Rickie Fowler dropped a shot on his final hole but fired a 6-under 64 to surge to an early share of the 8-under second-round lead at the Bridgestone Invitational on Friday. Just don’t get too carried away with the youngster’s 36-hole edge; the Puma-clad 22-year-old has teased golf fans before with initial fireworks, only to fizzle out at the end.
Fowler has played his way into the mix in big events this year, cadging two top-10s in WGC tourneys and a tie for fifth at the British Open. His final-round scoring, however, has been his Achilles heel (yes, a blatant Tiger Woods reference). He has averaged almost 72 shots and ranks 136th on the PGA Tour, according to the tour, which noted he has broken 70 only twice in final rounds in 2011.
On Friday, however, Fowler was stellar, with eight birdies and an eagle. Despite the bogey on No. 9 (he began his day on the back nine), Fowler shared the top spot with Ryan Moore, who was in the house at 4-under for the day. First-round leader Adam Scott, who played so brilliantly on Thursday, was even for the day and also at 8-under, as was Jason Day, who was 1-under through two holes of his second round.
As for the aforementioned No. 28, after an opening round he termed “awesome,” Woods double-bogeyed the par-4 sixth (his 15th) on Friday. That error contributed to an up-and-down day that left him at 1-under heading into the weekend. With Fowler and others going low at a course ripe for good scoring (New Englander Keegan Bradley was 4-under through seven holes and one back at 7-under for the tourney), Woods was essentially treading water, with four birdies, three bogeys, and the double.
Even so, Byron Bell’s boss pronounced himself pleased with his effort, which left him tied for 65th in driving accuracy and sharing 51st place in putts per round.
“I know my stats don’t show it, but just the way I’m driving the golf ball, the start lines are so much tighter, and the shape of the shots are so much tighter,” Woods told reporters following his round. “I’m so close to putting the ball on a string, so it’s coming.”
And while tour officials appeared to go out of their way to ease Woods back into competitive golf by pairing him with newly crowned British Open winner and old friend Darren Clarke, Clarke was not faring so well. Rory McIlroy’s 42-year-old Northern Irish countryman was 11-over after Friday’s round and DFL.
Speaking of Rory Mac, the U.S. Open winner was plugging away somewhere toward the middle of the pack. The once and future PGA Tour member was at 2-under for the tourney after three holes on Friday.
Saturday’s round, by the way, will start earlier than originally scheduled. Officials moved up third-round tee times, thanks to a a 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Threesomes will go off both sets of tees from 7 a,m.-9 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Golf Channel will tape and air coverage, which will commence at the scheduled time of 12 noon-1:30 p.m. CBS will take over from 2 p.m.-6 p.m.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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