Final-stage q-school: Second-round notebook

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- Due to fog, there was a one-hour delay to the start of play on Thursday.

• History is on Frank Lickliter's side as he carries a nine-stroke lead into the third round of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. Since the 1992 season, only two players have failed to earn a PGA TOUR card after holding the 36-hole lead, including Dan Olsen in 2004 and Stan Utley in 1996.

Alejandro Canizares of Spain moved into the top five after carded a 62 Thursday. (Walton/Getty Images)

SECOND STAGE MEDALISTS

THROUGH 36 HOLES

2nd Stage City Medalist Thru 36 Holes Dade City, Fla. Bubba Dickerson T72 Dade City, Fla. Scott Parel T72 Kingwood, Tex. Mark Walker T121 Maricopa, Ariz. Kevin Streelman T38 Maricopa, Ariz. Chris Kirk T121 Beaumont, Calif. Y.E. Yang T24 McKinney, Tex. Cameron Percy T108 Panama City Beach, Fla. Richard Johnson T38

• Frank Lickliter's nine-shot lead is the largest 36-hole lead at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament since the 1992 season. The previous largest second-round lead was six shots, held by Michael Allen in 2005 and Scott Verplank in 1997.

• Frank Lickliter's 36-hole total of 124 is the lowest 36-hole total to par at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament since 1992, when the TOUR began keeping such statistics. The previous low was held by Tommy Tolles, who was at 16-under 128 through 36 holes in 2000.

• The PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament is not an official event; however, for reference, the largest 36-hole lead in an official PGA TOUR event since 1970 came at the 1990 World Series of Golf, when eventual winner Jose Maria Olazabal led by nine shots through two rounds. Also, the lowest total to par through the first 36 holes of a TOUR event in history came at the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas in 2001 when Tom Lehman was 19-under through the first two rounds.

• The other round of the day came from 2003 NCAA Championship winner Alejandro Canizares, who carded a second-round 62 as well and moved from a tie for 92nd to a tie for fourth place. His round included an eagle at the par-5 18th (his last), nine birdies, and a bogey at the par-4 12th.

• Canizares played in six events on the European Tour to finish his 2007 season, with his best finish coming at the Open de Madrid Valle Romano, where he finished solo second. Canizares is the son of four-time European Ryder Cup team member Jose Maria Canizares. Canizares won the 2006 Imperial Collection Russian Open in just his third start as an affiliate member of the European Tour.

• 2004 Children's Miracle Network Classic champion Ryan Palmer is back at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament finals (for the first time since 2002) after a season in which he never climbed inside the top 125 on the money list. Through two rounds, Palmer finds himself tied for ninth with rounds of 70-66--136.

• Of the six players in the field who had to begin their q-school quest at the pre-qualifying stage, Mike Wendling is playing the best with rounds of 71-68--139 and is tied for 38th after two rounds. Wendling is attempting to become the first player to ever go through the pre-qualifying stage and earn his PGA TOUR card.

• At the end of round two, only four players who were PGA TOUR members in 2007 found themselves in the top 14: Frank Lickliter II, Brendon de Jonge, Harrison Frazar, and Ryan Palmer.

• Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey continued his impressive play on Thursday with a 4-under 68 at Crooked Cat. Combined with an opening-round 5-under 67 at Panther Lake, he has moved all the way up into a tie for seventh on the leaderboard. Gainey garnered attention earlier this year in golf circles when he won "The Big Break VII" on GOLF CHANNEL. He made four starts in 2007 on the Nationwide Tour, making two cuts and posting a season-best tie for eighth at the Cox Classic. He missed the cut at the Wachovia Championship in his only PGA TOUR start.

• Gainey is joined in the top 25 by the newest member of "The Big Break" series in finals this week. Matt Every, the 2006 Ben Hogan Award winner, has carded rounds of 66-72--138 and is tied for 24th with four rounds left to play. Ironically enough, Every (the only player from the series this year to make it to the q-school finals) was eliminated in the second show of "The Big Break IX."

• Brenden Pappas, who recently earned his 2008 PGA TOUR card with a 22nd-place finish on the Nationwide Tour money list, is participating this week with the goal of improving his number heading into the 2008 PGA TOUR season. The South African and former University of Arkansas standout is 1 under through the first two rounds and sits tied for 108th.

• D.H. Lee of Korea used his sixth place finish on the 2007 Japan Golf Tour money list to gain an exemption into the final stage of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament and has made the most of his opportunity with rounds of 67-70--137 (tied for 15th).

• The second-round scoring averages for the two courses: Crooked Cat (70.253) and Panther Lake (70.205).

• The toughest holes on the two courses are the par-4 second hole on Crooked Cat with a scoring average of 4.193 and the par-4 third hole on Panther Lake with a scoring average of 4.289.

• There were 13 bogey-free rounds on Wednesday, including 10 on Panther Lake: Jim McGovern (66), Jin Park (66), Ryan Palmer (66), Greg Chalmers (67), Travis Perkins, Ben Willman (68), Tee McCabe (68), Colt Knost (70), Jon Rusk (70), and Chris Kamin (70). Three bogey-free rounds were posted on Crooked Cat: Cody Freeman (65), Bret Guetz (67), Lee Won Joo (68).

• The most interesting round of the day might have come from Hunter Haas as he fired a 6-under 66 that included 10 birdies and four bogeys. Haas did not record a single par from Nos. 4-14 (birdie-birdie-bogey-bogey-bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie).