Round 2 Notes – Travelers Championship
* Vijay Singh, who has two runner-up finishes and one third-place finish in 2008, is looking to get his first victory of the year. The 45-year-old's last victory was at the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. In four previous attempts at the Travelers Championship, he has three-top 15 finishes including a fourth-place finish last year.* Stewart Cink shot a 6-under-par 64 to finish the second round at 10-under-par 130 to take a one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Travelers Championship. Cink's round was highlighted by eagles on both of the par-70 TPC River Highlands' par 5s. The last time Cink recorded two eagles in the same round was the opening day of the 2006 PLAYERS Championship.
* It is the fifth time of Cink's career that he has held or shared the second-round lead and the first since doing so at the 2004 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, the only one of the four he went on to win. The two-round total of 66-64-130 matches his lowest total score through two rounds in his career with the 2001 Genuity Championship at Doral Resort and Spa.
* Cink, the No. 3 ranked player in the 2008 FedExCup standings, is tied for the most top-10s on the PGA Tour this season with Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy six top-10 finishes.
* Stewart Cink has twice finished runner-up this season (World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the PODS Championship) and tied for third at the Masters. He has now made 14 of 15 cuts this season and is in the middle of a consecutive streak of 12 in a row.
* Stewart Cink won this event in 1997 and nearly defended his title in 1998, but fell just short finishing tied for second.
* A total of 72 players, including one amateur, made the cut at 3 under par, the lowest cut score so far this season. The previous low was 2 under par at the FBR Open. It is the lowest cut since the tournament moved to TPC River Highlands in 1991. It is the lowest cut on the PGA Tour since 5 under par made the cut at the 2007 Wyndham Championship.
* Defending champion Hunter Mahan is trying to join Phil Mickelson (2001, 2002) as the only other player in the tournament's 55-year history to successfully defend his title. Mahan shot a bogey-free 7-under-par 63 to move to 9 under par, one stroke off the lead. Mahan, who defeated Jay Williamson in a playoff at this event last year for his first PGA Tour victory, also finished tied for second in 2006 and has now made five consecutive cuts at the Travelers Championship. Mahan's stroke average for the event is 68.40 after 22 rounds. He is the leading money winner in tournament history with more than $1.5 million.
* Since his win here last year, Mahan has moved from No. 202 to No. 37 in the Official World Golf Ranking, finished 15th in the final 2007 FedExCup standings and played in The Presidents Cup for the victorious U. S. team.
* Lucas Glover is also one shot off of the lead after a second-round 66. Glover had missed the cut in his three previous starts at the Travelers Championship. It is the first time that Glover has recorded back-to-back rounds in the 60s since April at the Verizon Heritage where he recorded his only top-10 finish of the 2008 season (tie for seventh).
* Ken Duke followed his opening-round 5-under-par 65 with a 4-under-par second round and is also one shot off the lead with Mahan. The 2006 Nationwide Tour leading money winner and Player of the Year recorded his best finish this season (tie for sixth) at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
* Riding the momentum of a final-round 65 that moved him into a tie for ninth at the U.S. Open last week, two-time PGA Tour winner Heath Slocum has continued to play well this week at the Travelers Championship. Slocum put together rounds of 67-66 and finished the second round at 7 under par, two shots off the lead after the morning wave of players. Playing for the fifth time at the Travelers Championship, Slocum has never missed the cut at this event.
* By making it to the weekend, Heath Slocum has now made 13 consecutive cuts this season. His last missed cut came in February at the Northern Trust Open. This is Slocum's longest stretch of consecutive cuts since he began playing on the PGA Tour in 2001. He has four top-10 finishes this season.
* Playing as a sponsor exemption this week, amateur Michael H. Thompson finished the second round at 8 under par for the tournament, two shots off the lead. Thompson finished as the low amateur at last week's U.S. Open. He recently finished up his senior season at the University of Alabama. He originally went to Tulane, but was forced to transfer to Alabama after Tulane disband their program in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He was a finalist in the 2007 U.S. Amateur, getting beat by Colt Knost 2 and 1. Thompson plans to turn professional after the Palmer Cup June 26-27 in Glasgow Golf Club.
* The last amateur to win a PGA Tour event was Phil Mickelson in 1991 at the Northern Telecom Open. Since 1954, only four amateurs have won on the PGA Tour: Gene Littler at the 1954 San Diego Open, Doug Sanders at the 1956 Canadian Open, Scott Verplank at the 1985 Western Open and Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.
* Kenny Perry is making his 20th appearance at the Travelers Championship. Perry, winner of the 2008 Memorial Tournament and currently ranked No. 6 in the 2008 FedExCup standings, recorded his best finish here in 2003 with a tie for fourth and has five top-10 finishes at this event. Perry eagled the first hole of his day and after rounds of 66-67 he is two strokes off the lead at 7 under par.
* Fred Funk leads the tournament in driving accuracy having hit 26 of 28 fairways through two rounds. Interestingly though, one of the fairways he missed was the third hole during Friday's second round when his drive found a fairway bunker. Funk holed his next shot for eagle from 157 yards away. Funk is currently at 6 under par for the tournament, three strokes off the lead.
* Kevin Streelman, who led after the first round of the U.S. Open, rebounded from a tough 3-over-par 73 opening round at the Travelers Championship with a 7-under-par 63 in the second round to move from a tie for 142nd to a tie for 36th.
* The last 12 winners of the Travelers Championship have been from the United States dating back to Greg Norman's victory in 1995.
* The second-round leader has gone on to win 11 of 26 stroke-play events this year on the PGA Tour. ... Hunter Mahan, Brad Adamonis, John Rollins, Steve Elkington, Joe Ogilvie and Bob Estes recorded bogey-free rounds on Friday. ... Jose Coceres withdrew during the round due to a wrist injury. Travis Perkins also withdrew during the round due to illness.
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