Second round: 59 slips away from halfway leader Clark
NORTON, Mass. (AP) -- Tim Clark missed the course record by one. He made two eagles in a span of three holes, nearly driving a par 4. And he wound up with a one-shot lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship.
It still was hard to hide his disappointment.
The South African poured in birdies at such an alarming rate Saturday at TPC Boston that after making his second eagle, from just over 20 feet on the 298-yard fourth hole, he was 10 under through 13 holes.
Two birdies over his final five holes -- one of them a par 5 -- and he would have a 59.
And after a beautiful sand wedge to 3 feet on the par-5 seventh to reach 11 under for his round, he only needed one birdie over the final two holes to become the fourth player to shoot golf's magic number on the PGA TOUR.
"For a while there, there certainly was a chance of 59," he said.
His hopes ended with a 3-iron hybrid right of the 222-yard eighth hole and an 8-foot par putt he failed to convert.
"That was end of the dream," he said.
But the second round of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup effectively is just beginning.
Clark bogeyed his final two holes and still shot a 9-under 62, giving him a one-shot lead over Mike Weir of Canada going into the final two rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
But a dozen players were separated by four shots, including Barclays winner Vijay Singh.
The group does not include British Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington. He battled back with a 65, but still missed the cut for the second straight week and now is in jeopardy of missing THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Masters champion Trevor Immelman made the cut by one shot after a 67, and he might be the only major champion at East Lake.
Weir, who tied the course record Friday with a 61, took a while to warm up until he settled in for a 68. He prefers a stiffer test, but the former Masters champion has won at places like the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
"I'm going to have to do a little better," Weir said.
Singh, who won The Barclays in a playoff last week to lead the FedExCup standings, picked up three birdies on the final four holes for a 66 and was two shots back at 12-under 130, along with former British Open champion Ben Curtis, who had a 65.
Jim Furyk (65), Sergio Garcia (64) and Ernie Els (65) were in the group at 131 that also included Kevin Streelman, who is turning into this year's poster boy of how playing well can pay off big in this points format.
Streelman was No. 102 when the playoffs began, tied for fourth at The Barclays to move up to No. 37, and is continuing a strong run that began after the U.S. Open. The PGA TOUR rookie from Chicago is 78 under par in his last eight tournaments, plus these two rounds.
"We all get on streaks where you feel like things are going well, and you try to ride it as long as possible," Streelman said. "And I feel like I've been playing some good golf."
He is assured of making the third round next week in St. Louis for the top 70 in the standings, but that isn't the case for some of those who missed the cut.
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| Saturday's Best |
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The par-5, 528-yard 18th was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.400.
The par-4, 495-yard 14th was toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.226.
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Despite missing the cut, Matthew Goggin had the shot of the day for his tee shot on the par-4 fourth, which landed inches from the pin and he tapped in for eagle. 
Following in Mike Weir's footsteps, Tim Clark came dangerously close to a 59 after a day loaded with birdies and two eagles but settled for 9-under 62. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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OLYMPIAN EFFORTS SHAPING EVENT UP TO BE FOUR-DAY SPRINT
By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.COM Interactive Producer
NORTON, Mass. -- The Beijing Olympics might have just ended, but the Deutsche Bank Championship is sure looking a lot like a world-class track meet.
In Saturday's second round, South Africa's Tim Clark looked a lot like Jamaica's Usain Bolt, who collected gold medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay races in Beijing, all with world-record times.
Much like Bolt, Clark sprinted away from the field at TPC Boston, flirting with 59 all day before settling for a 9-under 62 after bogeys on his last two holes. At 14-under 128, Clark was one better than Canada's Mike Weir, who tied the course-record on Friday with a 10-under 61.
"I've been hitting the ball nice, and today I came out and it was just strange," Clark said. "I felt good all day and just kept making birdie after birdie after birdie. ... For a while there, there was certainly a chance of 59."
Scores have been extremely low over the first two rounds with incredible conditions that include soft greens and little if any wind, which has made the course virtually defenseless.
