Golf Capsules: Snedeker is leading in Boston; Woods shoots 65

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — About the only thing fun for Jason Day was being atop the leaderboard in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

One day after he opened with a 63 in conditions so calm he might as well have been playing indoors, Day found out quickly what he was up against Saturday in tree-shaking wind on the TPC at Boston.

He hit a tee shot down the middle and found it in the right rough.

He aimed his 9-iron 10 yards left of his target and saw it fly over the green.

Day got away with it by chipping in for birdie on his way to a 4-under 67 to share the lead with Brandt Snedeker, the second straight week the 22-year-old Australian has been a 36-hole leader in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

"It was a little tougher out there today," Day said. "It wasn't as fun as yesterday, I'll tell you that much."

Snedeker went from the rain showers of Hurricane Earl to breezy conditions in his second round and had a 7-under 64. The wind got stronger throughout the afternoon for Day, who birdied his last two holes to catch Snedeker.

For all the fretting over weather giving half the field a good break, it turned out to be a push. Of the top 18 on the leaderboard, it was evenly split with players who had to cope with rain and who got the worst of the wind.

"I wasn't liking my odds in the draw when I teed of yesterday," Snedeker said. "That being said, I think it's going to end up working out exactly the same. I think these guys in the afternoon are going to have the tough conditions we had yesterday afternoon."

Tiger Woods turned his game around at the right time.

In jeopardy of missing the cut and missing out on the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Woods didn't hit a bad shot through six holes and played bogey-free for the first time in more than a year for a 6-under 65 that left him in the middle of the pack.

Woods, who started in a tie for 87th, moved up to a tie for 29th and was seven shots behind with 36 holes to play.

"I had to shoot a good one if I was going to move on," Woods said. "And I was able to do that today."

Day, in the 36-hole lead for the second straight week in these playoffs, and Snedeker were at 12-under 130. They were one shot ahead of FedEx Cup leader Matt Kuchar (65) and Charley Hoffman (67), with Luke Donald (67) another shot behind.

Defending champion Steve Stricker made it through another round without a bogey and was at 9-under 133, while Phil Mickelson started hitting fairways and making putts and was in the group at 8-under 134 that included Ryder Cup hopeful Stewart Cink, Hunter Mahan, Zach Johnson and Andres Romero, who only got into the 100-man field by making a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole last week.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the third round next week outside Chicago. Fifteen players were eliminated by missing the cut, including Chad Campbell under bizarre circumstances. He was disqualified Saturday morning when officials realized he had never registered for the tournament, a simple formality.

"Just can't believe you make a mistake like that," Campbell said.

Snedeker didn't make hardly any in beautiful morning conditions, except for a bogey on his opening hole. He responded with a birdie on the par-3 11th, then really took over on the easy stretch of holes to start the front nine, which includes a reachable par 5 and a driveable par 4. Snedeker made four birdies in a five-hole stretch.

"Two or three birdies is realistic to expect," Snedeker said. "But you can't get down on yourself if you don't make birdies."

Padraig Harrington, a European Ryder Cup pick last week, missed the cut and might be eliminated from the playoffs.

Woods hit a 3-wood and a 9-iron on the 12th hole during the opening round in the rain. He reached the 469-yard hole just as wind was starting to blow and had to hit driver and 6-iron. For some players, such as Johnson, it was a 3-wood to the green.

This is the 10th tournament in which Mickelson has had a mathematical chance to replace Woods at No. 1, and he hasn't taken advantage too often. The only other time he was in contention was at Firestone, when he went into the weekend one shot behind and closed with a 78.

Lefty has not finished in the top 10 since the U.S. Open, and he missed the cut last week. But he went home to San Diego to hone his game with swing coach Butch Harmon, worked on a new driver and likes what he sees.

"I got my game dialed in, and so I was pretty excited about this week," Mickelson said. "But again, you don't know until you get out here, and you've got to shoot the numbers. Yesterday I didn't quite post the number I wanted to, but today I was able to do that."

