Holmes tops leaderboard at PGA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.B. Holmes bogeyed two of his last four holes Friday, but still managed a two-under 68 and took the second-round lead of the PGA Championship.

Holmes finished two rounds at Oakland Hills at one-under 139 and is the only player under par at the season's final major championship.

Charlie Wi (70), Justin Rose (67) and 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis (67) are tied for second place at even-par 140. The 67s by Rose and Curtis were the lowest rounds of the championship, while Wi is playing in his first major championship.

David Toms, the 2001 PGA Champion, posted a one-under 69 and moved into a tie for fifth place with Henrik Stenson, who carded an even-par 70 on Friday. They finished at one-over 141.

Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, bogeyed three of his last five holes Friday en route to a three-over 73. He finished 36 holes at three-over 143.

Mickelson got to even-par for the championship after a six-foot birdie putt at the 13th. That got him within one of Holmes, but some uncharacteristic bad shots around the green doomed Mickelson.

His second at 14 went through the green after an errant drive and his chip stopped nine feet from the stick. Mickelson missed that putt, then stubbed a chip at the 15th and left with another bogey.

After a poor second at the 16th, Mickelson saved par from five feet. His five- iron tee shot at the 17th rolled through to the back fringe. Mickelson appeared to skull his chip that ran through the other side of the putting surface. That led to another bogey, but a par at the last kept Mickelson within striking distance.

"If they water the greens and change some pins, you can shoot under par," said Mickelson. "I'm within four going into the weekend. There's a lot of golf left out here."

The first round was completed Friday morning after play was suspended for darkness on Thursday. It was a one-hour, 25-minute weather delay on Thursday that set the tournament back, but the second round was finished without a stoppage.

Holmes played a great opening nine with two birdies and a bogey. It wasn't until he made the turn that he vaulted up the leaderboard.

At the par-five 12th, Holmes chopped his third from the thick rough near the green to three feet. He kicked in that birdie putt and made it two in a row with an eight-footer at the 13th.

Holmes made an unlikely birdie at the 501-yard, par-four 14th. From just short of the putting surface, Holmes rolled in a 25-footer for birdie to get to three-under par.

Things came undone a bit when Holmes played the final four holes into the wind. At the 15th, he came up short and right with his approach and made bogey.

After an errant tee shot, Holmes three-putted from a long distance for another bogey at 17. A par at the last got Holmes in as the only player from the morning wave under par.

"I hit some good shots on those holes and made birdie," said Holmes. "After my third birdie, the next four holes were pretty much into the wind right there and I was just trying to make par on those holes.

"Glad I got in with that. But I felt I left a few out there."

One of the big stories all year has been Kenny Perry's quest to make the Ryder Cup team in his home state of Kentucky. Holmes also has ties to the "Bluegrass" State, although he hasn't been consumed with it, rather his work has been geared toward a first major.

"Going into the week you want to play well, but you can't be thinking about anything like that when you're out there," said Holmes. "I put myself in a pretty good situation and I just got to go out there and play and hopefully it will happen."

Sean O'Hair is still in the mix for a U.S. Ryder Cup berth. He shot a three- over 73 on Friday and is tied for seventh place with 2007 U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera (72), Brandt Snedeker (71), first-round co-leader Jeev Milkha Singh (74), Aaron Baddeley (71), Ken Duke (73) and Sergio Garcia (73). The group finished at two-over 142.

Garcia is still looking for that elusive first major.

Robert Karlsson, the other first-round co-leader, struggled to a seven-over 77 on Friday and fell into a tie for 26th at five-over.

When the horn sounded Thursday night, Andres Romero was tied for the lead with Singh and Karlsson at minus-two. When Romero came back Friday morning, he bogeyed 18 to fall out of the lead.

Sadly, the worst was yet to come for Romero.

The Argentine shot an eight-over 78 in round two, including a quadruple-bogey eight at 16 and a double-bogey six at 18, to fall to seven-over-par 147 for the championship, one stroke above the cut line.

Two of last week's main players in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational were the biggest names to miss the cut. Last week's winner Vijay Singh, a two-time PGA Champion, and Lee Westwood, who tied for second behind Singh at Firestone on Sunday, both missed the 36-hole mark by numerous shots.

Rod Pampling was tied for eighth after the first round, but shot an 81 and missed the cut by three strokes.

Among those that will have the weekend off are 1991 winner John Daly (149), Fred Couples (149), Zach Johnson (149), Adam Scott (150), Darren Clarke (151), K.J. Choi (151), Stewart Cink (151), Davis Love III (152), Hunter Mahan (160) and Colin Montgomerie (160).

Mahan and Montgomerie both need help to make their respective Ryder Cup teams, but tying for the worst score by a non club professional won't help.