Friday, March 09, 2012

BUBBA THE BOMBER WATSON LEADS FROM JUSTIN ROSE AT DORAL RESORT

Left-hander Bubba Watson on his way to a second-round 62 in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Image by courtesy of the US PGA Tour website.
FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Larry Dorman, PGATOUR.COM
DORAL, Florida -- The TPC Blue Monster at Doral did not originally get its name for its punishing length. It was dubbed the Blue Monster by Miami golf legend, the late Frank Strafaci, as he peered at the windblown white caps on the lake next to the 18th hole shortly after the course opened in 1962.
But the golf course -- which this week is playing at 7,334 yards -- has remained true to its name largely because the key element to winning here has been the ability to bomb the tee ball, a formula borne out once again halfway through this week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.
The 36-hole leader at 12 under after a 62 on Friday, Bubba Watson, also leads the tournament in driving distance with a laughably long 323.5 average.
He has hit some monstrous tee shots over two days, including two drives of 373 yards -- downwind, of course -- at No. 1 on Thursday and at No. 2 on Friday.
Justin Rose, who trailed Watson by a stroke after two rounds, is the exception among the top six on the leaderboard. Averaging a modest 288.5 yards off the tee so far, Rose is among the middle tier in driving distance on the PGA TOUR, but is long enough to have found a way to shoot 11 under (64 in Round 2) while playing in the threesome with Watson alongside Mark Wilson.
Adam Scott, the first-round leader, is another bomber (299-yard average this week) and is another stroke back at 10 under after following his opening round of 66 with a 68.
The three players behind him are also long hitters. Peter Hanson (298 yards) is at 9 under while Keegan Bradley (303 yards) and Thomas Bjorn check in at 8 under. Bjorn is averaging 282 for the week, but can move it out when he wants to as his 339-yard blast at the 14th hole on Thursday attests.
The list of winners since this became a World Golf Championships venue in 2007 does not include any short drivers: Tiger Woods in 2007, Geoff Ogilvy in 2008, Phil Mickelson in 2009, Ernie Els in 2010 and Nick Watney in 2011.
Woods, tied for 15th in a group at 5 under and by no means out of contention this week, has a theory about why.
"When Raymond did the redo on the bunkers, at the time, 280 was a carry," said Woods, referring to Raymond Floyd's course renovation leading up to the 1997 Doral-Ryder Open. "Now, you know, most of the golf courses we play, it's 310 to 320. If we get normal wind, or no wind at all, these bunkers really are not in play.
"So the longer hitters, it's just drive it down there and you've got a wedge in your hand."
Wedge, or sometimes less. Watson had 57 yards remaining for his second shot at the 399-yard, par-4 second hole Friday. And Scott, after a 299-yard drive at the 467-yard, par-four 18th, when the wind had softened in the late afternoon, had just 7-iron in and birdied the hole with a 20-foot putt.
As good as Watson has looked so far, he will have his hands full winning this week. For one, he is not enamoured of the 18th hole nor the golf course overall -- even though the 62 matches his career low round, most recently at the 2010 Bob Hope Classic.
"You know, this golf course doesn't really suit me," he said. "My eye lines -- it's tough. It's tough for me. Not a big fan of No. 18. I normally play it really bad. Played it 1 under so far."
For another, in the nine events so far only two 36-hole leaders have gone on to win. Holding a lead here will depend on how the wind blows. It lessened on Friday, dropping some 10 mph to sustained winds of 15 or so. By the end of the day it was nearly flat calm. Saturday is not expected to be much different, but it might pick up again on Sunday.
Still, given the type of quality shots Watson has hit so far -- including the stinging 3-iron from 225 yards into the wind to set up an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole -- it's difficult to imagine him not being in the hunt this weekend. This golf course has, since the turn of the century produced just three champions who were not power players -- Jim Furyk in 2000, Joe Durant in 2001 and Scot Hoch in 2003.
It may or may not be Watson who prevails, but history favours someone who can overpower the Monster.
 the Doral Resort, Miami, Florida.
There were also good rounds by Luke Donald (68 for 138), Tiger Woods (67 for 139), Graeme McDowell (67 for 142), World No 1 Rory McIlroy (69 for 142),  Martin Kaymer (64 for 137) and Lee Westwood (67 for 143).
But Paul Lawrie went backwards with a 74 for 144 - a shot ahead of the other Scot in the field of 74, Martin Laird, who had a 73 for 145.

