Westwood birdies last three holes to share halfway lead
MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Lee Westwood had heard how challenging the TPC Southwind course is when the wind blows. Now the Englishman knows for himself how true all that talk really is.
Westwood scrambled to birdie his final three holes in grabbing a share of a one-stroke lead second-round lead with Garrett Willis in the St. Jude Classic with the winds gusting up to 22 mph.
Westwood, making his Memphis debut this week as part of his tune-up for next week's U.S. Open, said that made it tricky judging shots after seeing no wind Thursday.
"You've got to be on the fairway to attack the flags, and I just didn't hit it close enough to the flag early on," he said. "So it was a day of patience and battling, and I was rewarded at the end of the round with three birdies for doing that."
Westwood had a one-stroke lead after his opening 65, and the world's No. 3-ranked player dropped two strokes off the pace with two bogeys. He rolled in a 26-footer for birdie on No. 17, and then hit a 9-iron within 4 feet for a 68 that tied him with Willis at 9-under 131 total through 36 holes.
Willis, who spent last year on the Nationwide Tour, had five birdies in a bogey-free round to put himself in the final group for Saturday.
Charley Hoffman had the clubhouse lead early with a 65 and was at 132. Robert Karlsson (66) and Robert Garrigus (66) were tied for third at 133. Texas teenager Jordan Spieth, who became the sixth-youngest to make a PGA Tour cut at the HP Byron Nelson Championship last month, missed this cut at 1 over as he finished 2-over 142.
Hoffman took advantage of his morning tee time with little wind in becoming the first to reach 8 under. His sixth birdie, which he rolled in from 78 feet on the par-3 14th, helped him take the clubhouse lead.
"I think they gypped me a few feet," Hoffman said on the measurement of a putt he put at 90 feet and the longest putt of his life.
Westwood joined him at 8 under with his first birdie of the round on his fourth hole. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on No. 8 when he was short of the par-3 green and didn't get up and down. Westwood pushed a 17-footer for birdie on No. 9 just right of the hole.
He dropped another shot on the par-3 14th when he hit his tee shot into a bunker behind the green and two-putted.
"I set myself a little task of trying to birdie two of the last four holes to shoot under 70," Westwood said. "I birdied the last three holes and had a good chance at 15. I'm pleased with that. It was a great way to finish off the day and send it into tomorrow with momentum."
Willis won the 2001 Tucson Open before finding himself back on the Nationwide Tour last year where he finished 12th on the money list to get back to the PGA Tour.
He has made 10 of 13 cuts this year and tied for 13th at the Valero Texas Open for his best finish. He had the first-round lead at the Transitions Championship after opening with a 65 but finished tied for 72nd. Willis, who lives in Knoxville, Tenn., said that taught him a very important lesson about patience.
"I just kind of realise that this is the opportunity for me to support my family," Willis said. "I don't need to go out there and shoot at every pin. I can go out there, shoot for the middle of the green, try to make a putt from 20, 30 feet. If I don't, tap it in for par, and I'm just trying to play as well as I possibly can."
That focus helped on a day where he hit an approach into a fan's chair on the par-5 third and had to wait for a ruling for a drop where the ball rolled behind a tree. That forced him to punch out left of the green where he got a lucky kick with it rolling up to 30 feet closer to set him up for birdie.
"That got some excitement definitely going for me," Willis said.
He rolled in a 3-footer for birdie on No. 9 and had his own strong finish with birdies on three of the final four holes. His 18-foot putt lipped in for birdie on No. 15 when he thought he had missed it, two-putted for birdie from 60 feet on the par-5 16th and watched Tom Pernice's putt on the same line on No. 18 before rolling in a 19-footer.
"I'm trying to be a lot smarter and try to learn from my mistakes, knowing that a lot of pars on this golf course when the wind starts blowing is a pretty good score," Willis said.
Tim Petrovic briefly tied Hoffman at 8 under with his fourth birdie on his 12th hole only to bogey two of his next three to fall off the pace. He finished with a 68 and was tied for sixth at 134 with Lee Janzen (66) and Shaun Micheel (66).
This is Karlsson's first trip to Memphis as his tune-up for the U.S. Open. He got a bounce off a cart that helped him save par on his final hole.
"I didn't aim for that one actually," he said to laughter. "I hit it a bit right, and I was very happy when I saw it, when I saw where it was. That happens. It was good there was no one in the cart anyway.
Paul Goydos withdrew with an injury. He opened with a 75 and shot a 38 through his first nine holes Friday, putting him 8 over. Mark Hensby withdrew due to illness, and John Morse withdrew with an injury. ... Steve Wheatcroft had a double eagle on the par-5 No. 3. He holed out from 243 yards with a hybrid 2-iron for just the fourth double-eagle in this event's history. It didn't help enough. He missed the cut. ... John Daly was among the 81 making the cut. He made it right at 1 over due to taking a two-shot penalty for hitting the wrong ball out of a hazard on No. 9 and finishing with a double bogey on the hole.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Total prize fund $5.6million. Winner: $1,008,000.
