PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — PGA Tour rookie Roberto Castro followed his dream day with a nightmare, shooting a 78 in yesterday’s Players Championship second round after tying the course record with a 9-under 63 on Thursday.
After carding a birdie on his second hole to get to 10-under, Castro’s round began to bleed away. He shot 39 on the front nine, with four bogeys on his first eight holes. After a double on No. 12 it looked as if he might have trouble breaking 80. But Castro rallied to finish his round with six consecutive pars.
“I was 6-over par and sitting there looking at 16, 17, and 18,’’ he said. “It was nice to finish with six really solid holes.’’
He said before the round he was “just trying to settle down and reset my rhythm.’’
“I wouldn’t have been embarrassed or felt bad or anything if I would have shot two 76s this week,’’ Castro said. “It’s a hard golf course. I’m 3-under par, and beating 110 of the best players in the world through 36 holes. I’m excited about the weekend. It’s going to be tough. I like that. It’s going to be fun.’’
* Two days after Vijay Singh filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour, he missed The Players Championship cut, finishing 1-over after two rounds. So there will be no uncomfortable Pete Rozelle–Al Davis moment with PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem having to hand over a winner’s trophy to Singh tomorrow.
* In a more surprising missed-cut development, Phil Mickelson failed to make it to the weekend, finishing 1-over thanks to a bogey on his last hole, the par-5 ninth. It’s been a bad week for Mickelson, who lost a final-round lead Sunday at the Wells Fargo Championship. He hit only 14-of-28 fairways and 20-of-36 greens.
The missed cut ended 11 consecutive made cuts at The Players for Mickelson, which was the longest active streak.
* Davis Love III, who hasn’t played since February after having spinal fusion surgery to correct bone spurs, made the cut at 2-under.
Love has played only three events this year, missing two cuts and withdrawing from the Phoenix Open. For Love, the 1992 and 2003 Players champion, this is his 28th consecutive start at the tournament. This was his 19th career made cut here.
* After telling his caddie he was going to hole out the shot, Australian Marc Leishman holed out his second shot on the 18th with a pitching wedge from 172 yards. The eagle capped a 6-under 66 and has him at 6-under, five shots out of the lead. … Defending champion Matt Kuchar, who at 7-under is four shots out of the lead, is attempting to become the first player to defend his Players title. Only six defending champions have finished in the top 10 the following year, with no one finishing higher than tied for fifth. Rory McIlroy can regain the No. 1 ranking in the world from Tiger Woods if he wins The Players and Woods finishes alone in 13th or lower. … Dustin Johnson withdrew before his round yesterday with a back injury and Colt Knost withdrew with a neck and spine injury.