In the Bank of America Colonial preview, I said the low rounds were hard to find. I couldn’t have been more wrong with that statement. Kenny Perry followed up a superb opening-round 65 with a flawless round of 63 to take the lead at the halfway point in Fort Worth. He put together seven birdies and zero bogeys in his round Friday, and he has only had one bogey overall in the first two rounds. Perry’s score of 128 after two rounds is the tournament record. He set the tournament record for the entire tournament when he won in 2003, and he will be looking to inch ever so close to that this weekend.
Perry has struggled with vision problems and reading greens, but he has yet to have a three-putt in the first two rounds. He had this to say about his vision and putting. “I know the greens. I don’t really have to see that well,” Perry said. “I know what’s uphill, what’s downhill. I know the breaks, I pretty much know where the pin placements are going to be. So that’s very comforting.”
Rookie D.J. Trahan and Ted Purdy are in a tie for second. Trahan held the lead on his own for most of the day until Perry passed him in the afternoon. The young Trahan has gotten things going as of late, including a tie for ninth at the Zurich Classic and a solo ninth at the Wachovia Championship. He is definitely playing great golf this week as well, putting together rounds of 64 and 67 on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Purdy, who won his first PGA Tour tournament last week in Dallas, is using the momentum of the win to his advantage this week. “I made a quantum leap last week, no question,” said Purdy, who had a six-birdie round Friday. “I have faith in what’s going on right now. I just feel great.”
Kirk Triplett sits alone in fourth place at -8 and is four shots off the lead. He has used a pair of 66s to put himself in contention going into the weekend. There is a three-way tie for fifth between Rod Pampling, Steve Stricker, and the rejuvenated Billy Mayfair. Each of these three guys have also put together two rounds in the 60s. Rounding out the top 10 heading into the weekend is first-round leader Patrick Sheehan, Brandt Jobe, Briny Baird, and Joe Durant. These four are currently sitting in a tie for eighth at -6.
The big names have had a little more trouble this week in Forth Worth. A lot of the attention centered around Phil Mickelson coming into the week, and he has dissapointed so far. He was on the cut line after an opening-round 71, and he followed that up with a very quiet 69 on Friday to leave himself at even par. Mickelson has put together some low rounds on the weekend the last two weeks, so the fans shouldn’t give up hope on “lefty” yet.
Other big names that are hanging around the middle of the pack include David Toms, Justin Leonard, and Jim Furyk. Toms, who has been struggling as of late, put together a nice 66 on Friday. He is currently seven shots off the lead. A lot of people picked Justin Leonard to win coming into the week, but he is just moving on along without anything real great so far. He is eight shots behind Kenny Perry, but he will be right near the top with a couple low rounds on the weekend. Jim Furyk, who has had a lot of strong finishes as of late, sits at -3 and will really have to get it going the next two days to scare the leaders.
Friday was also cut-day at Colonial, and there are some very good golfers that won’t be playing this weekend. The most notable is definitely Chris DiMarco. He came into the week having three straight top-four finishes, but he shot two straight 71s to miss the cut by one shot. Sergio Garcia, who won here in 2001, also missed the cut by one shot. The other two big names that missed the cut were Davis Love III and Canadian Mike Weir, who have also had their struggles as of late. And finally, the defending champion Steve Flesch missed the cut after shooting an awful first-round 79. He shot 71 on Friday, but it was far too late to move up the leaderboard. He finished in 113th place.
The weekend is shaping up to be very good. Kenny Perry is in the driver’s seat right now, but there have been some low 60s out on the course the first two days. There is a good mixture of young guys and veterans who are in striking distance of making a run tomorrow and Sunday. There are also a few bigger names in the middle of the pack who are definitely capable of putting together two solid weekend rounds to inch close to the top.
It is going to be very hot on the weekend with highs in the mid-to-high 90s! If the rain stays away, the course should firm up a little, making the pin placements that much more crucial. Here is a current look at the leaderboard after the first two rounds:
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 1 Kenny Perry -12 65 63 T2 D.J. Trahan -9 64 67 T2 Ted Purdy -9 66 65 4 Kirk Triplett -8 66 66 T5 Rod Pampling -7 66 67 T5 Steve Stricker -7 68 65 T5 Billy Mayfair -7 67 66 T8 Brandt Jobe -6 65 69 T8 Patrick Sheehan -6 62 72 T8 Briny Baird -6 69 65 T8 Joe Durant -6 71 63
Photo Credit: © Donna McWilliam,AP.
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