Baddeley in contention, Scott out

August 09, 2008
ADAM Scott will have blood tests next week in an effort to identify the mysterious illness that has sapped his strength several times over the past four months.

Scott completed a "wasted year" in the majors when he missed the cut by two strokes after the second round at the US PGA Championship.

On a day when fellow Australian Aaron Baddeley moved within three strokes of American leader J.B. Holmes at Oakland Hills, Scott could only reflect on what might have been had he been fit and healthy.

"I've got to get some blood tests to make sure I don't have anything too serious," said the 28-year-old Queenslander, who has been bothered more than once by painful throat ulcers.

Scott's woes started the week before the Masters, when he fell ill with a fever that was accompanied by ulcers.

It was much the same condition that knocked him for six last week, preventing him from preparing properly for the PGA.

And then there was the broken bone in his right hand, which he incurred when a mate slammed a car door on it just three weeks before the US Open, preventing any meaningful preparation for that event either.

Under the circumstances, Scott should not be ashamed of his results in the first three majors - equal 25th at the Masters, tied 26th at the United States Open and equal 16th at the British Open.

Even though he worked hard on the range with coach Butch Harmon on Monday and Tuesday this week, he could not find his missing swing in time for the PGA.

An opening seven-over-par 77 cooked his goose, and though a second round 73 was better than the average score, it was too little, too late.

"I had a lot of bad rhythm," said Scott, who only a month ago was ranked fourth in the world.

"It's easy to time it on the range, much harder on the course. It didn't really fall into place at all.

"I played as bad as I have all year, ball-striking wise. I only made one birdie in two days, and that was a two-putt.

"My swing was horrible. I didn't hit many fairways, therefore I didn't hit many greens, so I never had chances for birdie."

Fellow Queenslander Rod Pampling also made an early exit after a shocking meltdown.

He was within one stroke of the lead early in the second round, but dropped 11 shots in 11 holes mid-round on his way to an 81.

Baddeley, on the other hand, made a fast start with an eagle at the par-five second, where he drained a 15-metre putt, before hanging on in extremely tough conditions to card a stellar 71 that left him equal seventh.

Long-hitting American J.B. Holmes was the only player to finish 36 holes under par, as a moderate breeze, thick rough, severely sloping greens and firm conditions conspired to test the skill and patience of the world's best.

Holmes carded 68 to post a one-under-par 139 halfway total, one stroke ahead of compatriot Ben Curtis, Englishman Justin Rose and Korean Charlie Wi, while pre-tournament favourite Phil Mickelson was four behind.

It was the first time since 1972 that only one player was under par after two rounds at the PGA.

It's no coincidence the championship that year was also held at Oakland Hills.

Baddeley was the only Australian close to the lead, with Steve Elkington next best, five shots back after a nightmare bogey, bogey, double bogey finish at the final three holes.

"In the end I was pleased (with my score) because it was so difficult out there," said Baddeley, who played the 18th hole while a light plane flew overheard towing a banner advertising a local strip club.

"It was nice to get ahead of the game early. I had a couple of chances on the back nine which would have been nice to convert, on (holes) 11 and 13, but it was hard."

Baddeley expressed satisfaction with every facet of his game, except perhaps his driving, which he may need to tighten up to contend.

"I didn't drive it too bad on the back nine. I didn't drive it as well on the front nine. If I can hit a couple more fairways, I think I'm fairly good."



