Kevin Na and Jerry Kelly jump out to a two-shot co-lead but some world-class talent is chasing at TPC Sawgrass.
Only one half of the the "next great rivalry" in golf showed up this week at The Players Championship. Rory McIlroy, the world No. 1, will hit the midpoint at TPC Sawgrass at 4-under and just outside the top 10. Jordan Spieth is headed home after his worst start of this breakout season.
McIlroy started his second round in a bit of sloppy form, giving away birdie chances and dropping a shot at the par-4 6th. But then he turned it on and showed the talent that makes him the clear-cut No. 1 in the world. When using his driver, which is not often around TPC Sawgrass, he bombed it down the center. Three birdies in a four-hole stretch pushed him up inside the top 5 and within striking distance of leader Kevin Na, who got in the clubhouse early at 8-under. McIlroy's distance sets up an array of short iron shots that many players don't get to take, and he was dialed-in during the middle of his round. This approach to a few feet at the 12th left almost no work for his putter:
He's still four shots back of Na and co-leader Jerry Kelly, but that's nothing with 36 holes to go and the intimidation of the best player in the world chasing. Rory hasn't had a bad stretch of golf since that Friday 40 on the front nine at Augusta. He cleaned up on the weekend at the Masters, won the WGC Match Play last week, and is now right there at The Players. It would be a shock if he went away on the weekend and didn't make a run.
Spieth, on the other hand, was never in it and spent his entire second round on the wrong side of the cut line. He started with two bogeys on his first two holes during Thursday's first round and never really recovered from there. He needed to start rolling in birdies early in his round on Friday, but never got that kind of momentum and posted an even-par 72 that wasn't going to get it done.
There was so much hype surrounding that pairing the PGA Tour put together that it's a little disappointing to see it fizzle out so soon in their first real meeting since the Masters. Spieth has been the hottest player in the world since December, and his ascent to No. 2 in the world has been fantastic for the game. He may have joined the battle with that dominant Masters win, but Rory is still the undisputed champ and will be for the foreseeable future. You have to assume that this is just a blip for Spieth and that he'll be right back in it at the U.S. Open in just over a month.
Joining Rory on the first page of the leaderboard is Rickie Fowler, who has put together two solid rounds just days after an anonymous poll from his peers voted him as the "most overrated player on Tour" (tied with Ian Poulter). It's true that he has just one PGA Tour win, but the vote is likely driven by jealously from all his off-course exposure and earnings. He's showed up at every big event for more than a year now, and he's doing it again this week. He's 6-under and just two shots off the pace.
Fowler, McIlroy, and Spieth were some of the big names doing damage late in the afternoon, while Tiger Woods headlined the morning wave (highlights and recap of his round here). Woods played another up-and-down 18, which was spent mostly on the wrong side of the cut line. But he drilled a 9 foot birdie putt when he had to have it on his last green and made the cut right on the number.
Tiger Woods birdied No. 9 to make the cut (and he knew it). #QuickHits http://t.co/OCs5AIGWHq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 8, 2015
He's a long ways back from Na and Kelly, but Tiger insisted after the round that anyone who made the cut still had a chance.
Here's where the full field stands after 36 holes at The Players.
