PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens will be offering observations this week from the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Some players are better off loose, some play better under pressure. Canadian Graham DeLaet already has his card and told us he wasn't even going to play this week, except he has too many friends in Las Vegas who asked him to come down for a visit. DeLaet nearly tied the course record, firing a 63 to get within three of the lead. Meanwhile, veteran Scott McCarron admitted to us that he was nervous before teeing off in the second round, despite an opening 68, because at No. 135 on the money list, he knew that missing the cut would give him only one more chance to keep his card, three weeks from now at Disney World. He responded to that self-imposed pressure with a 66 that has him within 4 shots of the lead headed to the weekend, now with a great chance to save this season, and the next one.
Spencer Levin and Webb Simpson might be cast in the remake of the Odd Couple. Levin is short, Simpson tall. Levin is pretty tightly wound, Simpson is very laid back. Levin went to New Mexico, Simpson to Wake Forest. But the two have become friends through their junior and collegiate days and played so well together Thursday and Friday (they're both 10-under-par) that they've decided to call the folks at the Children's Miracle Network Classic and ask to be paired together at the only TOUR event that lets the players pick their partners. By the way, they're also paired on Saturday.
The driveable par-4 15th hole yielded just three eagles Friday. Two came in the most unlikely fashion from our leaders. Alex Prugh nailed a 42 foot putt that he told us he "hammered" and might have run off the green if the hole hadn't caught it. Later in the morning, Ryuji Imada left his drive in the greenside bunker, but then holed out the 28-yard shot, a key to his career-best round of 62. Imada's always been known as a great putter, but he's in the top-20 in sand saves on TOUR, so the hole-out didn't surprise him. He also had his tongue firmly in-cheek when he was told that no-putt eagles are good for the putting stats.