Golf Capsules: Wilson ties Villegas with late run in Phoenix
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Mark Wilson charged and Camilo Villegas faltered.
The result was a two-way tie for the lead at 11-under 131 halfway through the Phoenix Open.
Wilson birdied the last four holes for a 5-under 66, while Villegas bogeyed No. 18 when he missed a 14-foot putt for par. The 28-year-old Colombian settled for a 69 after tying the tournament first-round record with a 9-under 62 on Thursday.
Eleven players were within two shots of the lead at TPC Scottsdale, where a crowd estimated at 101,709 attended the second round Friday under thinly overcast conditions.
Anthony Kim (65), Ryan Moore (66) and Rickie Fowler (67) were 10 under.
Tom Lehman, nine days shy of his 51st birthday, had a 67 to top a group of six at 9 under. Play was suspended because of darkness with one player, Matt Every, still on the course. He had a 3-footer for a birdie that would put him at 9 under.
Wilson, who said he was ill early in the week after returning from the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Cancun, Mexico, considers himself the bland one among those at the top of the leaderboard.
"I’m not a flashy player. ... I see Anthony and Rickie and Camilo up there and they’re all very flamboyant characters, and it’s fun to watch them," Wilson said. "So I’ll be somewhat of a spectator too, but certainly taking care of my own business."
Villegas, who mixed three bogeys with an eagle and three birdies, insisted he was satisfied with his second round.
"It’s tough to shoot 9 under in one day. To do it two days in a row, it’s even harder obviously," he said. "Am I disappointed the fact I didn’t go low-low today? No. You just want to stay in the tournament. I mean, after a great first day, you just want to keep plugging, keep staying there and give yourself a chance come Sunday afternoon."
Wilson said this is the kind of desert course, with the open par 5s and par 4s and friendly greens, where golfers can get on the kind of runs that he did late Friday.
"I made a lot of putts, so if you’re seeing the lines good you can roll off a string of birdies pretty quick," he said.
As many as 150,000 fans are expected for Saturday, always the wildest day in the biggest party on the PGA Tour.
"I have fun," Villegas said. "It’s one week a year where we get to experience this."
Tee times Saturday were moved ahead an hour because of the chance of rain late in the day. Rain is more likely Sunday.
After a bogey-free first round, Villegas made the turn Friday at 1 over for the day, but regrouped with a birdie at No. 10 and an eagle on the 13th to regain the lead at 11 under. He moved to 12 under with a birdie on the 15th.
On the 18th, his tee shot cleared the lake but landed in a large bunker next to a bush. He punched his second shot onto the fairway, then his third shot left him a 14-footer for par.
TPC Scottsdale is just a short distance from the Grayhawk Golf Club, where Fowler lost a three-way playoff to Jamie Lovemark and Troy Matteson in the Frys.com Open last October.
"We had a good shot at it," the 21-year-old Fowler said. "Hopefully we’ll give ourselves a better one this year."
Englishman Ian Poulter, winner of Sunday’s Match Play championship down the road in Marana, Ariz., followed a 1-over 72 on Thursday with an 8-under 63 on Friday. He felt so exhausted after last week’s big win that he fully anticipated missing Friday’s cut.
"I even booked a plane for takeoff at 3 this afternoon," Poulter said. "I wasn’t feeling good. It’s just nice to go out there and hit good golf shots, play well and put myself in a position now where I’ve put myself into form."
Phil Mickelson was within reach of the lead after consecutive 68s left him at 6 under.
Arizona State senior Braxton Marquez, who didn’t travel with his Sun Devils golf teammates this week and earned a spot here in Monday’s qualifier, shot a 65 to make the cut at 3-under 139.
Gatorade drops Tiger Woods
NEW YORK — Add Gatorade to the list of endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has lost.
A representative for the drink, sold by PepsiCo Inc., confirmed late Friday that it had ended its relationship with the golfer, who made a lengthy public apology last week for his infidelities.
"We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship," a Gatorade spokeswoman said. "We wish him all the best."
The spokewoman said Gatorade would continue its relationship with the Tiger Woods Foundation.
She declined to say whether his contract was terminated early because of trouble with his public image.
Gatorade discontinued its Tiger Woods-brand drinks in November, a decision made before Woods’ marital problems became known.
At the time, Gatorade stuck by him as a sponsor, but it too relented on Friday, becoming the third major endorsement deal the golfer has lost. AT&T Inc. and Accenture, dropped Woods in the weeks following the tabloid frenzy of cheating allegations.
The companies that have stuck most closely by Woods, Nike Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. — which have invested specifically in his athleticism — reiterated their support last week when the golfer made his public apology.
Others, such as Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette and Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer, de-emphasized him in their marketing.
The CEO of Procter & Gamble said earlier this week that he doesn’t know whether Woods will ever appear in another Gillette commercial, saying the company did not need the "distraction" of using him in its advertising.
Gatorade owner PepsiCo, the world’s second-biggest soda maker, also owns the Tropicana, Quaker and Frito-Lay brands.
LPGA
Stanford, Kim share lead in Singapore
SINGAPORE — Angela Stanford shot a 1-under 71 on Friday for a share of the lead with Song-Hee Kim after the second round of the HSBC Champions.
Stanford, the former TCU star who has four LPGA Tour victories, and Kim (70) had 5-under 139 totals on Tanah Merah’s Garden Course during another hot, windy day where the temperature reached 94 degrees.
"I felt like I played the front nine really well and the back nine, not so well," Stanford said. "So I don’t know, I guess it could be a combination of things, but it was a completely different wind on the back side, literally switched as I got to (the) tee."
Hall of Famer Juli Inkster (70) was a stroke back along with Ai Miyazato (71), Suzann Pettersen (70), Hee-Won Han (67) and Sun Young Yoo (70). Last week in the season-opening LPGA Thailand, Miyazato rallied to beat Pettersen by a stroke.
Cristie Kerr (73) trailed by two strokes, while Karrie Webb was another shot back after a 72.
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, tied for the first-round lead after a 68, had a 79 to drop eight strokes back at 3 over. She had four bogeys and a triple bogey on the par-4 18th. The Mexican star won the inaugural tournament in 2008.
It was reminiscent of her 79 in the second round of last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Her worst round on tour is an 81 at the Wegmans LPGA at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., in 2004. But she was not yet counting herself out of contention.
"I’m still going to try to finish strong," Ochoa said. "It’s important tomorrow to shoot 6 or 7 under."
Opponents had to look twice when they saw the score.
"I thought it was a mistake," Stanford said. "I looked up at the board and I’m like ‘Do they have that right up there?"’
Defending champion Jiyai Shin was 2 under after her second straight 71, and Michelle Wie was 1 over after a 73.
-- Alex Kennedy
Ladies European
American D’Alessio leads NZ Women’s Open
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — American Diana D’Alessio shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Australia’s Sarah Kemp in the Ladies European Tour’s season-opening New Zealand Women’s Open.
D’Alessio had a 9-under 135 total on the Pegasus Golf Club course.
Kemp shot a 67. South Africa’s Ashleigh Simon (70) and Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord (73) were three strokes back at 6 under.
Canada’s Lorie Kane was fifth at 5 under after a 66 — the round of the day.
