Choi grabs 2-stroke lead; Singh misses cut
Tiger Woods looks like he might lose his No. 1 seed by skipping The Barclays in Harrison, N.Y., thanks to some stellar golf at Westchester from one of the top players chasing him in the PGA Tour Playoffs.
The surprise is that it's K.J. Choi, not Vijay Singh.
On a course that has given him fits, Choi holed out from 94 yards for eagle on the seventh hole and marched along to a 5-under 66, giving him a 2-shot lead over Rich Beem going into the weekend at the first of four playoff events for the FedEx Cup.
And on a course where Singh has won three times, the defending champion cleaned out his locker Friday after missing the cut for the first time at Westchester in five years. He wasted a brilliant start to shoot 71 and miss by 4 shots.
"In one way, I'm disappointed," said Singh, who has missed consecutive cuts for the first time since 2005. "But in another, I'd rather be out there working on my game than just trying to play here and playing poorly."
Geoff Ogilvy, who won the U.S. Open down the road at Winged Foot last summer, had a 66 in the swirling breezes of late afternoon and joined Steve Stricker (68) and Rory Sabbatini (71) at 8-under 134.
No one else was within 6 shots of Choi at 12-under 130.
For Choi, it was another reminder that this has been his best year in golf.
He already has two PGA Tour victories against strong fields this year. He is No. 5 in the FedEx Cup standings. He is on the verge of cracking the top 10 in the world ranking. And his confidence is growing with a controlled fade off the tee that has spurred his success.
His name atop the leaderboard at The Barclays was more evidence.
In 10 previous rounds at this tournament, Choi had never shot better than 67 and had broken par only three times.
"My scores are better than what I expected," Choi said. "I've always played not so well here in the past years, and this course ... it's very hard to score under par."
Another player giving himself new life was Bill Haas, who had a 68 and was in the group at 6-under 136 that included Sergio Garcia (67), Ernie Els (71), Retief Goosen (68) and Adam Scott (69).
Phil Mickelson had a 70 and was at 137.
"I would have liked to have been more under par because when K.J. gets it going, he's got the ability to keep going, so he's going to be tough to catch," Mickelson said. "But a good round tomorrow, maybe I'll have a chance on Sunday."
Woods, who chose to sit out this event, could wind up 6,500 points behind if Choi were to win.
Safeway Classic: Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa was a shot back of leaders Sophie Gustafson and rookie Ji-Young Oh after the first round of the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore.
Ochoa, who has won the past two tournaments, threw up her arms after making a long birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole to finish the day with a 5-under 67.
Boeing Classic: Ray Stewart, a former PGA Tour player who made the tournament field by shooting 70 and claiming the last automatic spot in a Monday qualifier, made 4 birdies on his first nine, and finished with a 6-under 66 in the Champions Tour's Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash.
Stewart, a native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, playing in his first tournament since the 2006 Senior British Open, didn't bogey.
Dutch Open: David Carter of England shot a second straight 5-under 65 to claim a 2-shot lead after the second round of the Dutch Open in Zaandvoort, Netherlands, putting him closer to his first European Tour title in nearly a decade. Local favorite Joost Luiten equaled the course record of 64. He is one of three golfers 2 shots behind Carter.