FULL LEADERBOARD
1 15 J.B. Holmes -1 F -2 71 68 - - 139
T2 6 Charlie Wi E F E 70 70 - - 140
T2 41 Ben Curtis E F -3 73 67 - - 140
T2 41 Justin Rose E F -3 73 67 - - 140
T5 28 David Toms +1 F -1 72 69 - - 141
T5 11 Henrik Stenson +1 F E 71 70 - - 141
T7 1 Angel Cabrera +2 F +2 70 72 - - 142
T7 9 Brandt Snedeker +2 F +1 71 71 - - 142
T7 6 Jeev Milkha Singh +2 F +4 68 74 - - 142
T7 9 Aaron Baddeley +2 F +1 71 71 - - 142
T7 4 Ken Duke +2 F +3 69 73 - - 142
T7 4 Sergio Garcia +2 F +3 69 73 - - 142
T7 4 Sean O'Hair +2 F +3 69 73 - - 142
T14 2 Nicholas Thompson +3 F +2 71 72 - - 143
T14 2 Briny Baird +3 F +2 71 72 - - 143
T14 47 Paul Goydos +3 F -1 74 69 - - 143
T14 19 D.J. Trahan +3 F +1 72 71 - - 143
T14 19 Boo Weekley +3 F +1 72 71 - - 143
T14 6 Phil Mickelson +3 F +3 70 73 - - 143
T14 29 Steve Flesch +3 F E 73 70 - - 143
T21 13 Brian Gay +4 F +4 70 74 - - 144
T21 40 Tom Lehman +4 F E 74 70 - - 144
T21 22 Michael Campbell +4 F +1 73 71 - - 144
T21 5 Steve Elkington +4 F +3 71 73 - - 144
T21 5 Peter Hanson +4 F +3 71 73 - - 144
T26 18 Michael Allen +5 F +5 70 75 - - 145
T26 10 Padraig Harrington +5 F +4 71 74 - - 145
T26 35 Ian Poulter +5 F +1 74 71 - - 145
T26 7 Rory Sabbatini +5 F +3 72 73 - - 145
T26 17 Alastair Forsyth +5 F +2 73 72 - - 145
T26 25 Robert Karlsson +5 F +7 68 77 - - 145
T26 10 Carl Pettersson +5 F +4 71 74 - - 145
T26 18 Anthony Kim +5 F +5 70 75 - - 145
T26 35 Justin Leonard +5 F +1 74 71 - - 145
T35 40 Fredrik Jacobson +6 F +1 75 71 - - 146
T35 55 Stuart Appleby +6 F E 76 70 - - 146
T35 19 Ernie Els +6 F +5 71 75 - - 146
T35 2 Retief Goosen +6 F +4 72 74 - - 146
T35 8 Dean Wilson +6 F +3 73 73 - - 146
T35 74 Mark Brown +6 F -1 77 69 - - 146
T35 8 Pat Perez +6 F +3 73 73 - - 146
T35 2 Paul Casey +6 F +4 72 74 - - 146
T35 26 Camilo Villegas +6 F +2 74 72 - - 146
T35 19 Steve Stricker +6 F +5 71 75 - - 146
T35 26 Graeme McDowell +6 F +2 74 72 - - 146
T35 8 Niclas Fasth +6 F +3 73 73 - - 146
T35 55 Prayad Marksaeng +6 F E 76 70 - - 146
T48 42 Kevin Sutherland +7 F +1 76 71 - - 147
T48 5 Rocco Mediate +7 F +4 73 74 - - 147
T48 32 Mark Calcavecchia +7 F +6 71 76 - - 147
T48 27 Chris DiMarco +7 F +2 75 72 - - 147
T48 45 Andres Romero +7 F +8 69 78 - - 147
T48 15 John Mallinger +7 F +5 72 75 - - 147
T48 61 Hiroyuki Fujita +7 F E 77 70 - - 147
T48 5 Steve Marino +7 F +4 73 74 - - 147
T48 61 Charl Schwartzel +7 F E 77 70 - - 147
T48 5 Geoff Ogilvy +7 F +4 73 74 - - 147
T48 45 Billy Mayfair +7 F +8 69 78 - - 147
T59 31 Louis Oosthuizen +8 F +2 76 72 - - 148
T59 16 Bubba Watson +8 F +3 75 73 - - 148
T59 26 Paul Azinger +8 F +6 72 76 - - 148
T59 26 Charles Howell III +8 F +6 72 76 - - 148
T59 16 John Merrick +8 F +5 73 75 - - 148
T59 31 John Senden +8 F +2 76 72 - - 148
T59 16 Mike Weir +8 F +5 73 75 - - 148
T59 26 James Kingston +8 F +6 72 76 - - 148
T59 31 Tim Clark +8 F +2 76 72 - - 148
T59 16 Corey Pavin +8 F +3 75 73 - - 148
T59 43 Jim Furyk +8 F +7 71 77 - - 148
T59 31 Robert Allenby +8 F +2 76 72 - - 148
T59 2 Peter Lonard +8 F +4 74 74 - - 148
T59 43 Richard Green +8 F +7 71 77 - - 148
T59 65 Chez Reavie +8 F E 78 70 - - 148

