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CHAMPIONSHIP
TICKETS & HOSPITALITY
GENERAL INFORMATION
HOST COURSE
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
| Second round: The stars rise to the top at FirestoneAug. 1, 2008
 Condon/Getty Images Vijay Singh put himself in position for his first win at Firestone after Friday's 4-under 66. AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Without the world's No. 1 player around, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson brought some star power Friday to the final World Golf Championships of the year. Singh twice escaped from the trees on his closing holes at Firestone and renewed his affair with a belly putter on his way to a 4-under 66 at the Bridgestone Invitational, putting his name atop the leaderboard for the first time in more than four months.  He was one shot ahead of Mickelson, who made another great escape at the end of the second round, this time holing a 20-foot par putt to finish off a 66 that put him in the final group with Singh. Both have three majors -- two Masters and a PGA for Mickelson, two PGAs and a Masters for Singh -- along with some history. They got into a heated argument during a rain delay at Augusta National over the length of Mickelson's metal spikes. A year later when they played two rounds together in Phoenix, Singh asked that Mickelson's driver be tested to make sure it was legal. Both have more pressing concerns this week, mainly getting their games back in order with the PGA Championship looming. "I'm going to go out there and play my heart out and try to shoot as low as I can, and not really be concerned about what Phil does," said Singh, who was at 7-under 133. "He's going to be focused on his game. I just hope we both have a good day." Sean O'Hair, seeing immediate results from switching to a new swing coach, had a 67 and joined the group at 5-under 135 that included Lee Westwood (65), former Masters champion Zach Johnson (68) and Peter Lonard (66). Sixteen players were within four shots of the lead. "It's anybody's ball game," said Hunter Mahan, who had a 66 and was at 3-under 137. It helps that Tiger Woods isn't at Firestone, particularly since he is a six-time champion on this course and had never finished out of the top five in his 10 appearances. "To me, him not being here is the difference between 39th and 38th," Lonard said with a laugh. Singh was the last player other than Woods to be No. 1 in the world, a 32-week reign in 2004-05. But he now is 45, coping with nagging injuries and a victory drought on the PGA TOUR that has lasted 18 months and caused him to fall to No. 15 in the world ranking. The culprit? He blames his putter. Singh got so fed up with his conventional putter when he missed the cut at the British Open that he went back to the belly putter during a week of practice and swears he will stick with it. "I'm not a great putter, but I'm not a bad putter," Singh said. "The British Open was the turning point, where I played really well and putted really badly, and decided that's it. I'm not a good putter with a short putter. I've decided that I'm going to putt with the belly. If you see me with a short one, that means that something is wrong with me." "I'm not a great putter, but I'm not a bad putter," Singh said. "The British Open was the turning point, where I played really well and putted really badly, and decided that's it. I'm not a good putter with a short putter. I've decided that I'm going to putt with the belly. If you see me with a short one, that means that something is wrong with me." The only thing wrong on a balmy Friday at Firestone was his driver, although it didn't hurt him too badly. One day after missing only one fairway, Singh was in the short grass six times in the second round, and needed to work his shots around the tree-lined fairways on the sixth and eighth holes at the end of his round to avoid dropping shots. • To read to remainder of this story, click here.
NEW COACH PROVIDES QUICK DIVIDENDS FOR O'HAIR AKRON, Ohio -- All it took was 30 minutes on the range.  O'Hair OK. So maybe that is oversimplifying things a tad. But that session with a new coach last week renewed Sean O'Hair's confidence in his ball-striking and he finds himself in contention at the midway point of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, as a result. O'Hair fired a 67 Friday on the sunbathed South Course at Firestone Country Club to pull within two strokes of Vijay Singh. The 26-year-old, who won the PODS Championship earlier this year, is tied for third at 5 under entering the final two rounds of the star-studded $8 million event. The way he'd been hitting the ball lately, though, O'Hair wouldn't have given much for his chances. He'd been fighting a hook and he was definitely disheartened -- particularly after getting off to such a good start with the win in Tampa and a tie for third the following week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. • For more on Sean O'Hair's fast turnaround, click here.