HALFWAY LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
Players from US unless stated
132 Bubba Watson 70 62.
133 Justin Rose (England) 69 64.
134 Adam Scott (Australia) 66 68.
135 Peter Hanson (Sweden) 70 65.
136 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 68 68, Keegan Bradley 69 67.
137 Charl Schwartzel (S Africa) 68 69, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 73 64, Charles Howell III 70 67.
138 Jason Duffner 66 72, Zach Johnson 70 68, Bo Van Pelt 73 65, Kyle Stanley 69 69, Luke Donald (England) 70 68.

SELECTED SCORES
139 Tiger Woods 72 67 (T15).
140 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 69 71 (T21).
142 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 75 67, Rory McIlroy (N Ireland) 73 68 (T28).
143 Phil Mickelson 72 71, Hunter Mahan 71 72, Lee Westwood (England) 76 67 (T34).
144 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 70 74 (T45).
145 Martin Laird (Scotland) 72 73, Robert Rock (England) 74 70 (T54).
146 Simon Dyson (England) 74 71 (T58).
147 Phil Casey (England) 76 71 (T62).
148 Darren Clarke (N Ireland) 74 74 (T65).
153 Ian Poulter (England) 76 77 (73rd).

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD



RUSSELL KNOX MISSES CUT IN PUERTO RICO OPEN

Russell Knox is not having the best of starts to his debut season on the US PGA Tour. He missed another cut today in the tour's Puerto Rico Open, shooting 75 and 74 for 149 - four shots too many to play in the weekend rounds.
Australian Matt Jones (67 for 11-under 133) has opened up a three-shot lead over American George McNeill (70 for 136).

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
By Staff and wire reports
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico -- Matt Jones shot a 5-under 67 in windy conditions Friday to open a three-stroke lead over George McNeill in the US PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com.
Jones, tied with McNeill for the first-round lead, had a bogey-free round to reach 11-under 133 on the Trump International course. The Australian is winless on the US Tour.
"I've been putting really well and chipping unbelievably well," Jones said. "My ball-striking was much better yesterday. I missed a few greens today."
The wind increased throughout the day, gusting to 23 mph (37 kph) in the afternoon.
"It started to kick up maybe around the eighth, ninth hole, but compared to yesterday, I didn't really feel it," Jones said. "Growing up in Australia, we're used to playing in the wind. It's nothing uncommon, and I actually, more often than not, enjoy playing in the wind because it makes you not worry about score so much. You worry about hitting the shots one shot at a time, and you play a little smarter."
McNeill had a 70 for 136.
Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa, playing the event for the first time after failing to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral, was four strokes back at 7 under after a 67.
"Short game today was very good, and approach shots and putting," Ishikawa said. "Everything went well. That resulted in birdies and some nice par saves. So, the short game was the key thing."
He also played in the calmer morning conditions.
"I was lucky, but as I progressed toward the end, the wind got stronger and the conditions got tougher," Ishikawa said. "But under the strong wind conditions, I understood the difficulty of the course better. So I appreciate the design of the course more now."
Todd Hamilton shot a 69 to join Ishikawa at 7 under.
"I'm pleased with the way I've played," Hamilton said. "I haven't played very well for a long, long time, and it's nice to see not just a good nine holes, but a good 18 that I had yesterday and then another good 18 the following day."
Andres Romero (67) was 6 under along with Boo Weekley (68), Kevin Stadler (69), Daniel Summerhays (70), Roberto Castro (69) and Kevin Kisner (70).
Michael Bradley, the winner in 2009 and 2011, was 1 under after a 71.

LEADING HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 144
Players from US unless stated
133 Matt Jones (Australia) 66 67.
136 George McNeill 66 70.
137 Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) 70 69, Todd Hamilton 68 69.
138 Andres Romero (Argentina) 71 67, Daniel Summerhays 68 70, Roberto Castro 69 69, Boo Weekley 70 68, Kevin Stadler 69 69, Kevin Kisner 68 70.

SELECTED SCORES
139 Brian Davis (England) 69 70 (T11).

MISSED THE CUT (145 or better qualified)
146 David Duval 72 74, Gary Christian (England) 73 73.
149 Russell Knox (Scotland) 75 74.

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

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