Adam Scott (AP)
Scott had a putt for birdie on 16 holes in a second round that was without a bogey and without much stress. He wound up with a 5-under 66 that left him one shot behind 31-year-old rookie Shawn Stefani.
Stefani had to scramble more that he would have preferred, though he converted all the putts he felt he was supposed to make in his round of 70.
Temperatures finally began to warm, and without much wind throughout the day, the tournament was wide open going into the weekend. Stefani was at 7-under 135, one shot ahead of Scott and past champion K.J. Choi, who had a 67.
Twenty players were within five shots of the lead at the halfway point, a group that included everyone from Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar, to 19-year-old Jordan Spieth and Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient whose 65 was the low round of the day.
It was the highest score to lead at Innisbrook in five years.
Scott was right in the middle of it all, which is where he wants to be.
The Australian hasn’t shown too many scars from making bogeys on the last four holes to lose the British Open last summer. He finished the year by winning the Australian Masters, though it was a month later when he was working on his game at home on the Gold Coast that he experienced a significant turnaround with his short game.
“Just had a really nice feeling going that day, whatever it was, and I managed to get through the whole shag bag of balls hitting every chip the same,” he said. “Everything was very controlled and consistent. ... I’ve felt my confidence grow on the course with the pitching and chipping.”
Scott said when he was hitting the ball poorly in 2009, it put extraordinary pressure on his short game because he was missing greens. In this case, he said a solid short game has relieved any tension in the long game, and it’s starting to show.
He closed with a 68-64 on the weekend at Doral, and carried that to a tougher Copperhead course at Innisbrook.
Scott has a limited schedule before his next crack at a major next month. The Tampa Bay Championship is only his fourth event this year (and fourth in the last five weeks), and then he plans to shut it down until going to Augusta National.
Choi has switched to a claw grip for putting, and he likes the results. He took only 12 putts on the back nine Friday, including birdies on two of the par 3s.
“Sometimes very nervous, but I keep going more in line,” Choi said. “But still, 6-under-par, a very good position. My confidence is very well.”
John Daly registered his 15th score of 10 or higher on a hole in his PGA Tour career when he twice tried to get out of the trees, took two penalty drops and made what he called a “beautiful chip” to get up-and-down from 30 yards on the par-4 third hole. He made a 10 and had an 81.
Even though the tournament is at the halfway point, Stefani’s confidence is growing. He finally made his first bogey of the tournament on the seventh hole, and then rebounded with a 5-iron to 10 feet for birdie on the par-3 eighth. He hit another high cut with a 5-iron on the 220-yard 15th hole for a short birdie.
“Today was a little bit more of a struggle,” Stefani said. “Didn’t really drive it super great. Didn’t hit some of the best iron shots. But I scrambled well and I putted really great. When you putt good, that usually keeps rounds going, and that’s pretty much what happened today.”
Harris English made four birdies on the tough par 3s to atone for not making up any ground on the par 5s. That gave him a 69, leaving him two shots behind with close friend and fellow Georgia alum Brian Harman (70), and Jason Dufner (66).
Scott played in the same group with Geoff Ogilvy, who is No. 49 in the world and needing to stay there by the end of the month to get into the Masters. Ogilvy was a runner-up at the Honda Classic to get back into the mix, though he was on the ropes Friday morning with a 39 on the back nine. He birdied three of his last four holes for a 72 and wound up only six shots behind Stefani.
Ogilvy wants to get into the Masters so badly that he said he wouldn’t watch on TV if he wasn’t there. He used to watch all the time before he played the Masters.
Scott made a detour this week to Augusta for a practice round with Ernie Els, who won the British Open when Scott collapsed.
“I thought it was in the best shape I’ve ever seen it in this early in the year,” Scott said. “It’s Augusta. It’s pretty much perfect.”
As for playing with the Big Easy? Scott says it was not the least bit awkward at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, nor is it today.
“I think he’s an incredible talent and he’s one of the best players I’ve of seen on a golf course,” Scott said. “I’ve played so much golf with him and seen him do such incredible things. I think he could have won 10 majors. So he paid his dues, and whether he won it or I helped him win it a little bit, it doesn’t matter. He won it. Probably eased the pain a little bit that he was a closer friend of minute here, and I could feel some happiness for him.”
What made him the most thrilled Friday was going around Innisbrook without a bogey, putting him in a good position for the weekend.
“To go bogey-free anywhere is good, and I think here is particularly good,” Scott said. “It’s quite a tricky golf course, and mistakes are easily made. Very pleased with that. I got myself right in contention for the weekend, which I’m pleased about.”
DIVOTS: Defending champion Luke Donald had a 72 and was seven shots behind. ... Vijay Singh had a 73 and made his 17th straight cut dating to the U.S. Open last year. ... Daniel Summerhays was one shot over the cut line when he flew the green on the 18th hole. He holed a tough flop shop for birdie to make the cut on the number.
