Bob Hope Classic: Round 2 notebook
By Dave Senko, PGA TOUR Staff
LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Second-round leader Bubba Watson matched his career-low round on Friday with his 10-under-par 62 at the Silver Rock Resort. Watson posted his career best here a year ago in the opening round at the Palmer Private Course.
• Watson's 7-under-par 29 on the front nine and 10-under-par 62 at Silver Rock were both new records at that venue. Silver Rock became part of the event rotation in 2008. Watson's 62 broke the course record of 63 set by Jason Dufner in 2009.
• Watson made an eagle on the 335-yard, par-4 fifth hole after driving the green and sinking a 7-foot putt. Watson also chipped in from 20 feet for a par at No. 16 after hitting his second shot into the water.
• This marks just the second time in his career Watson has held sole possession of the lead in a PGA TOUR event. The other came at the 2007 Shell Houston Open where he led by three strokes going into the final round over five players. He closed with a 72 to finish T2.
• Tim Clark, a runner-up here in 2005, continued to enjoy success playing at the Palmer Private Course. Clark fired a 9-under-par 63 on Friday, his best round in a TOUR event since he had a 62 in the second round of the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship. Clark also had a 63 at the Palmer Private Course in 2009 (third round) and a 64 (third round) at that site in 2005 when he finished T2.
• Clark's 63 was instrumental in his moving up 58 spots on the leaderboard from T66 to T8. Brian Gay also made a big move in Friday. After shooting a 7-under-par 65, he moved from T83 to T17.
• Mike Weir and Martin Flores are the only two players in the field to have posted back-to-back bogey-free rounds.
• Arnold Palmer's grandson, Sam Saunders, bounced back from his 2-over-par 74 in the opening round with a 5-under-par 67 on Friday. Saunders, who played collegiately at Clemson, is playing in the event on a sponsor exemption.
• Three holes proved to be the most difficult to birdie in Friday's second round. Nos. 2 and 15 at La Quinta CC yielded just one birdie (Bo Van Pelt/No. 2; Lee Janzen/No. 15) and No. 9 at SilverRock did likewise with Ricky Barnes posting the lone birdie.
• Chad Collins led all players with just 21 putts on Friday. He had a remarkable 15 one-putts on his way to an 8-under-par 64. The three-time NCAA Division III champion at Methodist (NC) College currently stands at T3.
• Greg Owen recorded a hole-in-one on No. 7 in Friday's second round with an 8-iron from 140 yards at the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West.
• Steve Elkington had made birdies on eight of nine par-5 holes through the first two rounds, while TOUR rookie Martin Flores has made six birdies and an eagle on the nine par-5s.
• Defending champion Pat Perez is T25 after two rounds.
• Here is a course comparison after two rounds at the Bob Hope Classic.
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• Due to a 2 1/2-hour rain delay in the morning, none of the celebrity competitors played on Friday. They will play their final two rounds on the weekend starting at the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West on Saturday and at the Palmer Private on Sunday.
• First-round leader Shane Bertsch followed up his opening-round 10-under-par 62 with a 3-under-par 69 and is T3.
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