Live notes: Second round of The Barclays
The PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup has started at The Barclays, and PGATOUR.COM's team is on the scene in Paramus, N.J. We'll provide updates all day Friday with our live second-round notes.
SECOND ROUND: Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Shot Tracker | Live FedExCup points projection
LARGEST 36-HOLE LEADS: Steve Stricker will take a three-shot lead over Hunter Mahan going into the third round Saturday. Here are the largest 36-hole leads on the PGA TOUR in 2008: -- Mike McAllister (7:50 p.m. ET)
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SUPERGROUP UPDATE: Want to know more about how Kenny Perry, Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson played on Friday? Check out our reports on each player. -- Mike McAllister (7:45 p.m. ET)
LEADING AFTER 36 HOLES: Steve Stricker will take the 36-hole lead for just the seventh time in his career, and the first time since he led after two rounds of the U.S. Open in 2006. Only one time in those six previous 36-hole leads did Stricker go on to win the tournament.
Here's how Stricker has finished after grabbing the second-round lead: -- Mike McAllister (6:10 p.m. ET)
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MAHAN IN AT 7 UNDER: First-round leader Hunter Mahan couldn't find the magic Friday that he did on Thursday, shooting a 2-over 73 to put him at 7 under for the tournament, three strokes behind leader Steve Stricker. The two will be in the final pairing of Saturday's third round. -- Mike McAllister (6 p.m. ET)
PUMPED FOR PLAYOFFS; Kevin Streelman will start the third round of his first Playoff event in contention at 5 under. The Duke grad's round of 70 on Friday left him five strokes off the pace being set by defending champion Steve Stricker.
In addition, Streelman, who started the week 102nd in the FedExCup standings, is now guaranteed a spot in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship, where only the top 120 advance. A good finish on Sunday could get him even further into the Playoff hunt.
"It's huge," Streelman said. "My goal this year was to get into that third FedExCup event and as I've got closer, it's nice to get into this one obviously being a rookie, and now knowing I'll be in next week for sure is a cool feeling, as well.
"But at the same time, knowing that if I do make a good move this weekend, we could be looking at THE TOUR Championship, and all of a sudden that's something I haven't really thought about, but something that's very exciting." -- Helen Ross (5:50 p.m. ET)
RISE FROM BELOW: It's fairly certain at this point that 16 of the 22 players seeded worse than 120th in FedExCup points and who teed it up this week are going to make the cut and thus virtually guarantee getting to play another week. (Two players outside the 120 didn't start the tournament.) Last year, 11 of the 22 who teed it up missed the cut.
That could mean someone such as Fred Couples, who entered the playoffs ranked 89th in points but will miss the cut after finishing at 5 over, could be in danger of not advancing to the next round. Couples, in fact, is currently 121st on the projected points list, which would knock him out of the Playoffs if the projections hold through Sunday. -- Steve Dennis (5:10 p.m. ET)
EASIEST PAR 4: The 291-yard fifth hole is the shortest par-4 on the course, tempting players to try to drive the green. But it's certainly not the easiest par 4 at Ridgewood this week.
The par-4 first hole, which at 380 yards is 89 yards longer than the fifth, is playing today at a stroke average of 0.280 under par, making it the easiest hole. The fifth is playing at 0.190 under par, ranking it as the third easiest.
In Thursday's first round, the first and fifth holes each played at 0.207 under par, tying for the second easiest behind the par-5 17th.
Why is the opening hole so easy? It's basically a straight hole with half as many bunkers (three) as the fifth. It doesn't penalize the golfers as much as the fifth; the first has produced just five bogeys thus far Friday while the fifth has produced 11 bogeys or worse. -- Mike McAllister (4:47 p.m. ET)
SERGIO & SOCCER: Just call Sergio Garcia a twin-ball wizard.
When he's home and not swinging a golf club, you can find him practicing with Borriol, his hometown football team -- soccer to those of us in the States.
Garcia is left-footed and normally plays either midfield left side or forward left side. And, he made a few practices last week when he was home.
"It's good fun," said Garcia, who is 5 under for the tournament going into this weekend. "Obviously for me, it's something that I've loved my whole life, playing soccer, as a good Spaniard, I might say it's every kid's dream growing up in Spain. So I like to stay in touch with it.
