Jim Furyk carded two birdies and two bogeys in his second round at Westchester Country Club. Oh yeah, he also holed out for eagle on the eighth hole! The eighth hole was Furyk’s 17th of the day, and his eagle vaulted him back to the top of the leaderboard where he finished the first round. Mike “Fluff” Cowan, Furyk’s caddy, advised his player to hit an eight-iron into the green on the difficult eighth hole, and he was right on the money. Cowan made the decision, and Furyk took care of the rest. The eagle put Jim Furyk at -8 for the tournament, and that number was good enough to keep him in the lead at the halfway point of the Barclays Classic.
Brian Gay is Furyk’s closest follower going into the weekend. Gay followed his opening-round 69 with a very nice 66 on Friday to move himself into serious contention. He is the only golfer currently in the top eight that played his round in the afternoon on Friday. “I’m very pleased, said Gay. It was very tough out there. The greens are really getting baked out.”
There are several golfers just two shots back at -6. This group includes Kenny Perry, Padraig Harrington, Len Mattiace, John Senden, and Hidemichi Tanaka. Harrington and Mattiace both shot 65 on the difficult Westchester Country Club on “cut-day.” Harrington actually had it to -7 and was in the lead by himself before bogeying the eighth. Kenny Perry, who has already won twice in 2005, shot his second-straight 68 and had this to say about the placement of the pins. “I think they set the pins up brutal for the first two rounds,” said Perry, a two-time winner this year. “I’ve never seen them set up this tough. They seem to be more on the edges … It’s a tough old girl. You got to watch what you’re doing.”
Kevin Sutherland is the only player sitting at -4 going into the weekend. He shot a steady 68 on Friday to move into the top ten. Vijay Singh and Tom Pernice, Jr. round out the top ten and sit at -3 after the first two days of play. Singh, who was very vocal about the slow play in the opening round, was a little calmer on Friday. He had it to -5 after the 10th hole, but a pair of bogeys on the back stopped the momentum in a hurry. Singh is still in contention, however, and he has made comebacks on the weekend all season long.
There are a few notables who made the cut, but not by much. Chris DiMarco, Sergio Garcia, and Justin Leonard all finished up at +1 and made the cut by a mere two shots. Garcia, who is the defending champion this week, had a very tough start to his second round. He was actually below the cut line early in his round, but he shot a two-under 34 on the front nine to guarantee a spot on the weekend. These three will have to do something special to get back in this tournament, but there are a few low scores available on the golf course. Ryan Moore, the newest PGA Tour professional, had a rough day on Friday but still finished right on the cut line (+3).
Cut-day wasn’t so pleasant for some other notable golfers at the Barclays Classic. Fred Couples leads the group of players that won’t be playing at Westchester this weekend. He has been playing good golf as of late, but he couldn’t get anything going in his second round. Other well-known golfers that didn’t cut the mustard this week include David Duval (hasn’t made many cuts the last two years), K.J. Choi, and Jay Haas. After opening with an awful 79, Rory Sabbatini (Tour Jackass of the Week) withdrew from the Barclays Classic before his second round began.
In my Barclays Classic preview, I picked Jim Furyk to win at Westchester. So far, he is definitely making me look smarter than I really am. I think he will definitely continue his solid play, and someone will have to play well to overtake him. I definitely don’t think we will see a Goosen-like crumble out of Jim Furyk this week. South African Tim Clark was my “sleeper” pick for the week, and at least he will be playing the weekend. He started off with a 74, but he followed that up with a 70 on Friday to move up a few spots on the leaderboard.
The weather has been perfect so far at Westchester, and it should be more of the same on Saturday and Sunday. There are some great names at the top of the leaderboard, and there are a few big names lurking withing five or six shots. I know the U.S. Women’s Open is being played this weekend, but everyone should tune into the Barclays Classic as much as possible. ABC will televise the event from 3-6pm ET on Saturday and 3-6:30pm ET on Sunday. Here is a look at the leaderboard at the halfway point:
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 1 Jim Furyk -8 65 69 2 Brian Gay -7 69 66 T3 Kenny Perry -6 68 68 T3 John Senden -6 69 67 T3 Len Mattiace -6 71 65 T3 Hidemichi Tanaka -6 68 68 T3 Padraig Harrington -6 71 65 8 Kevin Sutherland -4 70 68 T9 Vijay Singh -3 68 71 T9 Tom Pernice, Jr. -3 70 69
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