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Stanley Moves into First at Farmers Insurance Open
First-round co-leader Kyle Stanley moved into solo first through 36 holes of the Farmers Insurance Open. The $6 million PGA Tour event began Thursday at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, near San Diego.
After opening with a 10-under 62 on Torrey Pines' North course, by far the easier of the two layouts at the 36-hole municipal facility, Stanley posted a 4-under 68 on South. The site of the 2008 U.S. Open is over 600 yards longer than North.
Beginning on the 10th hole, the 24-year-old from Gig Harbor, Wash., had a rocky front nine with three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey on the par-4 14th (his fifth hole) for an even-par 36. But the former Clemson All-American settled down on the inward half with four birdies for his 68.
After posting one of the low rounds Thursday on South, a 67, Brandt Snedeker continued his fine play at North, firing nine birdies against a bogey for a 64. The Nashville native is a stroke behind Stanley.
Tied for third at 132 are South Korean Sang-Moon Bae and American Martin Flores, who both shot 67s on South. Two strokes further back are Hunter Mahan (65 North) and Bill Haas (71 South). Sharing seventh at 135 are Aussie Robert Allenby (67 South), Justin Leonard (70 South), John Rollins (65 North) and John Huh (71 South).
Stanley's co-leader after the first round, Spencer Levin, went 14 strokes higher Friday on South and is now tied for 20th at 6-under 138. Defending champion Bubba Watson is 10 behind the halfway leader after a 69 on North and a 71 Friday on South.
The cut line was set at 2-under 142. Among those not qualifying for the weekend is hometown favorite Phil Mickelson. After getting off to a rotten start with a 5-over 77 on South, "Lefty" rebounded in the second round with a 68 on North but he still ended up at 1-over 145.
Mickelson said afterward that his primary issue was not being able to take his swing from the driving range to the golf course. "It's easy for me to see where the difference is, and the difference is that I'm not taking it from the practice tee to the course," he noted.
"My practice sessions have been better than they have in quite some time. But it's not correlating on to the golf course. I just need to have a better focus. That's the only explanation that I really have.
"There is not any one area of my game that I don't feel good about. … Unfortunately, I'm going to have a weekend off here and we're going to have perfect weather out here at Torrey, and I'd love to be playing, but I don't have that opportunity."
One of the players Mickelson tied with is J.B. Holmes, who's playing in his first tournament since undergoing brain surgery last year. After opening with a 76 on South, the 29-year-old Kentuckian posted a 3-under 69 on North. Two-time major champion Angel Cabrera also missed the cut after finishing at 3-over 147.
For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r004/.
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