Along with Clark and Weir, several others are double-digits under par after 36 holes. Vijay Singh and Ben Curtis are tied third at 12 under, while Jim Furyk, Kevin Streelman, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia are at 11 under. John Merrick, Ernie Els, Anthony Kim, Steve Marino and Heath Slocum are all at 10 under.
See why this thing is shaping up to be a sprint to the finish?
Weir said despite the favorable conditions, Saturday was more of a struggle for him than Friday. Then again, when you play near-flawless golf like Weir's 61 in the first round, it's hard to back it up.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Radio announcer Brian Katrek offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
| 62 | Tim Clark's second-round score, which tied Adam Scott (2003) and Marcel Siem (2005) for the lowest second-round score in tournament history. |
| 128 | As in Clark's total for the first 36 holes, or 14-under par, which is a tournament record. |
| 12 | The number of players who are double-digits under par after 36 holes. |
There is a much calmer atmosphere surrounding the four American Ryder Cup captain's picks than the two on the European side. One of the reasons is the Americans are all still grinding to make the team, and few of them are playing well. Another could be that the Americans have been trounced the last two Ryder Cups and don't want to talk about it. But the Europeans sure seem to be in gabby moods. Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie have gone back and forth with each other, Paul Casey has made his case for playing over here this week, and Padraig Harrington has endorsed Monty...
With guys like Heath Slocum, Kevin Streelman and John Merrick near the top of this leaderboard, you have to wonder how far a win here would go for any of their Ryder Cup chances. Paul Azinger has four captain's picks and would be hard pressed to leave this week's winner off the team if he is an American...
This is the end of the summer here in Boston this week, but it got a little chilly today at times. The sun didn't come out until late in the day, and the breeze off the ocean made things almost chilly. TPC Boston is less than 10 miles from Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean...
STATS AND FACTS: AUG. 30, 2008
Compiled by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.
• Tim Clark is playing some good golf in the first two rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship, scoring to an average of 3.64 and 4.00 on the par-4 and par-5 holes respectively. Clark has never scored this low on both the par-4 and par-5 holes through the first two rounds of a PGA TOUR event. Clark's previous best showing came at the 2003 Valero Texas Open, when he played both the par-4 and par-5 holes to a 3.75 average each.
• After two rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Mike Weir is playing the front nine at TPC Boston eight under-par cumulatively. This ties the lowest cumulative score in relation to par after 36 holes on the front nine at The Deutsche Bank Championship. During last year's event, Bo Van Pelt also played the front nine 8 under.
• Mike Weir has converted three of five putts from 15 to 20 feet through 36 holes of play at the Deutsche Bank Championship. In just one other PGA TOUR event in the SHOTLink era has Weir made a percentage this good from this distance (minimum of five attempts) at the midway point of an event. At the 2004 84 LUMBER Classic, Weir converted five of six after two rounds of action.
• Jim Furyk is a perfect 10-for-10 in scrambling after two rounds of the Deutsche Bank Championship. For Furyk, who is playing in his 386th PGA TOUR event, it marks only the third time that he has been perfect in scrambling (minimum of 10 greens missed) after 36 holes of play. The other occurrences came at the 2000 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, when Furyk was 12-for-12 in scrambling and at the 1995 Phoenix Open when he was 14-for-14.
• Richard S. Johnson holed out from 164 yards on the par-4, 451-yard 13th at TPC Boston during today's second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. This ties the longest hole-out in the SHOTLink era on TPC Boston's 13th hole. Johnson joins Billy Andrade during the opening round of the 2005 Deutsche Bank Championship.
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| A Statistical Look Ahead at what to Expect Over the Final Two Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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THINGS TO LOOK FOR SUNDAY
1. A round in the very low 60s. Hey, why not? It's happened the first two days, right?
2. A star-studded leaderboard when the third round ends. It's what we've got through two rounds as it is with Mike Weir, Ben Curtis, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els -- all major champions -- and Sergio Garcia and Anthony Kim all in the mix. It will be fun to see how everyone is positioned for the TOUR's only scheduled Monday finish.
3. Keep an eye on Vijay Singh. Singh starts the third round just two shots off the lead. He's dangerous at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he's finished outside of the top 10 just once in four prior starts and earned a win in 2004.
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