Place
Player
Score
Round 1
Round 2
T1
Kevin Na
-8
67
69
T1
Jerry Kelly
-8
71
65
T3
Branden Grace
-6
71
67
T3
David Hearn
-6
67
71
T3
Chris Kirk
-6
70
68
T3
Rickie Fowler
-6
69
69
T7
Chris Stroud
-5
70
69
T7
Bill Haas
-5
72
67
T7
Zach Johnson
-5
71
68
T7
Troy Merritt
-5
68
71
T7
Ben Martin
-5
68
71
T7
Scott Brown
-5
72
67
T13
Kevin Kisner
-4
73
67
T13
Sang-Moon Bae
-4
72
68
T13
Russell Henley
-4
70
70
T13
Brendon Todd
-4
68
72
T13
Charles Howell III
-4
68
72
T13
Jim Furyk
-4
70
70
T13
Brian Harman
-4
71
69
T13
Derek Fathauer
-4
68
72
T13
Cameron Tringale
-4
69
71
T13
Marc Leishman
-4
69
71
T13
Billy Horschel
-4
68
72
T13
Rory McIlroy
-4
69
71
T13
Ian Poulter
-4
71
69
T13
Ryo Ishikawa
-4
71
69
T27
Pat Perez
-3
71
70
T27
Charley Hoffman
-3
67
74
T27
J.B. Holmes
-3
70
71
T27
Henrik Stenson
-3
72
69
T27
Sergio Garcia
-3
69
72
T27
Adam Scott
-3
72
69
T27
Martin Kaymer
-3
69
72
T27
Rory Sabbatini
-3
70
71
T27
Hideki Matsuyama
-3
67
74
T27
Bubba Watson
-3
71
70
T27
Joost Luiten
-3
71
70
T38
Jamie Donaldson
-2
70
72
T38
Alex Cejka
-2
69
73
T38
Robert Allenby
-2
70
72
T38
Stephen Gallacher
-2
72
70
T38
Nick Taylor
-2
72
70
T38
Patrick Reed
-2
72
70
T38
Russell Knox
-2
72
70
T38
Bo Van Pelt
-2
70
72
T46
George McNeill
-1
73
70
T46
Luke Guthrie
-1
74
69
T46
Louis Oosthuizen
-1
70
73
T46
Robert Streb
-1
70
73
T46
Charl Schwartzel
-1
71
72
T46
Vijay Singh
-1
71
72
T46
Bryce Molder
-1
72
71
T46
Justin Thomas
-1
73
70
T46
Scott Stallings
-1
71
72
T46
Graeme McDowell
-1
73
70
T46
Webb Simpson
-1
69
74
T46
Chesson Hadley
-1
71
72
T46
Ernie Els
-1
73
70
T46
John Senden
-1
73
70
T46
James Hahn
-1
70
73
T61
Scott Langley
E
72
72
T61
Brendon de Jonge
E
73
71
T61
Geoff Ogilvy
E
72
72
T61
Dustin Johnson
E
72
72
T61
Matt Every
E
74
70
T61
K.J. Choi
E
70
74
T61
Tiger Woods
E
73
71
T61
Graham DeLaet
E
75
69
T61
Erik Compton
E
74
70
T61
Martin Flores
E
73
71
T61
Jhonattan Vegas
E
75
69
T61
Freddie Jacobson
E
70
74
T61
Padraig Harrington
E
71
73
T61
Steve Stricker
E
69
75
T61
David Toms
E
73
71
MISSED THE CUT
-
Spencer Levin
1
70
75
-
Jason Kokrak
1
69
76
-
Ryan Moore
1
73
72
-
Justin Rose
1
71
74
-
Daniel Berger
1
71
74
-
Bernd Wiesberger
1
77
68
-
Brendan Steele
1
73
72
-
Morgan Hoffmann
1
76
69
-
Michael Putnam
1
72
73
-
Brooks Koepka
1
78
67
-
Matt Kuchar
1
73
72
-
Keegan Bradley
1
77
68
-
Jason Bohn
1
71
74
-
Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
1
74
71
-
Danny Lee
2
73
73
-
Andrew Svoboda
2
71
75
-
Billy Hurley III
2
74
72
-
Justin Leonard
2
73
73
-
Jason Dufner
2
73
73
-
Danny Willett
2
72
74
-
Jeff Overton
2
69
77
-
Lee Westwood
2
76
70
-
Jimmy Walker
2
71
75
-
Boo Weekley
2
73
73
-
Harris English
2
75
71
-
Bernhard Langer
2
73
73
-
Ricky Barnes
2
69
77
-
Hunter Mahan
3
72
75
-
Steven Bowditch
3
77
70
-
Brandt Snedeker
3
69
78
-
John Huh
3
74
73
-
Shawn Stefani
3
77
70
-
Michael Thompson
3
73
74
-
Scott Piercy
3
73
74
-
Jordan Spieth
3
75
72
-
Ben Crane
3
71
76
-
Shane Lowry
3
73
74
-
William McGirt
4
75
73
-
Thongchai Jaidee
4
73
75
-
Andres Romero
4
72
76
-
Anirban Lahiri
4
76
72
-
Stewart Cink
4
76
72
-
Seung-yul Noh
4
73
75
-
Phil Mickelson
5
73
76
-
Kevin Streelman
5
75
74
-
Brian Davis
5
75
74
-
Kevin Chappell
5
77
72
-
Ryan Palmer
5
77
72
-
Nick Watney
5
78
71
-
Adam Hadwin
5
75
74
-
Tim Wilkinson
6
73
77
-
Jason Day
6
69
81
-
Will MacKenzie
6
75
75
-
Matt Jones
7
75
76
-
Retief Goosen
7
78
73
-
Brice Garnett
7
76
75
-
Sean O'Hair
8
76
76
-
Camilo Villegas
8
78
74
-
Robert Garrigus
9
75
78
-
Brian Stuard
9
74
79
-
Luke Donald
9
77
76
-
Daniel Summerhays
9
75
78
-
Gary Woodland
9
79
74
-
Aaron Baddeley
11
78
77
-
Jonas Blixt
13
77
80
WD
Angel Cabrera
4
75
WD
WD
Paul Casey
7
79
WD
WD
Darren Clarke
10
WD
WD
WD
Carl Pettersson
12
77
WD