Olazabal on the charge
Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal charged to within three strokes of the clubhouse lead with a superb six-under-par 66 in the second round at the £4.5m Players Championship.
The two-time Masters champion was contemplating missing the cut after an opening bogey but he stormed back with eight birdies, including four in a row, in relatively benign morning conditions at the Sawgrass TPC.
“I was looking to that long flight home,” he said when asked what he was thinking after the first hole.
“It didn’t look very good but you have to keep on trying and it was early in the day. It was a good thing I birdied 11 (his second hole) straightaway and then birdied 13. That cheered me up a bit.
“I didn’t strike the ball all that well but managed to keep the ball in play off the tee more than yesterday and when those putts go in, it makes the difference.”
Olazabal made six birdies in seven holes starting at the 16th, his seventh, thanks to a combination of some precise approach shots as well as a couple of monster putts and a chip-in.
None was longer than the 50-footer he holed at the famous par-three 17th. “Sometimes you need those breaks to help your round,” he continued.
Olazabal has never been a very good driver, more renowned for the quality of his iron play and short game, and he has a mixed record here, with a seventh placing last year his best result.
“This is a course where you have to strike the ball well,” he said.
“If you’re not, you’re going to struggle big time. You don’t have anywhere to bail out, and that’s why it’s one of the best courses we play all year. The guy that wins must have done a lot of things good.”
Swede Carl Pettersson (71) shared the lead with Australian Peter Lonard (72) and American Sean O’Hair (69) with half the field back in the clubhouse.
“I don’t know what the lead is going to be at the end of the day, but it won’t be far off,” said Pettersson.
“You’ve got to be on your game and playing well [on this course] and I feel I’m playing pretty good.”
Starting at the 10th, Pettersson’s lofty position came despite a double bogey at the 17th, where he found the water, as well as bogeys at his final two holes.
Irishman Padraig Harrington was five shots behind after a decent two-under 70. Not that he was thrilled with a bogey at his final hole, where he three-putted from seven feet, missing his second putt from three feet.
Colin Montgomerie made a costly bogey at the final hole, missing a two-footer that seemed likely to cost him a spot in the final two rounds, though he did not know it at the time.
