Day 2 recap: Byrd's soaring, but he can't rest now
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
DULUTH, Ga. -- He has a three-shot lead. But it's not enough. It's not enough to put the tournament in cruise control and think about how he's going to spend the $990,000 first-prize check. Not on this golf course, where the greens are soft, the temperatures are mild and the low scores are there for the taking.
Jonathan Byrd doesn't have the luxury of sitting back, avoiding mistakes and waiting to see if anybody can catch him this weekend. Sure, he has that commanding second-round lead of the AT&T Classic, a lead that actually should've been larger had he had not tossed away a shot by missing a one-foot par putt as he came down the stretch.
Still, he carded his second consecutive 66 at TPC Sugarloaf and even had visions of Phil Mickelson dancing in his head, specifically Mickelson's 2006 performance at the AT&T Classic when he led by six strokes going into the weekend and eventually crushed the field with a record-setting 13-stroke win. That's what Byrd wanted to do, to take all the drama out of the weekend. But it didn't happen.
So now his lead is three shots, but really, Byrd might as well feel like he's trailing by three shots because if there's one thing he knows going into Saturday, it's this: He'll need to keep stepping on the gas.
"I had the fortune of watching Mickelson the year he kind of ran away with it," Byrd said. "And this is the type of golf course that if you get carefly on, you can make some mistakes. But I watched him just kind of stay aggressive, stay aggressive, stay aggressive and keep making birdies."
If he has any doubt that his followers will do the same, just consider their various motivations.
Kenny Perry, at 9 under, is trying to play his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team, since this year's event is in his home state of Kentucky. And if that's not enough, then Perry certainly hears the whispers that perhaps, at age 47, his time to add a 10th PGA TOUR title has passed. He's determined to prove that's not true.
| 3 | Bounce-backs (under-par holes) that Ryan Palmer carded Friday after making over-par scores in the previous holes. "It was my goal this year to work on my bounce backs," Palmer said. |
| 4 | Players who have shot 12 under or lower after two rounds since the AT&T Classic moved to TPC Sugarloaf in 1997. That number includes Jonathan Byrd, who is at 12 under going into Saturday. |
| 17 | Rounds under par shot by David Toms at TPC Sugarloaf. That's the most by any player since 1997 when the course became the venue for the AT&T Classic. |
Ryan Palmer, also at 9 under, is just trying to get back into the top 125 on the money list and regain his all-exempt status; last year, he was 144th in money. Since he isn't getting a lot of chances to play in TOUR events, he has to make the most of them. So far, he's done that this week.
Then there are guys such as Parker McLachlin (8 under) and Camilo Villegas (7 under), each still seeking his first TOUR win. Oh, and let's not forget Zach Johnson, the defending AT&T Classic champ who couldn't seem to shoot over par on this course if you handed him a twig from the nearest pine tree and told him it was the only club he could put in his bag.
Johnson recorded his 10th consecutive sub-par round at TPC Sugarloaf on Friday and is hanging out with the group at 5 under. Yes, he's eight shots behind. No, it's not insurmountable.
"I'd rather be in the lead, so no, I'm not in perfect position," Johnson said. "But I'm in a good position."
So that's why Byrd can't let up. He knows this weekend could be a birdie fest. Fortunately, that usually brings out the best in him.
"All three tournaments I've won have been like that ... soft conditions, previous rains and you've had to go low," Byrd said. "I tend to do well when the fairways are soft, the greens are soft and guys are making a lot of birdies."
In other words, he tends to do well when the need is for him to be aggressive. Should be a fun weekend.
ROUND OF THE DAY
For the second consecutive day, Jonathan Byrd carded the low round. This time, only Bubba Watson could match Byrd's 6-under 66 that moved him to the top of the leaderboard. Byrd, who started his round on the 10th tee, went out in 32 and was in position to make a run at the second-round tournament record at TPC Sugarloaf after he went on a three-hole birdie binge. But he gave a shot back at the par-5 sixth hole when a lapse in concentration resulted in a missed par putt from a foot. And he failed to birdie holes 7-8-9, which he said "can't play any easier." Still, by posting another 66, he's forcing everybody else in the field to chase him. If he doesn't give away any more shots while keeping his foot on the gas, the tournament may be his to lose.
| Jonathan Byrd's scorecard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SHOT OF THE DAY
Jeff Overton made just the third eagle in tournament history at the 389-yard par-4 No. 3. Overton cleared the bunkers on the left side, then holed out from 101 yards. Unfortunately for the Indiana native, it wasn't enough to help him make the cut, as he finished at 2 over for the tournament.
