a win at the 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open.
* In his previous two appearances at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, Taylor has finished T18 (2007) and T15 (2008).
* Prior to Friday, the last time Vaughn Taylor held a lead/co-lead after any round was the third-round of the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational (3rd).
* Steve Flesch held the second-round lead in 2007 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship before going on to victory. Last year, Dustin Johnson was T7 and four strokes back after the second-round.
* Nicholas Thompson moved into T2 at 9-under 135. Thompson has one bogey in each of the first two rounds.
* At No. 148 on the Tour money list, Thompson is looking to move inside the top 125 after finishing 41ston the money list last year. The third year player is looking for his first top-10 finish of the season after recording six last year, including a T2 at the 2008 Ginn sur Mer Classic.
* Thompson’s 14-year-old sister Alexis is tied for the lead at 10-under after the second round of the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama.
* Rookie Scott Piercy had a pair of top-10 finishes in his first six Tour starts, but has not had a top-20 finish since. He finished T5 at the FBR Open in February and T6 at the Honda Classic in March.
* No rookie has won on Tour this year – something that hasn’t happened since 1998, when Steve Flesch won Rookie of the Year honors. At 41st on the money list, Australian Marc Leishman leads all rookies. Leishman was the only rookie to play in THE Tour Championship and finished 20th in the FedExCup standings. Other rookies that are playing well this season or this week include:
Player Money List Standing Current Position
Marc Leishman 41 MC
Jeff Klauk 77 WD
Webb Simpson 81 T51
James Nitties 90 T51
Scott Piercy 91 T5
Matt Bettencourt 103 T51
Bill Lunde 120 MC
Aron Price 140 T8
Leif Olson 214 T2
* Harrison Frazar and Aron Price turned in the rounds of the Tournament with 7-under 65s. The 65s are one off Jeff Maggert and Jarrod Lyle’s course record 64 in 2007. Davis Love III turned in the low round last year with a 6-under 66 in the third-round.
* Harrison Frazar has not shot under 65 this season, but does have three other 65s this year. Below are the results from his other 65s:
Bob Hope Classic MC
Honda Classic T13
St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx T14
* The PGA Tour’s Fall Series events are a time for players to move into the top 125 on the money list and earn full exempt status on the Tour in 2010. Harrison Frazar, who won PGA Tour Qualifying School last year on the strength of a fourth round 59, found himself in the 125th spot entering the Turning Stone Resort Championship. Below are player’s ranked No. 125-130 and their current standing:
No. Player Standing After Second-Round
125 Harrison Frazar T31
126 Chris Riley T51
127 Joe Ogilvie MC
128 Chris Stroud T31
129 Stuart Appleby T51
130 Troy Matteson T8
* Last year, six of the seven Fall Series winners were at No.125 or higher on the money list prior to their win. The complete list of winners from the 2008 Fall Series includes:
Tournament Champion $ prior to win $ after win
Viking Classic Will MacKenzie No. 178 No. 97
Turning Stone Dustin Johnson No. 128 No. 41
Valero Texas Open Zach Johnson No. 125 No. 55
Justin Timberlake Marc Turnesa No. 138 No. 75
Frys.com Open Cameron Beckman No. 175 No. 86
Ginn sur Mer Classic Ryan Palmer No. 143 No. 73
Children’s Miracle Davis Love III No. 118 No. 48
* Andres Romero (T51) made his first cut since the British Open in July. Prior to Friday, Romero had only made three of his last 11 cuts. The three cuts he did make were all majors including the Masters (T49), U.S. Open Championship (T47) and British Open (T13).
* Bo Van Pelt birdied seven of his last eight holes on the back side, including six straight (No. 11-16). He moved to 8-under for the Tournament. The streak of six birdies is a career-best for Van Pelt. His previous best streak was five set at the 2009 Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.
* Robert Allenby (MC), ranked No. 30 on the Official World Golf Rankings, is the highest-ranked player in the field. Others in the top-50 here this week include Ben Curtis (T22), Dustin Johnson (T22), Rory Sabbatini (T22) and Jeev M. Singh (T51).
* The Kodak Challenge hole this week is the par-3 11th at Atunyote which played 201-yards in the first round. The competition celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA Tour. Players must play at least 18 of the 30 Kodak Challenge holes throughout the season to compete for $1 million and the Kodak Challenge title. A player’s lowest score relative to par on his best 18 Kodak Challenge holes will be counted.
* Kodak Challenge leader Kevin Streelman bogeyed the 11th hole in round two, but maintains his lead in the Kodak Challenge.
* A unique “Smile & Win” spotter promotion awards instant prizes to fans wearing Kodak lanyards throughout the course at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. The free lanyards can be picked up at the Kodak Fan Photo Zone on hole #13 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day of the Tournament. Winners will be randomly spotted throughout the Tournament. A variety of instant prizes will include Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Cameras, Turning Stone Resort merchandise and one lucky grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 Frys.com gift card.
* Players that were bogey-free in the second round included, Leif Olson (69), Scott Piercy (66), Fredrik Jacobson (67), Jimmy Walker (69), Brandt Snedeker (67), Kevin Stadler (70), Will MacKenzie (67), Harrison Frazar (65), Aaron Watkins (66), Dean Wilson (69), Billy Mayfair (69/MC) and Todd Hamilton (70/MC).
* Jimmy Walker is the only player to record two bogey-free rounds this week.
* Scoring Averages at the par-72 Atunyota Golf Club:
Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Round 1 36.214 36.061 72.275 ---
Round 2 35.477 35.156 70.633 71.463
* Eric Axley (illness) withdrew prior to the second round.
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