Round 2 in the Books

A few observations after the completion of the second round from the Deutsche Bank Championships at TPC Boston.

1. Out of the FedEx Cup

Hard to believe some of the names who we’ll no longer be seeing for the rest of the playoffs. Among those that saw their 2011 run end: Ian Poulter, Anthony Kim, Stewart Cink, Scott Verplank, Trevor Immelman, and Harrison Frazar. Why is Frazar among this list? He won a tournament this season (FedEx St. Jude Classic). Cink (The Open Championship) and Immelman (The Masters) are former winners of Majors.

2. Holding Their Breath

From what I can see, there are two players that missed the cut that are currently in the top 70, but may fall out depending on how others perform over the last two rounds. The closest to #70 of these two is Cameron Tringale who currently sits in 66th. The other is Brendon de Jonge resting in 66th. There are 15 players that made the cut, but are sitting outside that magical top 70. All Tringale and de Jonge can do is watch. In case you’re wondering, Chris Stroud is currently projected in the 70th position. He’s T44 at 2-under-par 140.

And Stroud has someone hot on his heels in Robert Garrigus. He rests currently at #71, but he’s only one shot back of Stroud.

You could say that Justin Rose is also on a bit of a hot seat right now. He’s projected for that #30 slot, the slot that would see him go to Atlanta. He is tied with Stroud after the second round.

3. Top 5

Here’s the FEC standings for the Top 5 and their current position for this week’s tournament:

1. Bubba Watson (T1)
2. Dustin Johnson (T33)
3. Adam Scott (T1)
4. Charl Schwartzel (T1)
5. Matt Kuchar (T25)

If DJ and Kuchar can recover some stokes they lost during the second round, they obviously would be sitting a little better than they are. Johnson is in a better position due to his win last week. If any of these five stumble, here’s the next 5.

6. Brandt Snedeker (4)
7. Nick Watney (5)
8. Webb Simpson (T18)
9. Luke Donald (T11)
10. Steve Stricker (T61)

I would not rule out a win by any of these five with the exception of Stricker. He just has too much ground between he and the trio of Watson, Schwartzel, and Scott. He’s ten shots behind them. Oh, and there’s also a great deal of others he would have to pass.

Of course you cannot rule out Snedeker or Watney winning this week. Snedeker won at TPC Boston last year and Watney was the regular season FEC points leader. He’s also notched a win this season.

4. Phil and the Putter

We all know of the uproar Lefty has caused by his switch to the belly putter. It may be permanent. It might not be. Two rounds is an extremely small sample to use in comparison to a whole season of stats, but let’s see how Mickelson has fared with his new found friend.

You may have heard that 2011 hasn’t exactly been Lefty’s best season in regards to the flat stick. If you look a the secondary numbers from Phil’s putting stats, the highest he is ranked in any single stat is putting from 20-25 feet (14.49%). He is 52nd. His worst? putting from 15-20 feet, where he has a conversion rate of 15.05% good for 162nd. To me, the biggest shocker is putting inside 5 feet. Mickelson has a 95.87% conversion percentage, but that puts him 122nd.

And from looking at the first two rounds, it doesn’t appear to have improved any. We must be aware that this is all in the experimental stage. I’m just wondering how long this experiment will last if his performance on the greens does not improve with this move.

Coverage starts at 1 PM ET tomorrow on the Golf Channel with NBC picking up at 3 PM ET.

And I leave you to relive an ace…

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