Projected Cut - lowest 70 scores and ties
T74 58 Brendan Jones +9 F +8 71 78 - - 149
T74 13 John Daly +9 F +5 74 75 - - 149
T74 1 Soren Kjeldsen +9 F +4 75 74 - - 149
T74 1 Bob Tway +9 F +4 75 74 - - 149
T74 16 Fred Couples +9 F +3 76 73 - - 149
T74 1 Tom Pernice Jr. +9 F +4 75 74 - - 149
T74 50 Johnson Wagner +9 F +1 78 71 - - 149
T74 58 Frank Esposito Jr.PGA +9 F +8 71 78 - - 149
T74 31 Simon Dyson +9 F +6 73 76 - - 149
T74 16 Zach Johnson +9 F +3 76 73 - - 149
T74 66 Ryan Moore +9 F +9 70 79 - - 149
T74 31 Rich Beem +9 F +6 73 76 - - 149
T74 16 Todd Hamilton +9 F +3 76 73 - - 149
T87 3 J.J. Henry +10 F +4 76 74 - - 150
T87 44 Jay Haas +10 F +7 73 77 - - 150
T87 26 Mark Brooks +10 F +6 74 76 - - 150
T87 22 Adam Scott +10 F +3 77 73 - - 150
T87 26 Daniel Chopra +10 F +6 74 76 - - 150
T87 12 Richard S. Johnson +10 F +5 75 75 - - 150
T87 26 Nick O'Hern +10 F +6 74 76 - - 150
T87 37 Vaughn Taylor +10 F +2 78 72 - - 150
T95 34 Heath Slocum +11 F +7 74 77 - - 151
T95 20 Darren Clarke +11 F +6 75 76 - - 151
T95 20 Anders Hansen +11 F +6 75 76 - - 151
T95 52 Scott Strange +11 F +8 73 78 - - 151
T95 20 Don Yrene PGA +11 F +6 75 76 - - 151
T95 29 K.J. Choi +11 F +3 78 73 - - 151
T95 20 Stewart Cink +11 F +6 75 76 - - 151
T95 52 Miguel Angel Jimenez +11 F +8 73 78 - - 151
T95 87 Rod Pampling +11 F +11 70 81 - - 151
T95 34 Steve Lowery +11 F +7 74 77 - - 151
T105 31 Tommy Armour III +12 F +3 79 73 - - 152
T105 15 Vijay Singh +12 F +6 76 76 - - 152
T105 4 Stephen Ames +12 F +5 77 75 - - 152
T105 15 Chad Campbell +12 F +6 76 76 - - 152
T105 4 Jyoti Randhawa +12 F +5 77 75 - - 152
T105 15 Alan Morin PGA +12 F +6 76 76 - - 152
T105 4 Davis Love III +12 F +5 77 75 - - 152
T105 15 Hennie Otto +12 F +6 76 76 - - 152
T113 23 Trevor Immelman +13 F +7 76 77 - - 153
T113 4 Soren Hansen +13 F +6 77 76 - - 153
T113 4 Ross Fisher +13 F +6 77 76 - - 153
T113 23 Jerry Kelly +13 F +4 79 74 - - 153
T113 11 Sonny Skinner PGA +13 F +5 78 75 - - 153
T113 52 Tim Weinhart PGA +13 F +9 74 79 - - 153
T113 23 Parker McLachlin +13 F +7 76 77 - - 153
T120 4 Steve Webster +14 F +6 78 76 - - 154
T120 45 Martin Kaymer +14 F +9 75 79 - - 154
T120 16 Toru Taniguchi +14 F +5 79 75 - - 154
T120 23 Sam Arnold PGA +14 F +4 80 74 - - 154
T120 11 Bart Bryant +14 F +7 77 77 - - 154
T125 16 Ryan Benzel PGA +15 F +8 77 78 - - 155
T125 11 Jim Estes PGA +15 F +6 79 76 - - 155
T125 16 Scott Verplank +15 F +8 77 78 - - 155
T125 1 George McNeill +15 F +7 78 77 - - 155
T125 50 Ben Crane +15 F +10 75 80 - - 155
T125 28 Cliff Kresge +15 F +2 83 72 - - 155
T125 16 Lee Westwood +15 F +8 77 78 - - 155
T125 1 Oliver Wilson +15 F +7 78 77 - - 155
T133 15 Mathew Goggin +16 F +5 81 75 - - 156
T133 15 Jeff Quinney +16 F +5 81 75 - - 156
T133 10 Scott Hebert PGA +16 F +6 80 76 - - 156
T133 43 Peter Hedblom +16 F +10 76 80 - - 156
T133 9 Rick Leibovich PGA +16 F +8 78 78 - - 156
T138 10 Tim Thelen PGA +17 F +6 81 76 - - 157
T138 63 Jonathan Byrd +17 F +12 75 82 - - 157
T138 14 Jeff Martin PGA +17 F +9 78 79 - - 157
T138 5 Ryuji Imada +17 F +7 80 77 - - 157
T138 14 Greg Kraft +17 F +9 78 79 - - 157
T143 7 Woody Austin +18 F +9 79 79 - - 158
T143 7 Kyle Flinton PGA +18 F +9 79 79 - - 158
T143 - Pablo Larrazabal +18 F +8 80 78 - - 158
T143 34 Brad Martin PGA +18 F +11 77 81 - - 158
T143 19 Curt Sanders PGA +18 F +10 78 80 - - 158
148 39 Nick Dougherty +19 F +12 77 82 - - 159
T149 59 Colin Montgomerie +20 F +14 76 84 - - 160
T149 1 Hunter Mahan +20 F +9 81 79 - - 160
151 5 Eric Dugas PGA +21 F +4 87 74 - - 161
152 9 David Long PGA +22 F +12 80 82 - - 162
153 1 Vince Jewell PGA +23 F +8 85 78 - - 163
154 6 Eric Manning PGA +29 F +18 81 88 - - 169
155 - Brad Dean PGA +30 F +14 86 84 - - 170
WD - Kenny Perry - - - - - - - -