AN INTERESTING PAIR: SINGH AND MICKELSON ON SATURDAY When Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson tee off at 2:10 p.m. ET on Saturday in the final group in the third round of the Bridgestone Invitational, it will be the 16th time the two have played together since 2002 when records of pairings first were recorded. The two are well matched. Mickelson has held the edge in seven of their meetings while Singh shot lower in six. Twice the two shot the same score. "I'm going to go out there and play my heart out and try to shoot as low as I can and not really be concerned about what Phil does," said Singh, who owns a one-stroke lead. "He's going to be focused on his game. I just hope we both have a good day." Since the 2005 Masters where they squabbled over golf spikes, Mickelson owns a 7-2-1 edge in their head-to-head battles. -- Helen Ross
INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK  AKRON, Ohio -- Steve Stricker has struggled over the years with his driving accuracy, but he was much better the last two years when he won back-to-back Comeback Player of the Year awards. But this year, it has been a struggle again with the big stick. Steve changed drivers this week with the hope of getting something that will keep him out of the long rough and in the tight fairways of Oakland Hills next week. With no cut this week, players know they have four rounds to make adjustments if they want ... Scott Gneiser is back on the bag of longtime boss David Toms this week. While it is good to see them back together, it is interesting to note Parker McLachlin's success at the Legends Reno Tahoe Open (he shot 62 on Friday at Montreux Golf and Country Club). Gneiser caddied for McLachlin earlier this year before recently going back to Toms ... A bear appeared on the golf course at the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor. We don't have anything that dangerous here in Akron -- unless you count Mark Carnevale. APPLEBY ADJUSTS STANCE -- AND FINDS HIS GROOVE Stuart Appleby didn't mince words.  Appleby "(It was) a bit degrading playing the first nine holes the way I did," the Aussie said as he thought back to that 5 over start on Thursday. After opening with that 40 on Thursday, though, Appleby has played his next 27 holes in 9 under and is three strokes off the lead at the Bridgestone Invitational. "I was obviously a bit frustrated," Appleby said. "I felt like I had momentum, I was going to be playing well, and when you're 5 over it's pretty ugly, and I sort of dreamt of getting back to par." About the time he was making the turn, Appleby realized he had slipped back into an old habit and the ball was too far back in his stance, which doesn't leave him room to hit it. So he moved the ball up, and a little more to the left, and things started clicking. Five birdies on his second nine Thursday got him back to even par and Friday's 66 put him in contention. "For my action (having the ball back in his stance) doesn't work," Appleby said. "I think other guys can hit it, but for me I've got to get the ball way up forward, way up left, and turn through it. Once I start hitting greens, I obviously start creating opportunities and confidence builds and then you make a couple. I feel confident. "I feel like this weekend is going to be more like what I've just played the last 27 holes." -- Helen Ross THINGS TO WATCH ON SATURDAY 2. Mickelson's driving. He ranks just 58th of 80 players in driving accuracy this week, yet he enters the weekend one shot off the lead, thanks to a tournament-leading 78 percent greens in regulation. If Mickelson can keep it in the fairway, he might run away with this one. 3. Zach Johnson. The former Masters champ is looking for his first top-10 finish since the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in March. And his current standing of T3 is his best following a second round since the 2007 Bridgestone Invitational.
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HEADLINES
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The par-5, 523-yard second was the easiest with a second-round scoring average of 4.613.
The 464-yard par-4 18th was the most difficult with a second-round scoring average of 4.338.
Not much has gone right for Denmark's Soren Hansen this week, but he did manage one big highlight Friday, holing out from 102 yards with his third shot at Firestone's mammoth par-5 16th. Hansen is 15 shots behind entering the weekend. 
The alert was posted a few minutes after noon -- Trevor Immelman was challenging the course record of 61. The Masters champion didn't get there, but his scorecard did include a bevy of 3s -- 11, in fact -- en route to a 6-under 64. 