CLUTCH DRIVE SAVES THE DAY FOR CANADIAN
Sometimes golf makes no sense. You can feel good and play bad, you feel bad and play good. That’s why they drive around in a tiny car and sell you beer.
None of this is any consolation to Nick Taylor, who came into the week feeling great about his putting, then missed a four-footer and a three-footer over the closing holes at TPC Sawgrass late Thursday. Taylor began his second round of the Players Championship at one-over par.
Friday was a better day for the 30-year-old Canadian.
“The putting felt good today, so that was nice,” Taylor said after carding a three-under 69 to sit at two-under heading into the weekend.
“The wedges need to be a little better.”
Taylor has been steady this season, making the cut five of his past six times out, but said he hasn’t taken enough advantage of par 5s. He blames some spotty wedge play.
On the par-four 12th hole, Taylor wouldn’t need his wedges. Arriving to the tee at one-under for the tournament and hovering near the cut line, Taylor hit his shot of the day.
“I was aiming at the right edge of the green and just hit a perfect drive. It landed just in front of the green and rolled to like 15 feet, and I made it,” he said. “That was big to get it going, get it to a couple under.”
For Taylor, the eagle was the highlight of a generally solid round. He hit every green in regulation except the par-5 ninth, where he missed the green from just 82 yards away with a wedge.
TPC Sawgrass isn’t usually a place to get overly aggressive, but this week’s soft conditions have challenged that notion.
Jim Furyk shot an eight-under 64 on Friday, and trails co-leaders Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy by three strokes.
CONNERS GETS IT DONE
Needing to go one under through your final three holes to make the cut is never easy. Needing to do it at TPC Sawgrass in the Players Championship is a different beast.
“I knew I was on the line with a couple (of holes) to play,” said Corey Conners on Friday. “I was nervous but felt comfortable.”
By far the best place to pick up the much-needed birdie was the par-five 16th, because after that, it’s the island green par-3 and nightmarish closing par-4.
After finding the fairway with his drive on 16, Conners was 233 yards into the wind from the green. The 27-year-old Canadian hit a three-wood and his ball cleared the water, but came up short of the green. He got up-and-down for birdie to move to two-under par.
Conners made pars at 17 and 18 to card a two-under 70 and make the cut right on the number.
FURYK ON FIRE
Furyk hit every fairway on Friday and didn’t make a bogey. That’s how you shoot 64 at TPC Sawgrass.
Cameron Champ, the longest hitter on tour, withdrew after eight holes in round two with a back injury.