"And it helps me ... disconnect from golf, which is what you have to do in some of those week offs. So when I'm playing tennis or soccer or something like that, I mean, there's not a chance there's one thought about golf at that moment, and that's what I love about it."
Does Garcia, who also has friends with the Real Madrid team, like to pass the ball or score?
"Well, obviously we all like to score, but no, I probably prefer passing the ball," Garcia said. "I try to score once in awhile when I have a good chance, but you know, a good pass always makes you feel good." -- Melanie Hauser (4:35 p.m. ET)
IAN'S ASPIRATIONS: Ian Poulter dearly wants to make the European Tour Ryder Cup team and he is banking on a strong performance in the Playoffs to convince European Captain Nick Faldo.
Unfortunately for the flashy Brit, he's in danger of missing the cut this week. He's played 27 holes at Ridgewood and is 2 over. Poulter, who ranks 63rd in FedExCup points, still should be safe for next week's second Playoff event at the Deutsche Bank Championship even if he doesn't reach the weekend..
Poulter, the runnerup at the Open Championship, stands eighth on the European World Points list and 11th on the European Points list with five players automatically qualifying from each. Faldo will make two Captain's Picks on Aug. 31 after the final qualifying event, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. -- Helen Ross (4:28 p.m. ET)
SUPERGROUP UPDATE: Through 12 holes, the featured threesome of Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington -- the top players in FedExCup points participating in the Playoffs -- still seem to be trying to find their game.
Perry has played the best thus far; at one point, he was 6 under for the tournament before a bogey at the 12th hole. Mickelson also bogeyed the 12th and is even par for the tournament. Harrington, who has won the last two majors, is 1 over for his round and is currently on the cut line.
Click on the links below to follow each player. -- Mike McAllister (4:22 p.m. ET)
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MAHAN UPDATE: It's been an rollercoaster second round for first-round leader Hunter Mahan, even though he's even par through his first 11 holes.
Mahan, who teed off on No. 10, bogeyed the par-4 12th after finding the intermediate rough with his tee shot and the primary rough with his approach shot. He gained back the stroke at the par-4 14th by holing a 13-foot birdie putt but gave it back on the par-3 15th when he failed to get up-and-down from the bunker.
He maintained the ride with a birdie at the 16th when he knocked his approach shot within six feet ... then gave it back on the par-5 17th when he found trouble trying to come out of a greenside bunker.
But after making the turn at 1-over 37 for his round, he birdied the first hole by sinking a 15-foot putt. That got him back to even par for his round and 9 under for the tournament, one shot off the pace set by Steve Stricker. -- Mike McAllister (4:15 p.m. ET)
VOLATILITY: The second round is still not complete, but already we're seeing more volatility up and down the FedExCup Playoffs standings. Last year at the elimination line, two players fell out of the top 120; it looks like this year's number will be closer to 15. Meanwhile at the top of the standings, there wasn't much movement in the top 30 a year ago, but if the tournament ended today, there would be seven new members of the top 30 after one event.
Much of that volatility is due to the revisions in the points system, but some of it has to do with who's playing well. Last year, the top 15 players took the vast majority of the top spots at each event. Clearly, the Barclays isn't over yet, but right now, Steve Stricker (21st) is leading, Hunter Mahan (31st) is second and Dudley Hart (68th) and Angel Cabrera (131th) are tied for third. -- Steve Dennis (3:05 p.m. ET)
HART-STOPPING: How good was Dudley Hart's birdie at the 18th? Pretty darn good.
The hole calls for a draw off the tee and Hart can't hit that shot. So he blasted it 253 yards.
"Hit it as far as I could, and unfortunately hit it off the hosel to do that," he said.
That left him with 213 yards to the pin and he hit a fade 3-iron -- to six feet. That closed out a second-round 69 and put him four behind mid-day leader Steve Stricker.
"It was right on the top of a little ridge that runs parallel with the fairway there and a little bit, a little bit left, and overall hit it pretty straight and it went in," he said. -- Melanie Hauser (3:02 p.m. ET)
FROM THE PGA TOUR STAFF: Some interesting notes midway through the second round ...
