2009 PGA Golf Tournament, Second Round

The second round of the PGA golf tournament at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota was played on the hottest day of the year there so far. The temperature was 90 degrees and winds gusted up to 25mph. The hot, windy conditions caused missed shots and putts and dried out greens. In spite of these conditions, Tiger Woods managed to prevail.

The pairings were the same as they had been on day one of the tournament. Phil Mickelson and his group went off in the morning. Wearing white golf pants, that seem to be popular among players this season, Phil shot a 74 for the second day in a row. He managed to stick around for the weekend with a 4 over par.

The three majors winners made up another group, which made it fun for them to play with each other, and interesting to watch. Lucas Glover, the U.S. Open winner, tied for second place. He said he, "gained confidence from winning the Open." Master's champion, Angel Cabrera finished 2 over par as did Stewart Cink, the British Open winner. Cink got temporarily fired up when a teenager in the crowd remarked, rather loudly, that Cink was "like a gazillion over."

Ernie Els, Tim Clark and Ross Fisher had the best rounds of the day shooting 68. Els finished one under par; Clark finished at even par and Fisher ended up one of five tied for second place. The twenty-eight-year old Englishman is beginning to make a name for himself. At hole 16 he was tied for the lead with Tiger Woods. TV commentator, Ian Baker-Finch describes Fisher as "pleasant and easy-going." Fisher claims he does well in major tournaments and is "hungry" for a win.

Tiger Woods, Rich Beem and Padraig Harrington made up the spotlight pairing for the second day in a row. You can always tell when Woods is teeing off by the shouts of "Get in the hole!" even if Woods is teeing off on a par 5 and there's no way the ball could "get in the hole." Although he started off with a bogey on hole number one, Woods finished in the lead. Among his many talents is his ability to read greens. He is an exceptional putter. Harrington went back and forth for the lead for a while but did not do well on the par fives. Beem made the cut at 3 over par.

For part of the tournament the lead changed hands or was shared with Woods. Alvaro Quiros, a 26 year old from Spain, put pressure on for a while but fell apart and ended up 1 over par for the day. Graeme McDowell, from Ireland, put a charge on but also fell back to 1 over par for the day. Harrington traded places with Woods but by hole 16 Woods was in the lead by 4 strokes and finished there.

The cut line was at 4 over par and many notable players did not make it. Tiger Woods is predicted to win. The race now is for second place.