Second round: MacKenzie has unforgettable day
MADISON, Miss. (AP) -- Whoa, dude, Will MacKenzie had a killer round at the Viking Classic on Friday. Problem is he can't remember much of it.
A guy like MacKenzie -- a kayaker, heliboarder and surfer -- lives in the moment. And his 8-under 64 was so last hour when he met with reporters, even if it did boost him into a four-way tie at 10 under, a stroke behind leader Marc Turnesa.
"I'm trying to think," he said when asked about his birdies on Nos. 1 and 3. "Those were close."
Wasn't the birdie putt on No. 3 from 28 feet?
"Oh, yeah."
How about the birdie on No. 5?
"I don't remember 5," he said. "I have to sit here and really think about it."
MacKenzie may have to take someone else's word for it, but the guy who used to sleep in his van for five years while pursuing the next big thrill has found a home on the PGA TOUR. His dazed and confused moments off the course at the Annandale Golf Club on Friday belied a razor-sharp morning round on it. He made eight birdie putts after his opening-round 70 and hasn't had a bogey yet.
Chalk it up to his putting. He has made all 15 putts from within 10 feet in the first two rounds and is back to using the claw grip, for the most part.
"I won my only tournament with a claw, but I actually switched back for some reason," said MacKenzie, the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open winner. "That's the way I am."
Most the leaders Friday -- Turnesa was a stroke ahead of MacKenzie, Paul Stankowski, Brian Gay and Dicky Pride -- used their putters to their advantage. Turnesa took the opening-round lead Thursday with 12 one-putts and 22 total. He shook off a slow start Friday with a 55-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 13th and saved his lead with an 8-foot putt for par on his final hole that was no gimme.
The PGA TOUR rookie has held the second-day lead once before, but fell out of contention at the St. Jude Championship this year with rounds of 70 and 77 to tie for 37th.
"Just the fact that I have been here before makes me a little more confident," Turnesa said after his second-round 68. "Hopefully I can finish off a little stronger than I did at St. Jude."
Stankowski also had a great day with his putter and is gaining confidence after holing a 31-footer on the par-4 ninth and eight other birdies for a 7-under 65. Feeling good about his putting is a new emotion.
"It's kind of been my weak link early throughout my career," he said. "I had a month off and finally got a putting lesson for the first time in my life and started working on my putting for the first time in my life, which is probably a good thing."
Stankowski is pain free for the first time in years. He's dealt with a litany of hand, wrist, shoulder and forearm injuries. Most recently a doctor taught him how to apply tape to his hand and the pain he experienced from cumulative injuries over the years disappeared.
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| Friday's Best |
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The par-5, 522-yard fifth was the easiest with a Friday scoring average of 4.447.
The par-4, 473-yard 14th was the toughest with a Friday scoring average of 4.27.
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Dicky Pride's ace on the par-3 second hole. Using a 4-iron from 204 yards, Pride notched the 23rd hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR this year. It was the first ace at Annandale Golf Club since Boo Weekleys at the 12th hole in the second round last year. 
Both Will MacKenzie and Kevin Na shot 64s on Friday, giving them a tie for lowest round of the day. Willy Mac's bogey-free round was his second in a row, while Na made only one bogey with nine birdies to propel up the leaderboard. MacKenzie is now tied for second, Na is tied for 33rd. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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FRIDAY'S STATS
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.
• Will MacKenzie shot a bogey-free seven under-par 65 in the second round of the Viking Classic. This score ties the lowest round score relative to par in which MacKenzie did not play a single hole over par. In the second round of this year's John Deere Classic, MacKenzie shot a 7-under-par 64 without a bogey, a tournament where he went on to finish tied for fourth. And in the third round of the 2007 Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley, MacKenzie posted a bogey-free score of 7-under 65.
• Spike McRoy made five consecutive birdies from the 3rd through the 7th holes in the second round of the Viking Classic. This ties the longest birdie streak of McRoy's PGA TOUR career. The last time McRoy had five straight birdies was way back in the second round of the 1998 Buick Invitational.
THEY MEET AGAIN
| 71.64 | Scoring average over 18 holes on Thursday at the Viking Classic. |
| 70.62 | Scoring average at the par-72 course on Friday, when the course played a stroke easier. |
Casey Wittenberg, who is playing this week on a sponsor's exemption, posted a 5-under 67 on Friday to move just two shots shy of the leader. Wittenberg is currently No. 12 on the Nationwide Tour money list, with $255,142, and all but guaranteed of becoming one of the 25 players who will earn their PGA TOUR card for the 2009 season.
Should Wittenberg win this week, he would become the first player to receive a sponsor's exemption and go on to win since Jason Gore did so at the 2005 84 LUMBER Classic.
Wittenberg is perhaps best known for his runner-up finish at the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship to 2007 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year Nick Flanagan.
Speaking of Nick Flanagan (74), he made the cut on the number this week despite a scorecard on Friday that included five birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys.
NAMES YOU MIGHT KNOW
David Duval (69-69) has posted back-to-back rounds in the 60s for the first time since closing the 2006 Bank of America Colonial with rounds of 68-69-68. That's a span of 36 tournaments. Duval is five shots behind Turnesa at 6-under 138.
Another major winner also got off to a strong start for the first time in a while. After going almost six months without making a cut since finishing T60 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic on February 24th, John Daly has now made the cut in his last two appearances. He finished T50 at the regular-season ending Wyndham Championship and has posted rounds of 70-67 this week to move into a tie for ninth on the leaderboard.
HOW THE PAST CHAMPS FARED
Four of the eight past Viking Classic champions in the field this week made the cut, led by John Huston and Greg Kraft at 7-under 137. The list includes:
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THINGS TO WATCH ON SATURDAY
1. BVP. In the past four Viking Classics, Bo Van Pelt has shot sub-par scores in 14 consecutive rounds. His 3-under 69 on Friday moved him into ninth place. Will the streak continue?
2. The 36-hole leader. Marc Turnesa holds the 36-hole lead for the second time this year. He didn't win that time but he might be thrilled to learn that the 36-hole leader has won 18 times in 39 stroke-play events this season.
3. Sabbatini. Rory Sabbatini is sitting in a tie for 18th after shooting back-to-back 69s. The outspoken South African is just waiting to pounce and capture his first PGA TOUR win since last year's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
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