• Steve Stricker is hoping to win his second consecutive Barclays, albeit on a different course. The last player to successfully defend a non-major championship PGA TOUR title at a different course than the one he won on the year prior was Jim Furyk in 2007 at the RBC Canadian Open. Furyk won the 2007 title at Angus Glen Golf Club after capturing it in 2006 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
• The last time Stricker held a 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR was at the 2006 U.S. Open, when he held a one-stroke lead at the halfway point en route to a T6 finish.
• The 36-hole leader/co-leader at The Barclays has gone on to win the tournament 12 times in the tournament's 41-year history. Vijay Singh (2006) is the only leader at the halfway point of The Barclays to win since 2001.
• Of the 16 players who have held at least a share of the 36-hole lead at The Barclays dating back to 1996, only four of them have failed to finish in the top five on the week: David Howell (2006), Briny Baird (2003), Jeff Maggert (1999) and Jim Furyk (1998).
• Dudley Hart (67-69--136) has made a habit out of fast starts in 2008. Four times this year, Hart has been inside the top six through 36 holes of a PGA TOUR event: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (T6), The Honda Classic (T3), Wachovia Championship (T3) and the Buick Open (T2).
• 2007 U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera recorded a bogey-free 67 on Friday to finish at 6-under 136. Cabrera has only one top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR since winning the U.S. Open last year, a T5 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. This marks the first time that Cabrera has opened a TOUR event with back-to-back rounds in the 60s (69-67--136) since the 2005 WGC-CA Championship.
• Bill Haas, who entered the weekd at No. 107 on the FedExCup points list, carded a second-round 68 on Friday to finish 36 holes at 3-under 139. Haas' father Jay played in The Barclays 27 times with only four top-10s to his name; however, three of those four were near-misses as he finished T4 in 2003, T3 in 1994 and T2 in 1984. In fact, no player in Barclays history has finished in the money as many times as Jay Haas (19).
• Eric Axley rebounded nicely from a first-round 78 with a second-round 65. The 2006 Valero Texas Open winner has played well lately with T4 finishes in two of his last five starts on the PGA TOUR (John Deere Classic, Legends Reno-Tahoe Open). Today's round of 65 marks the 10th time in his last 22 rounds on TOUR that he has shot 67 or lower. -- (2:54 p.m. ET)
CUT LINE UPDATE: It is beginning to look like 1 over could hold as the cut line; currently 17 players are tied for 68th at 1 over, with 12 of those players still on the course (all on their first nine holes).
If three of those 12 can pick up another stroke, the cut would move to even par, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of movement in the last couple of hours. If it stays there, then Lee Janzen, Glen Day, Jeff Overton and Justin Bolli will in all probability be fighting for the final three spots in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Janzen is in the most tenuous position, starting at a disadvantage of 40 points to Overton, 80 to Day and 120 to Bolli. However, he's playing the best of the quartet thus far, at T21. Bolli is currently the odd man out, five points behind Michael Letzig, who will miss the cut. -- Steve Dennis (2:40 p.m. ET)
FOUR MORE: A few more names who probably shot themselves out of the Playoffs by not making the cut today -- Matt Jones (7 over, ranked 106th coming in); Shane Bertsch (4 over, ranked 108); Joe Ogilvie (5 over, ranked 108); and Tim Wilkinson (10 over, ranked 110).
The projected cut line is currently at 1 over. -- Mike McAllister (2:35 p.m. ET)
WHAT WILL WIN, PART II: Sergio Garcia may think 10 under or so will win this week, but defending champion and current tournament leader Steve Stricker thinks the winning score will be much lower.
"I think guys are going to learn how to play it every day, and I think the scores could even get a little bit lower, to tell you the truth," Stricker said after his bogey-free 7-under 64 gave him the lead at 10 under. "The weather is great. The course is in good shape, so I think guys will figure out a way to get it around and play it well."
The key to Stricker's play thus far? His ability to hit greens. He's hit 27 of 36 greens in regulation, which currently ranks him in the top 14 of that statistic. When he hit those greens, he didn't do too badly with the putter, either, needing just 25 putts on Friday.
"I gave myself quite a few opportunities (Friday)," Stricker said. -- Mike McAllister (2:25 p.m. ET)
WEIR ON HIS BEARD: Only at PGATOUR.COM will you get everything you need to know about Mike Weir and his Playoffs beard.
