Kuchar makes most of short day at Barclays
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Matt Kuchar made the most of his short day at The Barclays.
Kuchar didn’t tee off until Friday afternoon at Liberty National and knew he had no chance to finish. He could barely see his ball cross the water and set up a two-putt birdie on the 13th hole that gave him the outright lead, and there was enough light coming from Lower Manhattan across the Hudson River to hit his tee shot on the 14th.
The horn sounded, and by then, he was ready to go home.
Kuchar was at 10-under par with five holes remaining and had to return Saturday morning to hold his one-shot lead over Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland, who both fin- ished the second round in the raindelayed tournament.
Simpson had to play 29 holes — 11 holes to finish his first round in the morning, followed by his second round — and he was ready to go more. He ran off six birdies over an eight-hole stretch and had a 5-under 66. “It’s much nicer when you’re playing well to keep playing. And when you’re playing well, you feel like you could play 40 holes in a day,” Simpson said. “My main goal ... I just wanted to get done today. It just felt nice to putt out on 9 …”
Woodland was one of the last players to finish at twilight Friday, and he finished strong. Woodland, back on track after a win at the RenoTahoe Open three weeks ago, birdied four of his last five holes for a 64 to join Simpson in the clubhouse at 9-under 133.
Canadians Graham DeLaet, of Weyburn, Sask., and David Hearn, of Brantford, Ont., appear set to make the cut. DeLaet is tied for 42nd at 2-under through 15 holes on Friday while Hearn is tied for 57th at 1-under for the tourney. The cut was even par when play ended Friday.
As for Tiger Woods, he couldn’t get off the course fast enough.
Woods challenged the target set by Simpson with three birdies in five holes — he was two shots behind — and he had a pair of par 5s in front of him. He failed to make birdie on either of the par 5s, and made three bogeys out of the bunker through the 12th hole to fall off the pace. He made birdie on the 13th, the last hole he completed, but was still five shots behind Kuchar, who was in his group.
“I got off to a great start today and then lost it the middle part of the round and made too many mistakes,” Woods said.
He also said his back remained sore from what he said earlier in the week was due to a soft bed in his hotel that led to stiffness in his neck and back.
Rory McIlroy showed more signs of turning his game around. After three double bogeys on Thursday, he limited the mistakes with some nifty par saves and was at 5 under with two holes remaining, starting with a shot from the 17th fairway after a big tee shot.
Kuchar stopped with his tee shot just short of the green on the par-3 14th, and he had no inclination to finish.