Notebook, Round 2: Travelers Championship

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Weather: Mostly sunny and warm with a high of 86 degrees. Winds N 4-8 mph

• 77 players made the 36-hole cut at 2-under 138 from a field of 156 professionals

• For the second straight day, Justin Rose recorded five consecutive birdies en route to a bogey-free, 8-under 62 to take the lead at 14-under. In round one, Rose birdied hole Nos. 13-17. In round two, he rolled off the string of birdies on hole Nos. 11-15. Rose's personal best is six straight birdies at the 2006 Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney on his way to an opening round, career-low 60.

• The last time a player made five straight birdies in consecutive days was Todd Fischer in rounds two and three of the 2005 Reno-Tahoe Open.

• Rose will take a 4-stroke lead into the weekend over Kevin Sutherland. The last time a player took a 4-stroke lead into the weekend was Jason Bohn after 36 holes on his way to winning in New Orleans.

• This marks the seventh time in Rose's career when he has held at least a share of the 36-hole lead, most recently the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. His best finishes of the previous six 36-hole leads have been a pair of thirds.

• Should Rose hang on for the win, he would become the first player to win in consecutive starts since Ernie Els earlier this year at the WGC CA-Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

• Only eight of 25 second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win this season on TOUR. Perhaps Rose can keep the momentum going as two of those eight have won the previous two events on TOUR. Lee Westwood led at the halfway point of the St. Jude Classic, as did Graeme McDowell at last week's U.S. Open.

• Rose's 8-under 62 for his 36-hole total of 126 ties the record for best 36-hole total set by Brad Faxon in rounds three and four in 2005. It also supplants the previous tournament record for best first 36-hole score, a 127 set by Tim Norris at Wethersfield Country Club in 1982. Both Faxon and Norris went on to win.

• Rose is making his seventh Travelers Championship start this week. At the 2005 Travelers Championship, he fired a second-round 7-under 63 to grab a four-stroke lead over Ben Curtis and Sutherland, before ultimately finishing third to Faxon. Rose missed the cut at TPC River Highlands last year.

• Dating back to the tournament's 1952 inception, the second-round leader has gone on to win the event 22 times. In that same span, there have been just 10 wire-to-wire winners, with Peter Jacobson being the most recent in 2003.

• The last three winners on the PGA TOUR in 2010 hail from Europe (Rose, Westwood and McDowell). That has not happened on the PGA TOUR (records check back to 1968 when the TOUR separated from the PGA of America).

• Sutherland made a birdie putt from inside two feet at the par-four ninth (his 18th of the day) to head into the weekend in solo second in his 408thcareer start. At 10-under, he trails Rose by four strokes.

• Sutherland is competing in his 15th Travelers Championship this week. Of the previous 14, he has claimed three top-10 finishes, all of which were T9s.

• In addition to this being Sutherland's 15th Travelers Championship start, it is also his 15th start of the year, with his lone top-10 being a T10 in New Orleans.

• Sutherland's lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 2002 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

• California native Bill Lunde nearly matched Rose's 8-under 62 with one of his own, but came up one stroke shy. Lunde's 7-under 63 is one stroke shy of his career-low 62 (R3 2009 Bob Hope Classic). He sits T3 with Vijay Singh, Charlie Wi and Corey Pavin five strokes back at 9-under.

• Lunde, who is making his 94thcareer start on the PGA TOUR this week, finished T47 at TPC River Highlands last year in his only other start.

• Lunde is making his 17th start of the year this week, with his lone top-10 being a T10 at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. His best career finish remains a T4 at the 2009 Frys.com Open.

• Singh posted a second round, 4-under 66 to put himself in prime weekend position. He (65-66) has four top-25 finishes in six career starts at the Travelers Championship. A fourth place finish in 2007 is his best finish in Hartford.

• Singh's 65-66 start is his lowest back-to-back rounds since opening with a pair of 64s at the 2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where he finished T6.

• 2010 United States team Ryder Cup Captain Pavin kept himself right in the mix with a 4-under 66 on the heels of a first-round 65. He will start the weekend T3 at 9-under with Singh and Lunde.

• Pavin is making his 17th Travelers Championship start this week. Of the previous 16, he has claimed six top-10 finishes, highlighted by runner-up honors in his second start in 1991. Pavin missed the cut last year, but finished T10 in 2008.

• Hunter Mahan (71-72) has scored in the 60s in 15 of his last 19 rounds at TPC River Highlands. He missed the cut this year, but had finished in the top 4 in his last four starts at the Travelers (T2-2006, 1-2007, T2-2008, T4-2009).

• Faxon (75-73), who won the Travelers Championship in 2005, is making his 26th appearance at this event, passing Mark Brooks and Mark Calcavecchia for the most in tournament history. Faxon misses this year's cut for just the eighth time of those 26 starts.

• There are 34 players in the field this week that competed in the U.S. Open last week.

The Travelers Championship is the fifth event in the six-tournament series (PLAYERS, Memorial, St. Jude, U.S. Open, Travelers, AT&T National), where the top two money-winners, not previously exempt, earn British Open exemptions. Below are the current money standings through four events (PLAYERS, Memorial, St. Jude, U.S. Open) and their position after the second-round of play at the Travelers Championship:

• Player Money Total Position After Second Round
- Justin Rose $1,080,000 1s
- Rickie Fowler $648,000 T34
- Davis Love III $600,565 DNP
- Matt Kuchar $586,380 DNP
- Robert Garrigus $492,800 T60
- Ricky Barnes $415,195 T34
- Shaun Micheel $330,034 T47

• Kevin Stadler was disqualified after round one for signing an incorrect scorecard.