Yesterday, we chronicled the appearance of Weir's beard and posted the first images on our Live Notes. Today, after shooting a 4-under 67 that included seven birdies, Weir discussed his Playoffs beard.
"Yeah, it's definitely (Playoffs) psychology," Weir said. "I was on vacation last week down at a lake and let it grow and got back and I thought, 'Hey, it's Playoffs time, maybe I'll just keep it.'
"It's a hockey thing. In hockey, guys grow the beards so thought I would give it a shot and see if it works."
So far so good, as Weir is at 4 under going into the weekend.
Oh, and if you're wondering where he got the idea for the Playoffs beard? Check it out. -- Mike McAllister (2:15 p.m. ET)
WHAT WILL WIN? Sergio Garcia said on Thursday that he thought 10 under would win The Barclays this week. But with Steve Stricker at 10 under after his second round and Hunter Mahan just starting Friday's round after his opening 9-under 62, Garcia was asked if he had to revise his thinking.
"No, I don't think it's going to be far from that," said Garcia, who shot a 4-under 67 on Friday and will enter this weekend in good position to make a charge at 5 under for the tournament. "Obviously, I would love to shoot 13 or 14 under if I can. But the course, like I said yesterday, it's not going to get any easier towards the weekend." -- Mike McAllister (1:55 p.m. ET)
THE BUBBLE BOY: Patrick Sheehan is taking things one step at a time this week.
He came to Ridgewood Country Club ranked 120th on the FedExCup rankings with 93,030 points. That puts the 38-year-old Rhode Islander on the bubble for next week, as just the top 120 advance to the Deutsche Bank Championship.
So Sheehan's first goal was to make the cut -- which he has more than done with Friday's 70 that left him at 3 under. Now that he's going to play the weekend, Sheehan is guaranteed to earn points so he can try to improve on his points position.
"So there's one hurdle crossed," Sheehan said. "I don't know how well I have to do now to hold position, or I would really like to play the third week so I need to move up 50 spots. That's going to be hard to do, but obviously my first goal was next week and then hopefully next week to next week and just keep moving up.
"This is a huge start just to make the cut, so I have a chance to play next week."
A year ago, Sheehan was playing the Nationwide Tour so this is his first foray into the Playoffs. He was an interested observer last year, though, and he sees the potential for more volatility this year.
"Much more movement this year," Sheehan said. "Last year, I wasn't in it and I watched it and nobody really fell out or moved in, but this year, there's going to be a lot of that and I think we'll see it the first week, too, right here."
Sheehan said he felt he was safely in the Playoffs last month after a tie for sixth in Milwaukee. The question was positioning for the stretch run.
"I was trying to get under 100 before this one started so that way I would not have such a huge hill to climb each time," said Sheehan, who tied for 20th in Greensboro last week. "With a good weekend here, I can move up quite a bit and hopefully enough to have a chance for the third week.
"I love the course. I grew up in the northeast in Rhode Island, so a lot of these holes look like holes I used to play as a kid; a lot tougher than that, because the course is so much longer. Courses like this, I wish we played more of." -- Helen Ross (1:40 p.m. ET)
STRICKER'S 64: Steve Stricker just put the wraps on a 7-under 64 that gives him the lead at 10 under. It's the second time he's shot 64 in the second round this year on the PGA TOUR.
Here are Stricker's best second rounds in his TOUR career: -- Mike McAllister (1:13 p.m. ET)
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AX OR AXED? Eric Axley will have his eye on the cut line as Friday afternoon progresses.
The 34-year-old did what he had to do -- shooting a bogey-free 65 that gave him a chance to make the weekend after opening with a 78. Will a cumulative total of 1 over be enough, though? The cut was hovering between 1 over and even as the morning wave began to finish.
"I knew I just needed a good score, after playing bad yesterday," Axley said. "I kind of came out and wanted to just play aggressive, and I had nothing to lose. Made a string of three birdies in a row on my first nine holes, and kind of got in a position where if I kept playing well, I could make the cut."
Whether he makes the cut or not might determine whether Axley advances to next week's second Playoff event, the Deutsche Bank Championship. Axley came to New Jersey ranked 99th with 93,870 FedExCup points -- and the top 120 advance.