SHOT OF THE DAY II
It wasn't the longest putt in the second round, but Kenny Perry's 34-footer for birdie on the par-5 sixth hole might have been the most important. Perry, tired after a brutal seven-hour first round when he had to battle the rain, needed a jolt -- and the long birdie putt was just what he needed to wake up and shoot a 3-under 69.
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TWO STORIES OF CONFIDENCE
He doesn't know the exact moment it happened. But he knows it was sometime during the week of the 2002 AT&T Classic. Sometime in between the Monday qualifier that he had to play and the last putt he stroked on Sunday that eventually produced a tie for 17th, Zach Johnson found out one thing. How to successfully read the greens at TPC Sugarloaf.
And he hasn't stopped reading them. Two wins at the AT&T Classic -- including last year -- and a tie for second in 2006 speaks for itself. So do his last 10 rounds at the course, including Friday's 2-under 70. All 10 rounds have been under par.
"I love the greens. And I can read them. I think that's the bulk of it," said Johnson, who goes into the weekend hoping to make a move and defend his title. "Anytime someone plays well and win, they're typically putting well. I love this surface and I love to putt on these greens."
Johnson ranks tied for 23 in putts per round through the first two days, his 28.5 average the same as Kenny Perry and Ryan Palmer, who share second place.
At this point, no player is more confident about his ability to navigate TPC Sugarloaf than Johnson. But the confidence, he said, doesn't have so much to do with the course, but more with the way he's playing.
"I'm confident, but I'm confident just because of where my game's at," Johnson said, "not necessarily because I feel like I should shoot under par everytime I tee it up here."
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It's been awhile since Ryan Palmer has been at or near the top of a PGA TOUR leaderboard. So it's no surprise that when he teed off Friday after sharing the first-round lead, he was nervous. It didn't help matters that his warm-up session was, in his words, "rough."
"I had a few jitters the first couple of holes," Palmer said.
But sometimes, being a little nervous is good ... as long as you maintain a calm exterior. Which is what Palmer did by shooting a 3-under 69, good enough for a tie for second at 9 under overall going into the weekend.
"(New Orleans Hornets star) Chris Paul said he's nervous before every game," said Palmer, who won the 2004 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort but has since seen his money winnings drop off in each of the past three years. "I think if a guy says he's not nervous out there, they'd be lying to you, especially if they're in contention. Everybody's a little nervous. It just depends on how you handle it."
Thanks to his solid first two rounds at TPC Sugarloaf, the nerves may not be nearly as much of a factor as the increase in confidence Palmer is feeling about his game. He's striking the ball well and also hit two key wedges when he really needed something positive to happen on the front nine. And he made some tough five-to-six foot putts.
"My confidence has grown," Palmer said. "I'm a lot more confident now than I was on Tuesday. And the confidence in my game from 110 yards in has really grown."
QUOTE OF THE DAY I
"You just can't give away shots in a PGA TOUR event with guys that are this good. ... You do that in junior golf; you don't do that on the PGA TOUR." -- Jonathan Byrd, describing the one-foot putt he missed that resulted in his only bogey of the day
QUOTE OF THE DAY II
"It's like a desert out there relative to yesterday afternoon." -- Zach Johnson on the lack of rain in Friday's second round after a water-soaked opening round Thursday
| What the leaders said ... | ||||||||||||||||
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THREE THINGS TO WATCH SATURDAY
1. Who'll go low? -- The course should be primed for more low rounds, although the greens may not be as soft as there were the first two days if the precipitation stays away.
2. Can Byrd hang on -- Jonathan Byrd has been the best player in the tournament the first two days, but now he's wearing the target on his back.
3. Veteran moves -- David Toms and Stewart Cink know how to score on this course. They might be ready to strike on moving day.
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