Par 140 (2x70)
131 Garrett Willis 66 65, Lee Westwood (Eng) 63 68
132 Charley Hoffman 67 65
133 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 67 66, Robert Garrigus 67 66
134 Tim Petrovic 66 68, Lee Janzen 68 66, D.J. Trahan 66 68, Shaun Micheel 68 66
135 Bob Estes 66 69, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 69 66, Jason Dufner 68 67, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 68, Boo Weekley 69 66
136 Kirk Triplett 68 68, Zach Johnson 67 69, John Senden (Aus) 66 70, Jay Williamson 66 70, Woody Austin 69 67, Heath Slocum 69 67, Rich Barcelo 68 68
137 Vaughn Taylor 68 69, Glen Day 68 69, Johnson Wagner 69 68, Michael Clark II 71 66, Josh Teater 66 71
138 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 69 69, Casey Wittenberg 64 74, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 67, Cameron Percy (Aus) 70 68, Jonathan Byrd 69 69
139 Jeff Quinney 68 71, Billy Mayfair 69 70, Charles Howell III 67 72, Webb Simpson 70 69, Will MacKenzie 70 69, Ben Crane 67 72, Dean Wilson 67 72, Dicky Pride 69 70, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 66 73, Chris Rogers 69 70, Chris DiMarco 70 69, Kevin Na 68 71, Jeff Maggert 68 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 70, Brett Wetterich 72 67, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 65 74
140 Kent Jones 67 73, Spencer Levin 72 68, Omar Uresti 70 70, John Merrick 69 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 68, Brian Gay 73 67, Roger Tambellini 68 72, D.A. Points 74 66, Chad Campbell 70 70, John Rollins 71 69, J.B. Holmes 72 68, Chad Collins 67 73, Craig Barlow 74 66, Brandt Snedeker 70 70
141 Chris Riley 68 73, Gary Woodland 70 71, Michael O'Neal 70 71, David Toms 71 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 69 72, Greg Kraft 67 74, John Daly 71 70, Joe Durant 71 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 68, Justin Bolli 68 73, Frank Lickliter II 71 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 71, Nicholas Thompson 68 73, Charles Warren 72 69, Joe Ogilvie 73 68, Tom Pernice Jnr. 73 68, Michael Connell 66 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 68 73, Steve Elkington (Aus) 72 69, Troy Merritt 69 72
MISSED THE CUT
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 75, Aron Price (Aus) 73 69, Paul Stankowski 68 74, Mark Brooks 73 69, Michael Bradley 70 72, Jim Carter 72 70, Grant Leaver 71 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 75 67, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 70 72, Jason Gore 74 68, Matt Weibring 71 71, Jordan Spieth 73 69
143 Brian Stuard 73 70, Brent Delahoussaye 69 74, Marco Dawson 71 72, Steve Lowery 73 70, Parker McLachlin 71 72, Steve Wheatcroft 71 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 71, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 72, Mike Small 71 72, Cameron Beckman 69 74, Matthew Every 69 74, John Huston 73 70, Skip Kendall 73 70
144 David Lutterus (Rsa) 70 74, Tim Herron 74 70, Vance Veazey 73 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 72, Manuel Villegas (Col) 71 73, Todd Hamilton 74 70, James Driscoll 74 70
145 Scott McCarron 76 69, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 73, Jonathan Kaye 76 69, Jeff Gove 72 73, Ted Purdy 75 70, Harrison Frazar 71 74, Greg Owen (Eng) 69 76, Jim Gallagher Jnr 74 71, Kevin Stadler 71 74, Robin Freeman 75 70
146 Chris Stroud 70 76, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 70, Bill Lunde 71 75, J.L. Lewis 72 74, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 72 74, Cliff Kresge 73 73, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 75, Jay Delsing 74 72, Justin Leonard 74 72, Cameron Tringale 71 75
147 J J Henry 73 74, Steve Flesch 77 70, Len Mattiace 73 74, Matt Bettencourt 75 72, Spike McRoy 73 74
148 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 77 71, Martin Flores 72 76, Roland Thatcher 70 78
149 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 76 73, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 73 76, Chris Smith 73 76
150 Guy Boros 76 74, Ryan Palmer 70 80
151 Dave Schultz 73 78, Chris Wilson 71 80, Craig Bowden 75 76
155 Scott Moran 81 74
WD: Paul Goydos 75, John Morse 76 , Mark Hensby (Aus) 73
MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Lee Westwood had heard how challenging the TPC Southwind course is when the wind blows. Now the Englishman knows for himself how true all that talk really is.
Westwood scrambled to birdie his final three holes in grabbing a share of a one-stroke lead second-round lead with Garrett Willis in the St. Jude Classic with the winds gusting up to 22 mph.
Westwood, making his Memphis debut this week as part of his tune-up for next week's U.S. Open, said that made it tricky judging shots after seeing no wind Thursday.
"You've got to be on the fairway to attack the flags, and I just didn't hit it close enough to the flag early on," he said. "So it was a day of patience and battling, and I was rewarded at the end of the round with three birdies for doing that."
Westwood had a one-stroke lead after his opening 65, and the world's No. 3-ranked player dropped two strokes off the pace with two bogeys. He rolled in a 26-footer for birdie on No. 17, and then hit a 9-iron within 4 feet for a 68 that tied him with Willis at 9-under 131 total through 36 holes.
Willis, who spent last year on the Nationwide Tour, had five birdies in a bogey-free round to put himself in the final group for Saturday.
Charley Hoffman had the clubhouse lead early with a 65 and was at 132. Robert Karlsson (66) and Robert Garrigus (66) were tied for third at 133. Texas teenager Jordan Spieth, who became the sixth-youngest to make a PGA Tour cut at the HP Byron Nelson Championship last month, missed this cut at 1 over as he finished 2-over 142.
Hoffman took advantage of his morning tee time with little wind in becoming the first to reach 8 under. His sixth birdie, which he rolled in from 78 feet on the par-3 14th, helped him take the clubhouse lead.
"I think they gypped me a few feet," Hoffman said on the measurement of a putt he put at 90 feet and the longest putt of his life.
Westwood joined him at 8 under with his first birdie of the round on his fourth hole. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on No. 8 when he was short of the par-3 green and didn't get up and down. Westwood pushed a 17-footer for birdie on No. 9 just right of the hole.
He dropped another shot on the par-3 14th when he hit his tee shot into a bunker behind the green and two-putted.
"I set myself a little task of trying to birdie two of the last four holes to shoot under 70," Westwood said. "I birdied the last three holes and had a good chance at 15. I'm pleased with that. It was a great way to finish off the day and send it into tomorrow with momentum."
Willis won the 2001 Tucson Open before finding himself back on the Nationwide Tour last year where he finished 12th on the money list to get back to the PGA Tour.
He has made 10 of 13 cuts this year and tied for 13th at the Valero Texas Open for his best finish. He had the first-round lead at the Transitions Championship after opening with a 65 but finished tied for 72nd. Willis, who lives in Knoxville, Tenn., said that taught him a very important lesson about patience.
"I just kind of realise that this is the opportunity for me to support my family," Willis said. "I don't need to go out there and shoot at every pin. I can go out there, shoot for the middle of the green, try to make a putt from 20, 30 feet. If I don't, tap it in for par, and I'm just trying to play as well as I possibly can."
That focus helped on a day where he hit an approach into a fan's chair on the par-5 third and had to wait for a ruling for a drop where the ball rolled behind a tree. That forced him to punch out left of the green where he got a lucky kick with it rolling up to 30 feet closer to set him up for birdie.
"That got some excitement definitely going for me," Willis said.
He rolled in a 3-footer for birdie on No. 9 and had his own strong finish with birdies on three of the final four holes. His 18-foot putt lipped in for birdie on No. 15 when he thought he had missed it, two-putted for birdie from 60 feet on the par-5 16th and watched Tom Pernice's putt on the same line on No. 18 before rolling in a 19-footer.
"I'm trying to be a lot smarter and try to learn from my mistakes, knowing that a lot of pars on this golf course when the wind starts blowing is a pretty good score," Willis said.
Tim Petrovic briefly tied Hoffman at 8 under with his fourth birdie on his 12th hole only to bogey two of his next three to fall off the pace. He finished with a 68 and was tied for sixth at 134 with Lee Janzen (66) and Shaun Micheel (66).
This is Karlsson's first trip to Memphis as his tune-up for the U.S. Open. He got a bounce off a cart that helped him save par on his final hole.
"I didn't aim for that one actually," he said to laughter. "I hit it a bit right, and I was very happy when I saw it, when I saw where it was. That happens. It was good there was no one in the cart anyway.
Paul Goydos withdrew with an injury. He opened with a 75 and shot a 38 through his first nine holes Friday, putting him 8 over. Mark Hensby withdrew due to illness, and John Morse withdrew with an injury. ... Steve Wheatcroft had a double eagle on the par-5 No. 3. He holed out from 243 yards with a hybrid 2-iron for just the fourth double-eagle in this event's history. It didn't help enough. He missed the cut. ... John Daly was among the 81 making the cut. He made it right at 1 over due to taking a two-shot penalty for hitting the wrong ball out of a hazard on No. 9 and finishing with a double bogey on the hole.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Total prize fund $5.6million. Winner: $1,008,000.