"I did everything (well today)," Axley said. "I drove it a lot straighter, hit a lot of fairways and some good iron shots and made some putts. Yesterday I putted absolutely awful, and I think I pulled three putts yesterday. My score was terrible yesterday but play-wise, if I make the little short putts, (I shoot) even par, 1 over. No, today just kind of came together and felt good over the ball and added up to a good score." -- Helen Ross (1:05 p.m. ET)
CUT FLUCTUATION: The cut line is moving up -- it just went to even par -- and given how players were scoring this morning, it's probably going to stay at even or possibly 1 under. That's going to make a big difference to some guys who are at 1 over, such as Tom Lehman, Charles Warren, Zach Johnson and Eric Axley. If any of those players make the cut, they're a shoe-in for continuing on in the Playoffs, but all will be gone if they don't play this weekend.
Lee Janzen and Jeff Overton have to hope the cut line stays up, because they're both safely in right now. But if the players listed above also make the cut, Janzen and Overton are in danger of being eliminated from the Playoffs even if they make the cut -- unless they really pour it on over the weekend. -- Steve Dennis (12:55 p.m. ET)
EARLY CASUALTIES: Of Friday's earlier finishes, you can cross James Driscoll off the Playoffs list for next week. David Toms is likely a goner too.
Driscoll, ranked 123rd in FedExCup points entering the week, needed to make the cut to have any shot of advancing. But at 5 over after his second-round 73, he has no shot now, with the projected cut line currently at even par.
Toms is in the same boat. He was 121st in points and is at 3 over for the tournament.
Brad Adamonis didn't do himself any favors by finishing at 7 over through two rounds. Adamonis was 93rd in points and will have to sweat out the afternoon results. So will Nathan Green, who shot a fine 4-under 67 on Friday but is at 2 over for the tournament. Green was 94th in points.
Five players who are not playing this week are currently below the projected points line for next week: Alex Cejka, Jason Bohn, Bob Tway, Bob Estes and Roland Thatcher. -- Mike McAllister (12:37 p.m. ET)
STRICKER THE NEW LEADER: Defending champion Steve Stricker is now at 10 under, thanks to his third birdie on the back nine. Stricker is 7 under on his round with two holes to play. He might get to 8 under -- the par-5 17th hole was the easiest one on the course in the first round -- but the finishing hole was the second hardest. -- Mike McAllister (12:20 p.m. ET)
LESS THAN 100: In Thursday's first round, Hunter Mahan, Patrick Sheehan and Corey Pavin each needed less than 25 putts to complete their rounds (23 for Mahan and Sheehan; 24 for Pavin).
Should the trio maintain that pace for the rest of the week, they would finish with less than 100 putts for the tournament. Just five players this year on the PGA TOUR have completed an event by putting less than 100 times. -- Mike McAllister (12:10 p.m. ET)
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BOGEY-FREE: Eric Axley just finished his bogey-free round of 6-under 65, which puts him at 1 over for the tournament, right on the projected cut line. He's inside the projected number to advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship, but if the cut line moves, he could be in trouble.
Just three players had bogey-free rounds in Thursday's first round: Briny Baird, Jesper Parnevik and Kevin Streelman. -- Mike McAllister (11:54 a.m. ET)
FEDEXCUP MOVEMENT: Right now, 17 of the 23 players outside the top 120 (i.e., the number eligible for next week's Deutsche Bank Championship) are inside the projected cut line of 1 over. That means that players all the way up to about the 90th seed are in danger of being eliminated from the Playoffs if they miss the cut today. For instance, Alex Cejka, the 91st seed who is out due to injury, would be ranked 121st if the tournament ended now.
The only player who would make the cut but not get to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship would be Lee Janzen, who is currently right on the cut line at 1 over (tied for 66th). Janzen was the 144th and final player to make the Playoffs. -- Steve Dennis (11:35 a.m. ET)
TWO MORE NOTES ON THE 62: Here are a couple of notes (from our friends at Elias Sports Bureau) that you may have missed about Hunter Mahan's first-round 9-under 62. Mahan tees off in today's second round at 1:05 p.m. from the 10th tee.
• Mahan holed out from 98 yards to eagle the par-4 first hole. Just three other players have ever eagled their first par-4 hole played and gone on to lead the first round of The Barclays.
