The tougher South Course at Torrey Pines suited Kyle Stanley just fine Friday at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.
The Gig Harbor native overcame a double bogey early in his round by running off four birdies on the front nine for a 4-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker going into the weekend.
Stanley, long off the tee and as polished as any of the PGA Tour rookies who won last year, was at 14-under 130.
A tournament already missing Tiger Woods will have to do without hometown star Phil Mickelson on the weekend. He shot himself out of the tournament with a 77 on the South in the opening round, and didn’t make nearly enough birdies on the North to make the cut. Mickelson had to settle for a 68, missing the cut for the first time in 10 years at Torrey Pines.
Sang-Moon Bae, a PGA Tour rookie who is No. 34 in the world, had a 67 to match the best score on the South for the second round. That put him two shots behind at 12-under 132, along with Martin Flores, who also had a 67 on the South.
The cut came at 2-under 142, and among those missing the cut was Puyallup’s Ryan Moore, whose 4-under 68 on the North on Friday left him at 1-under 143.
“I got off to a good start,” said Stanley, a former Bellarmine Prep and Clemson standout. “But you’ve just got to be patient out here.”
That he was. He had birdie putts on the last 11 holes he played and birdied all the par 5s. As a testament to his length, he hit his tee shot 346 yards on the par-5 ninth, and hit 2-iron from 270 yards.
“Not a very good one,” he said, though it left him an up-and-down from the bunker for one last birdie.
The South played three shots more difficult in the warm sunshine along the Pacific, but at least everyone knows where they stand going into the last two rounds.
Stanley likes his chances, for no other reason than the South is long, and he is hitting his drives where he’s aiming at the moment.
“Well, it’s longer, so distance helps,” Stanley said.
TIGER ON THE MOVE
Tiger Woods moved into contention in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship with a 3-under 69, two shots behind leader Thorbjorn Olesen.
Woods had three straight birdies on the back nine to finish with a two-round total of 139.
Olesen (67) has a one-shot lead over two players, including 18-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero (65). Woods is another shot back in a group that has first-round leader Rory McIlroy (72) and Robert Karlsson (72).
Sergio Garcia (69), Padraig Harrington (69) and Charl Schwartzel (70) were at 140.
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