TAMPA BAY
CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES
Friday
Second Round
Shawn Stefani 65-70—135
Adam Scott 70-66—136
K.J. Choi 69-67—136
Harris English 68-69—137
Brian Harman 67-70—137
Jason Dufner 71-66—137
Peter Tomasulo 69-68—137
Tag Ridings 68-70—138
Sergio Garcia 71-67—138
George Coetzee 71-68—139
Ben Kohles 72-67—139
Greg Chalmers 71-68—139
Marc Leishman 70-70—140
Justin Leonard 71-69—140
Scott Brown 70-70—140
Matt Kuchar 72-68—140
Jerry Kelly 70-70—140
James Driscoll 74-66—140
Jordan Spieth 72-68—140
Erik Compton 75-65—140
Brian Davis 71-69—140
Cameron Tringale 71-70—141
Jimmy Walker 73-68—141
Geoff Ogilvy 69-72—141
Sean O’Hair 73-68—141
Justin Hicks 70-71—141
Charley Hoffman 71-70—141
Ryan Palmer 71-70—141
Jim Furyk 72-69—141
Bryce Molder 72-69—141
Boo Weekley 72-70—142
Roberto Castro 69-73—142
Scott Langley 72-70—142
Stuart Appleby 74-68—142
Jason Day 70-72—142
Tim Herron 71-71—142
Pat Perez 71-71—142
Kevin Streelman 73-69—142
Troy Kelly 72-70—142
Martin Flores 73-69—142
Vijay Singh 69-73—142
Luke Donald 70-72—142
Webb Simpson 73-69—142
Nick Watney 70-72—142
Chris Stroud 75-67—142
Dicky Pride 69-73—142
Billy Horschel 70-73—143
Lucas Glover 69-74—143
Trevor Immelman 70-73—143
Aaron Baddeley 72-71—143
Robert Garrigus 72-71—143
Sang-Moon Bae 73-70—143
Troy Matteson 71-72—143
Colt Knost 71-72—143
Charlie Wi 71-72—143
Brendan Steele 68-75—143
Stephen Ames 72-71—143
Angel Cabrera 74-69—143
Brian Stuard 75-68—143
Josh Teater 74-69—143
Robert Streb 73-70—143
For complete scores, visit RN-T.com.
John Mallinger 74-70—144
David Lingmerth 74-70—144
Jonas Blixt 75-69—144
Rory Sabbatini 73-71—144
Daniel Summerhays 71-73—144
Graham DeLaet 73-71—144
Richard H. Lee 72-72—144
Jesper Parnevik 72-72—144
Chez Reavie 69-75—144
J.J. Henry 70-74—144
George McNeill 72-72—144
Stewart Cink 76-68—144
Martin Laird 73-71—144
Jeff Overton 72-72—144
Brendon de Jonge 71-73—144
John Rollins 76-68—144
Failed to qualify
Eric Meierdierks 73-72—145
Matt Every 73-72—145
Ricky Barnes 73-72—145
Chad Campbell 75-70—145
Charlie Beljan 74-71—145
Louis Oosthuizen 73-72—145
Greg Owen 72-73—145
Gary Woodland 71-74—145
Jin Park 74-71—145
Ted Potter, Jr. 73-72—145
Carl Pettersson 74-71—145
Andres Romero 73-72—145
D.H. Lee 72-73—145
Kevin Stadler 74-72—146
Tom Gillis 72-74—146
Y.E. Yang 73-73—146
Jason Bohn 78-68—146
Camilo Villegas 72-74—146
Brad Fritsch 71-75—146
Scott Gardiner 73-73—146
Fabian Gomez 73-73—146
Kevin Chappell 73-73—146
John Senden 71-75—146
John Huh 75-71—146
Patrick Cantlay 70-76—146
David Skinns 71-75—146
Luke Guthrie 74-72—146
Will Claxton 72-75—147
Lee Williams 75-72—147
Retief Goosen 76-71—147
Robert Allenby 75-72—147
Ben Crane 74-73—147
Jeff Klauk 74-73—147
Jason Kokrak 75-73—148
Matt Jones 74-74—148
D.J. Trahan 73-75—148
Michael Thompson 77-71—148
David Toms 76-72—148
Peter Uihlein 76-72—148
Ken Duke 76-72—148
Ryo Ishikawa 71-77—148
Scott Piercy 73-75—148
D.A. Points 77-71—148
David Hearn 74-75—149
Brian Gay 74-75—149
Andy Pope 76-73—149
Steven Bowditch 73-76—149
Ross Fisher 78-71—149
Kevin Sutherland 74-75—149
Wes Short, Jr. 75-74—149
Seung-Yul Noh 77-72—149
Casey Wittenberg 72-77—149
Luke List 75-74—149
Henrik Norlander 75-74—149
James Hahn 79-71—150
Mark Wilson 75-75—150
Martin Kaymer 74-76—150
Patrick Reed 73-77—150
Jim Herman 72-78—150
David Mathis 77-74—151
Nicholas Thompson 78-73—151
David Bradshaw 74-77—151
Bob Estes 79-72—151
William McGirt 76-75—151
Joey Snyder III 75-76—151
Tommy Gainey 75-76—151
Ryan Moore 78-74—152
Tim Petrovic 82-70—152
Justin Bolli 75-77—152
Alistair Presnell 77-75—152
Zach Johnson 77-76—153
John Daly 72-81—153
Scott Stallings 77-76—153
Michael Bradley 79-75—154
Mike Weir 78-78—156
Rod Perry 79-79—158
Bud Cauley 74—WD
Doug LaBelle II 80—WD
Cameron Percy 77—DQ
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