Ironically, the last player to accomplish the feat at The Barclays is one of Mahan's playing partners in the first two rounds this week. Briny Baird eagled the par 4 10th hole, his first hole of the 2003 event at Westchester Country Club. Baird went on to lead in the first round and finish tied for 30th.
• Mahan's domination in the first round can be attributed to his play on the par-4 holes. Mahan was 8 under in his first round on the par 4s, which ties the lowest score relative to par on the par 4s in a round of a PGA TOUR event over the past 25 years.
Mahan joins 14 other players who have been 8 under on the par-4 holes in a round of a TOUR event, with the most recent occurrence coming just last week at the Wyndham Championship. Eventual winner Carl Pettersson pulled off the feat during the second round. -- Mike McAllister (11:30 a.m. ET)
WATSON HOT, TOO: Bubba Watson, playing in the group behind Anthony Kim, has also birdied his third consecutive hole and is now at 5 under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Steve Stricker has moved to 8 under after rolling in a 16-foot birdie putt on the par-4 11th. -- Mike McAllister (11:20 a.m. ET)
THREE STRAIGHT FOR KIM: Anthony Kim has made three consecutive birdies to move to 4 under for the tournament.
Kim, who was stung by a bee yesterday in shooting a 1 -under 70, opened his second round on the 10th hole. After seven straight pars, Kim drove the par-5, 594-yard 17th in two and nearly dropped in his 46-foot eagle putt before settling for birdie. He then knocked his approach shot on 18 to within seven feet and made the birdie putt.
After making the turn in 34, Kim birdied the first hole by dropping in a 24-foot, 7-inch putt.
By the way, of the 69 players in the morning group, 48 are at par at better for their rounds. -- Mike McAllister (11:15 a.m. ET)
AXLEY REBOUNDS: A year ago, Eric Axley just missed making the Playoffs; he was 145th on the FedExCup points in the regular season, just 23 points behind the last player in the field (Jeff Gove). In fact, had Axley managed to shave just one stroke off his score at last year's Wyndham Championship, he would have made the Playoffs.
Axley managed to make the Playoffs this year, qualifying in 99th spot in the rankings. But after shooting a 7-over 78 in Thursday's first round -- tying with Pat Perez for the worst score of the day -- Axley put himself in serious danger of missing the cut and likely knocking himself out of contention to advance to next week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
Axley has answered the call today, though. He's 6 under for his round with five holes to play and right now is 1 over for the tournament, which just happens to be the projected cut line.
Axley, who started his round at No. 10, reeled off three consecutive birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15. After making the turn at 33, he's birdied three of his first five holes on his back nine. He's headed for an amazing turnaround ... and potentially a spot next week at TPC Boston.
To follow Axley's round on Shot Tracker, click here. -- Mike McAllister (10:45 a.m. ET)
PLAYOFFS LIVES ON THE LINE: For several players in the back end of the FedExCup standings, today could be their last round of the playoffs.
According to our FedExCup wizard Steve Dennis, any player who ranked 100th or worse in the standings going into this week's tournament and then fails to make the cut will probably not have enough points to advance to next week's event, the Deutsche Bank Championship, when the field is reduced to the top 120 players in the standings.
So here are some players who put themselves in a tough spot Thursday and need to make a big improvement today to make the cut and extend their Playoffs aspirations. (The points projection link provides you a real-time look at the standings) : -- Mike McAllister (10:20 a.m. ET)
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WATCH OUT FOR STRICKER: Defending Barclays champion Steve Stricker apparently will not give up his title that easily. With two birdies and an eagle in his first five holes Friday, Stricker has moved to 7 under for the tournament, just two strokes off first-round leader Hunter Mahan's 9-under total (Mahan tees off at 1:05 p.m. ET).
Stricker -- who shot a solid 3-under 68 in the tougher afternoon conditions of Thursday's first round -- rolled in a seven-foot birdie putt on the par-3 second, then holed out from 67 yards on the par-5 third for eagle. He then knocked his approach shot on the par-4 fifth within 5-1/2 feet and made the birdie putt.
You can follow Stricker and playing partners Trevor Immelman and J.B. Holmes on our new PGA TOUR Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Mike McAllister (9:45 a.m. ET)
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