Snedeker is No. 53 in the standings and appears to be on his way to Chicago. The idea is to take the drama out of it, and Snedeker has had enough of that. A year ago, he needed only a bogey on the last hole to get into the final round of the playoffs at the Tour Championship, and wound up four-putting from 12 feet.

"That's what makes the FedEx Cup great," he said. "It has those kind of stories. You put a little bit more extra pressure on yourself than you normally should, and I learned from that last year."

Campbell disqualified for not registering

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — This FedEx Cup might be remembered as much for the winners as who didn't get to play.

One week after Jim Furyk was knocked out of a tournament for oversleeping and missing his pro-am time, Chad Campbell was disqualified Saturday at the Deutsche Bank Championship when officials realized he never registered for the tournament.

"Just can't believe you make a mistake like that," Campbell said.

Much like the formality of signing a scorecard at the end of a round, PGA Tour players must register when they get to a tournament before it starts. Campbell arrived Tuesday evening, practiced all week and even played Friday, opening with a 1-over 72.

He just never signed up.

Campbell was No. 83 in the FedEx Cup standings, needing to move into the top 70 to advance to the third round next week in Chicago. He would have played Saturday afternoon in the strongest wind.

"It's a sad thing," said Mark Russell, the tour's vice president of rules and competition. "I'm not at all pleased with it. But it's a regulation that you've got to register when you arrive on site. And if you don't before your competition round, the regulation says you're ineligible from competing in the tournament."

Several players were stunned to hear the news, including Furyk.

"I'm deciding if I want to be Phil Mickelson right now," he said, referring to how Mickelson blasted the PGA Tour for the pro-am rule that got Furyk disqualified from The Barclays. "Wow."

Furyk slipped from No. 3 to No. 9 in the playoff standings. Campbell is out altogether.

"I feel terrible for him," Furyk said.

Furyk and Davis Love III said whenever they have forgotten to register, a rules official had the sheet to sign before they teed off. Furyk said the responsibility lies with Campbell — as it did with Furyk last week with the pro-am mistake — but questioned why officials weren't looking out for him.

Russell said no one noticed until Friday night when they were going through the forms. He said he called Campbell, who realized he never registered.

"He accepted total responsibility for it," Russell said.

Love said it might be another rule that needs changing, just as the PGA Tour suspended the pro-am rule for the rest of the year. In the case of Furyk's pro-am mishap and Campbell failing to register, no one can replace them in the field.

"It doesn't feel like a regular tournament," said Love, adding that it would be easy for a player not to follow his routine.

This is Campbell's second administrative blunder. A year ago, he was on the plane to Hawaii for the Sony Open when he realized he never entered the tournament.

"It's starting to be a trend," Campbell said.

Notebook: Kim misses cut in his last chance to impress

NORTON, Mass. — Anthony Kim’s only hope now is to persuade Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin with words, not scores.

In his final chance to make an impression before Pavin announces his four picks Tuesday, Kim opened with a 68 and then crashed out Saturday with a 76 to miss the cut in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Does he have a chance?

“If he believes my game will come around in a month,” Kim said in the locker room as he finishing writing notes to his pro-am partners. “If he judges me on my last two weeks, I probably won’t be a pick.”

The 25-year-old Kim, fresh off a victory in the Houston Open and a third-place finish at the Masters, was No. 2 in the Ryder Cup standings when he decided to have surgery on his thumb that kept him out for three months.

Since his return, Kim was 76th out of 79 players at Firestone (where there is no cut), then missed the cut in his next four events. He fell out of the automatic eight qualifiers at the PGA Championship.

Kim has regained his length off the tee and said he spent seven hours practicing on Tuesday, which he could have never done before surgery. He just can’t seem to post a score.

“I told Corey if I’m not playing good, I would swear on everything and tell him,” Kim said. “It’s close. I’ve been playing every day.”

Kim doesn’t regret having the surgery. If he could have played through the pain, he easily would have qualified. His only regret is returning when he did.

Kim said he was healthy enough to return, but rusty from not being able to practice enough. Instead, he showed up at Firestone trying to pick up points and secure a spot on the team.

“At that point, I needed to make points,” he said. “Unfortunately, he (Pavin) now has some scores in front of him to look at.”

