Round 2 Notes – Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
A total of 71 players made the 36-hole cut, which came at 2-over-par 142. This is the sixth time in 2008 that the cut has been over-par. The others came at the Buick Invitational (1-over), Northern Trust Open (3-over), Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya (4-over), The Honda Classic (4-over) and PODS Championship (3-over).Lee Westwood is tied for third after two rounds at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 6-under 134. His 134 total matches his career-best first-36-hole low. He was at 134 at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2000 and held the second-round lead, before finishing T22. Westwood has not recorded a top-10 on the PGA TOUR since he finished T5 at the 2006 Arnold Palmer Invitational. His only victory on the TOUR came when he won the 1998 Freeport-McDermott in New Orleans almost 10 years ago. His best finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was T5 in 2006.
Of the last nine times Vijay Singh has either held or shared the 36-hole lead at a PGA TOUR event he has gone on to win seven times. The only times he hasn’t was at last year’s Wachovia Championship, where he tied for seventh and when he tied for fifth at the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Championship. His seven victories have come at the following tournaments:
2007 Mercedes Benz Championship
2006 Barclays Classic
2005 Buick Open
2004 84 LUMBER Classic
2004 Deutsche Bank Championship
2004 PGA Championship
2004 Buick Open
Vijay Singh posted a second round, 5-under 65, matching his low score at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. He posted a 65 in 1995 in the third round. Last year, Singh was 2-under par (70-68) and tied for 19th after two rounds. He went on to win with weekend rounds of 67-67.
Vijay Singh, the defending champion and the 36-hole leader is a perfect 16 for 16 in cuts made at this event. Singh first teed it up at Bay Hill in 1993 and has a win and three runner-up finishes to his credit.
Vaughn Taylor (T6) finished third last year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his best finish since a T3 at the 2006 Verizon Heritage. Taylor is making his fourth career start at Bay Hill C&L this week. Last year, Taylor led Ben Curtis by two strokes through 54 holes but finished three strokes behind champion Vijay Singh after a closing 73.
Past champion Chad Campbell sits T10 heading into the weekend. Campbell has played well dating back to the end of last year, having won the Viking Classic in September of 2007. This year, he has made six of seven cuts heading into this week's action, including a T10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Pat Perez, who fired a 5-under 65 Friday, recorded a hole-in-one on the 216-yard second hole using a five iron. It was his second hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR. His first hole-in-one came at the 2002 Reno Tahoe Open, his rookie season on the TOUR.
Brian Davis had 36 putts en route to a 5-over par 75 Thursday. Friday he responded by matching Trevor Immelman's best round of the day, a 6-under-par 64, thanks to just 24 putts. Davis' 64 matched his PGA TOUR career low, in the first round of the 2005 Ford Championship at Doral where he finished T44.
On Friday, Trevor Immelman matched his career PGA TOUR low, a 64 first set, in the third round of the 2006 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Immelman's under-par round was just his second in 12 rounds in 2008 as he continues to come back from December surgery to remove a benign calcified fibrosis tumor from his diaphragm.
Scoring averages:
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 35.942 35.383 71.325
Friday 35.450 35.150 70.600 70.962
Past champions in the field and how they fared the first two days:
2007 Vijay Singh 66-65—131 1
2006 Rod Pampling 78-77--155 MC
2005 Kenny Perry 69-72—141 T49
2004 Chad Campbell 68-68—136 T10
2000-03 Tiger Woods 70-68—138 T20
1999 Tim Herron 75-71—146 MC
1997 Phil Mickelson 72-67—139 T29
1996 Paul Goydos 73-67—140 T38
1992 Fred Couples 65-73—138 T20
1991 Andrew Magee 72-70—142 T61
1990 Robert Gamez 72-68—140 T38
There were three bogey-free rounds posted on Thursday (J.J. Henry, Rocco Mediate and Alex Cejka), while on Friday Sergio Garcia was the only player to post a bogey free round.
Tiger Woods (xx) has made 12 straight cuts in this tournament since turning professional. Woods missed the cut as an amateur in 1994 but has made it to the weekend every since 1997 and has won four times (2000-2003). Below is where Woods has stood after each round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Tiger Woods at the Halfway Mark at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Year 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Finish
2008 T34 T20
2007 T1 T13 T10 T22
2006 T23 T25 T30 T20
2005 T13 T7 T26 T23
2004 T4 T27 T46 T46
2003 T7 1 1 1
2002 T1 1 1 1
2001 T35 T7 1 1
2000 T3 1 1 1
1999 T75 T71 T67 T56
1998 1 T1 T2 T13
1997 T2 T11 T14 T9
1994* T120 T120 MC
∑ Played as an amateur
Twelve players making their first appearances in the Arnold Palmer Invitational made the cut, led by Ken Duke, who is tied for third, three strokes behind leader Vijay Singh. Here is the complete list:
Player Score Place
Ken Duke 67-67—134 T3
Dustin Johnson 68-69—137 T16
Matt Jones 70-68—138 T20
Richard Johnson 69-70—139 T29
Andres Romero 68-71—139 T29
Richard Sterne 69-71—140 T38
Marc Turnesa 70-70—140 T38
Pablo Martin 71-71—142 T61
George McNeill 70-72—142 T61
D.J. Trahan 70-72—142 T61
Parker McLachlin 73-70—143 T72
Nicholas Thompson 68-75—143 T72
Michael Letzig 77-67—144 MC
Soren Hansen 71-75—146 MC
Martin Kaymer 71-76—147 MC
Kenneth Ferrie 76-72—148 MC
John Merrick 80-68—148 MC
Bill Haas 71-78—149 MC
Jason Day 74-75—149 MC
Santiago Cavanagh 75-79—154 MC
Colt Knost 75-80—155 MC
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