Tour Championship:Day 2

Round Two of the Tour Championship was all about Jim Furyk. In fact, the 42 year old Pro from West Chester Pennsylvania made it to the eighth hole before he had to put something instead of a 3 on his score card. He finished up the front nine at East Lake Golf Club shooting a 29. That would include a Birdie 4 at the par 5 ninth hole.

He stumbled a little on the back nine with three bogeys, and had his score to 8 under par before a bogey at the thirteenth hole. He would make two more bogeys and two birdies and get to the club house with a 64 at 7 under par for the championship.The key to Furyck’s success on the front nine were his laser guided iron shots, leaving very make-able putts while most of the field were struggling to make pars.

The greens at East Lake are in great shape and are quite fast , running around 12 on the StimpMeter. Most of the players are giving the downhill, breaking putts a ton of respect, causing many to come up short. Those who got aggressive were running putts 5- 8 past the cup, leaving knee-knockers coming back for their pars.

While Jim Furyck was making his charge up the leaderboard, others, including Tiger Woods found themselves going the other direction. Woods teed off in the final pairing on Friday with Justin Rose, and wasted no time giving back strokes right from the first hole. He got a couple of birdies at 3 and 7, getting it to 5 under. Then his swing seemed to go South with a double bogey at 8. Four bogies on the back would net a 3 one 73 on the day, dropping him to one over par.

Tiger’s playing partner, Justin Rose held it together and shot a 2 under 68 on the day leaving him alone in second place at 6 under par. Other players under par who made a move up the leaderboard were Bo Van Pelt, Dustin Johnson, and Zack Johnson. Zack plays that baby draw all the time, and this golf course set up nicely for him. Rory McIlroy improved to 68 and got to within four strokes at 3 under par.

Some of those who took a tour the wrong direction on Friday were Ernie Els, Nick Watney, and Sergio Garcia. Watney and Els looked totally out of sorts, and Sergio couldn’t get a putt to drop. Els shot a 75 for the high score on the day, and finished at 7 over par and pretty much out of the tournament. Phil Mickleson struggled all day with hitting fairways and nothing happening when he finally got to the greens. Phil looks like a person who is tired, and needs a break.

Last in the field to start at number 30, Scott Piercy had a set back on Friday, following his brilliant 67 from Thursday with a 73, setting him back to even par.

Follow Me on Twitter @Spin_47