He headed to the car with his clubs in a travel bag from the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, were Kim led the Americans to victory. And despite his struggles, he was still smiling.

“I just need to have someone tap Corey on the shoulder in the middle of the night and say, ‘Pick the kid. He’ll be ready.”’

FUNNY RULES: Chad Campbell was No. 83 in the FedEx Cup standings and opened with a 72. He never got a chance to improve his position, at the Deutsche Bank and in the playoffs, when he was disqualified Saturday for a technicality.

He forgot to register for the tournament.

Players have three responsibilities that have nothing to do with their swings — officially enter a tournament, register for the event before their first tee shot, and sign their card.

If Campbell were to ever fail to sign his card, he would have the hat trick.

A year ago, he was on a plane halfway across the Pacific Ocean when he realized he never entered the Sony Open in Honolulu. The blunder at Deutsche Bank was even worse.

“Just can’t believe you would make a mistake like that,” Campbell said. “Just kind of slipped my mind.”

Reminded of the Sony Open mishap, he said, “It’s starting a trend.”

COLLEGE SPIRIT: Nike makes sure its players get into the college spirit a couple of times a year, such as the Transitions Championship (NCAA basketball tournament) and the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday, for the start of the college football season.

Tiger Woods had the Stanford logo on his white shirt, while Anthony Kim had his OU logo for the Sooners’ opener and Justin Leonard wore burnt orange with a Texas Longhorns logo on the back. Paul Casey (Arizona State) and Lucas Glover (Clemson) also got involved.

Stewart Cink, the Georgia Tech grad, wore a white shirt with thin blue and gray lines, no logo anywhere.

He left his Yellow Jackets shirt back at his hotel by accident, except that it was no accident. Turns out Cink is a little superstitious, and he didn’t like the results he was getting on what he calls “special shirt day.”

“My scoring average is like 76,” Cink said. “Every time it’s special shirt day, I have a bad round.”

He pointed to a 78 he shot at the Transitions Championship in the opening round, leading to a missed cut. And the “Live Strong” shirt he wore at the Travelers Championship, where he got off to a bad start and shot 70. A year ago at the TPC Boston, he shot 71 to miss the cut.

So on Saturday, he took a pass.

“It’s in my room,” he said. “I put it my iPad on top of it so it would look like I forgot.”

Cink shot a 66 and was four shots out of the lead.

OVERFLOWING CUP: Stewart Cink twice has been a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup, and he is considered a favorite to get one of the four picks Tuesday. But he’s awfully tired of talking about it, much less thinking about it.

“The Ryder Cup is like a reward,” he said after a 66. “I’d love to be on the team, and I hope to get his attention. But I’m getting so many Ryder Cup questions. I just want to concentrate on this tournament.”

DIVOTS: The last 36-hole leader to win Deutsche Bank Championship was Olin Browne in 2005. ... Scott Verplank withdrew from the second round with a wrist injury. He is in danger of falling out of the top 70 in the standings and missing next week. ... The last time Woods lost his No. 1 ranking after a five-year run was at the TPC Boston in 2004. ... Andres Romero made a hole-in-one on the eighth hole. Romero made it to Boston by making a 40-foot birdie putt on the last hole of The Barclays.

Champions

Schulz shoots 64 to take Champions Tour lead

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Ted Schulz shot an 8-under 64 — his best competitive round in nearly 20 years — at Pebble Beach on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead over first-lead leader Mark Calcavecchia and Tom Kite in the First Tee Open.

Despite penalty, Jimenez maintains lead in Europe

CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland — Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez maintained a three-shot lead with a 3-under 68 Saturday in the third round of the European Masters.

After a one-stroke penalty, Jimenez stands at 17-under 196. Italy’s Edoardo Molinari is second after a 68.

Jimenez had a lapse of concentration in the Swiss Alps on the 10th fairway. He marked his ball thinking preferred lies were in operation. He called a one-shot penalty on himself when he realized the mistake.

At the time, Jimenez was 4-under par for his round. Two bogeys followed in the next three holes. But he regained his composure to pick up two birdies in the final three holes.

Jimenez shot a course-record 61 on Friday.