Par 140 (2x70)
131 Garrett Willis 66 65, Lee Westwood (Eng) 63 68
132 Charley Hoffman 67 65
133 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 67 66, Robert Garrigus 67 66
134 Tim Petrovic 66 68, Lee Janzen 68 66, D.J. Trahan 66 68, Shaun Micheel 68 66
135 Bob Estes 66 69, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 69 66, Jason Dufner 68 67, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 68, Boo Weekley 69 66
136 Kirk Triplett 68 68, Zach Johnson 67 69, John Senden (Aus) 66 70, Jay Williamson 66 70, Woody Austin 69 67, Heath Slocum 69 67, Rich Barcelo 68 68
137 Vaughn Taylor 68 69, Glen Day 68 69, Johnson Wagner 69 68, Michael Clark II 71 66, Josh Teater 66 71
138 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 69 69, Casey Wittenberg 64 74, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 67, Cameron Percy (Aus) 70 68, Jonathan Byrd 69 69
139 Jeff Quinney 68 71, Billy Mayfair 69 70, Charles Howell III 67 72, Webb Simpson 70 69, Will MacKenzie 70 69, Ben Crane 67 72, Dean Wilson 67 72, Dicky Pride 69 70, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 66 73, Chris Rogers 69 70, Chris DiMarco 70 69, Kevin Na 68 71, Jeff Maggert 68 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 70, Brett Wetterich 72 67, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 65 74
140 Kent Jones 67 73, Spencer Levin 72 68, Omar Uresti 70 70, John Merrick 69 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 68, Brian Gay 73 67, Roger Tambellini 68 72, D.A. Points 74 66, Chad Campbell 70 70, John Rollins 71 69, J.B. Holmes 72 68, Chad Collins 67 73, Craig Barlow 74 66, Brandt Snedeker 70 70
141 Chris Riley 68 73, Gary Woodland 70 71, Michael O'Neal 70 71, David Toms 71 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 69 72, Greg Kraft 67 74, John Daly 71 70, Joe Durant 71 70, Nathan Green (Aus) 73 68, Justin Bolli 68 73, Frank Lickliter II 71 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 71, Nicholas Thompson 68 73, Charles Warren 72 69, Joe Ogilvie 73 68, Tom Pernice Jnr. 73 68, Michael Connell 66 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 68 73, Steve Elkington (Aus) 72 69, Troy Merritt 69 72
MISSED THE CUT
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 67 75, Aron Price (Aus) 73 69, Paul Stankowski 68 74, Mark Brooks 73 69, Michael Bradley 70 72, Jim Carter 72 70, Grant Leaver 71 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 75 67, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 70 72, Jason Gore 74 68, Matt Weibring 71 71, Jordan Spieth 73 69
143 Brian Stuard 73 70, Brent Delahoussaye 69 74, Marco Dawson 71 72, Steve Lowery 73 70, Parker McLachlin 71 72, Steve Wheatcroft 71 72, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 71, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 72, Mike Small 71 72, Cameron Beckman 69 74, Matthew Every 69 74, John Huston 73 70, Skip Kendall 73 70
144 David Lutterus (Rsa) 70 74, Tim Herron 74 70, Vance Veazey 73 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 72, Manuel Villegas (Col) 71 73, Todd Hamilton 74 70, James Driscoll 74 70
145 Scott McCarron 76 69, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 73, Jonathan Kaye 76 69, Jeff Gove 72 73, Ted Purdy 75 70, Harrison Frazar 71 74, Greg Owen (Eng) 69 76, Jim Gallagher Jnr 74 71, Kevin Stadler 71 74, Robin Freeman 75 70
146 Chris Stroud 70 76, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 70, Bill Lunde 71 75, J.L. Lewis 72 74, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 72 74, Cliff Kresge 73 73, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 75, Jay Delsing 74 72, Justin Leonard 74 72, Cameron Tringale 71 75
147 J J Henry 73 74, Steve Flesch 77 70, Len Mattiace 73 74, Matt Bettencourt 75 72, Spike McRoy 73 74
148 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 77 71, Martin Flores 72 76, Roland Thatcher 70 78
149 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 76 73, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 73 76, Chris Smith 73 76
150 Guy Boros 76 74, Ryan Palmer 70 80
151 Dave Schultz 73 78, Chris Wilson 71 80, Craig Bowden 75 76
155 Scott Moran 81 74
WD: Paul Goydos 75, John Morse 76 , Mark Hensby (Aus) 73
Labels: US PGA TOUR, US PRO TOUR
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See story on its own page | Friday, June 11, 2010
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