All the golfers at the MCI Heritage forgot to tell Darren Clarke that the course was playing pretty tough on Friday. He carded six birdies and zero bogeys in the second round to take a six-shot lead into the weekend. His total of 12-under par after two rounds is only one off the record set by Jack Nicklaus in 1975. Clarke attributes his great play at this golf course to just feeling comfortable. “I knew I liked the golf course and that’s why I’ve kept coming back,” he said. “It’s easier to play on a golf course you’re comfortable on than one that you’re not. I’m enjoying myself and playing pretty solid golf.”
On the other side of things, first-round leader Peter Lonard went south on Friday. He shot the low round of the week with a 62 on Thursday, but it took him 12 more shots than that to finish up his second round. He currently sits at six under par and is a half-dozen shots off the lead. He is joined there by Patrick Sheehan, with Thomas Levet sitting at four under. A number of players including Davis Love III and Jim Furyk are in a tie for fifth at -3, but they will need a very solid weekend to pick up the win. Furyk was my pick to win this week, and he followed up an opening-round 71 with a very nice 68 on Friday to at least get within shouting distance of Darren Clarke. Defending champ Stewart Cink also has some work cut out for him going into Saturday and Sunday. He sits at two-over par after shooting a second-round 73.
Harbour Town did not make it easy on the players on Friday. The course played one stroke harder than it did on Thursday. There were actually sunny skies most of the day, which is definitely something the players have not been accustomed to so far in 2005. The sun being out just made the course more difficult, however, and that looks to continue for the weekend. Patrick Sheehan had this to say about the nicer conditions in the second round. “A couple of people on the way in said it’s a much nicer day. I think it’s a prettier day, but it’s not an easier day to play golf.”
The greens at Hilton Head are the smallest on the PGA Tour, and firm conditions make it very difficult to get it close to the pins. The pin placements will only get more difficult for Saturday and Sunday, so players that shoot a couple rounds in the 60s will make very big moves up the leaderboard. That is, if Darren Clarke decides to let up any. He is currently running away with the MCI Heritage, and he has also been sporting some very colorful pants and smoking his cigars.
Friday also happened to be cut-day at Harbour Town. It seems all the cuts have been on Saturday or Sunday here lately, and it was nice to see a tournament go the traditional route for once. The cut line ended up being +5, leaving 65 players to stay around and play the weekend. Most of the big names made the cut this week, but there were a few notables that won’t be teeing it up Saturday or Sunday. Among those missing were Lee Janzen, Steve Flesch, Mark Hensby, and 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis.
On a sidenote, Tom Kite was disqualified for taking a par 4 on the eighth hole instead of a bogey 5. He has played in over 700 events since 1971 and has never had this happen to him. He would have actually made the cut at five over par according to his scorecard, with rounds of 72 and 75. But the error would have left him at six over par and outside the cut-line anyway.
The weekend calls for partly cloudy conditions on Saturday and perfect conditions on Sunday for the final round. Darren Clarke is in control going into tomorrow, but there are some big names hanging around in the top five. Harbour Town’s finishing stretch will test the players in the final two rounds, and the leaderboard could easily be scrambled up again by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around. Peter Lonard unfortunately found that out today. Here is a current leaderboard going into the weekend.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 1 Darren Clarke -12 65 65 T2 Peter Lonard -6 62 74 T2 Patrick Sheehan -6 66 70 4 Thomas Levet -4 64 74 T5 Rod Pampling -3 70 69 T5 Woody Austin -3 69 70 T5 Jim Furyk -3 71 68 T5 Cameron Beckman -3 68 71 T5 Nick O'Hern -3 68 71 T5 Jimmy Walker -3 68 71 T5 Davis Love III -3 69 70
The MCI Heritage can be seen on CBS tomorrow and Sunday from 3-6pm ET.
Photo Credit: © AP.
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