Let me share a couple of thoughts, as the next 48 hours will be very hectic. I may have some blogging time tomorrow afternoon while I'm watching, but we'll have the entire Clan Simpson here for Father's Day so I shan't be with you.
The second round hasn't finished as I type, but the path is clear...
The Leaderboard - Did anyone see that coming? Even Martin Kaymer in his Thursday post-round interview said, Well, of course I'm not going to shoot another 65." Good to know he's as clueless as the rest of us...
But what an amazing performance by the German, who amazed me as much with some of his par saves as with the birdies. He'll now have way too much time to think about those historical comparisons before his afternoon tee time tomorrow. He keeps saying that the Players is like a major, but I wonder if he feels that way right now.
And the B-Flight is set-up to have quite the finish, with a gaggle of show ponies withing reach of leader Brendon Todd.
Set-up - Good friend Glenn is outraged that the guys can advance it so well from the waste areas, and is actually pining for the rough. I must beg to differ in the strongest of terms, as long Bermuda rough should be the subject of a war crimes tribunal. I actually love the combination of the waste areas with these severe greens, as it offers the widest range of possibilities to the players.
As Mike Davis just admitted on ESPN, the dry weather in Pinehurst has left those areas far more playable than perhaps planned, but he seems quite happy with the test they've created.
Plus, as I noted to Glenn in trying to talk him in from the ledge, we've only seen it with the greens soft. Wait until the greens are firmer before drawing any firm conclusions, as they'll likely be tormented to a greater extent over the weekend.
As for the changed tees today, I thought No.3 played OK as a reachable Par 4, but just OK. Missing was the risk part of the equation, as I (mostly from the a.m. wave) really didn't see any bogies. But I just don't get moving the tee on the Par-3 6th back to 245 yards. It's a hard enough hole from the usual Open tees at 223 yards, and was the most difficult Par-3 in 2005.
Odd Stuff - Playing the 18th hole (I think), Hunter Mahan and Jamie Donaldson played each other's balls. Wow, when do you see that amongst professionals? One of course wonders about where the caddies were in this, but we also know who's fault it is.
One of the announcers said that every player needs to do that once, so that they guard against it in the future. True that, but even though I did it in Club Championship qualifying one year, I have a worse story on this subject.
In a tournament match years ago at Lake Isle, I pointed a playing partner (he was playing his own match) to his ball....only it wasn't his ball, as we found out on the green. He was a complete gentleman about it, assuming full responsibility, but fifteen years later I still feel bad about it.
Despite the soft greens, Charl Schwartzel managed to putt off the 15th green.... since they'll likely get firmer for the weekend, he might not be the last.
We had our first double-digit score of the week, as Jeff Maggert made 10 on the Par-5 fifth. I didn't see any of his play on the hole, but with no water it couldn't have been pretty...
Lastly, about the only player I've seen completely stymied by the infamous wire grass was Ken Duke, who had it blocking his ball in a waste area next to the green. He came up with a first-class work around, nudging it away from the plant with the toe of his putter and holing the bunker shot. Yanno, these guys are good!
Enjoy the remainder of the Open and I'll pop in as I can.
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