Golf glance

Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange August 19, 2013The SportsXchange

COMING UP

 PGA TOUR: The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., Thursday through Sunday. 

 TV: Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel and 3-6 p.m. EDT on CBS; Sunday, noon-1:30 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel and 2-6 p.m. EDT on CBS. 

 LAST YEAR: Nick Watney grabbed a share of the lead by posting a 6-under-par 65 in round one and led much of the way in claiming a three-stroke victory over Brandt Snedekerat Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. Watney, who has not won since, claimed the fifth title of his PGA Tour career and first since winning the WGC--Cadillac Championship and the AT&T National in 2011. Salvaging what had been a disappointing season, Watney came from two strokes behind 54-hole leaderSergio Garcia, who slid to a tie for third with a 75, by closing with a 69 that included an exclamation point of sorts with a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole. 

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in Snoqualmie, Wash., Friday through Sunday.

TV: Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday, 7:30-9:30 p.m. EDT, and Sunday, 7-9:30 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel all three days.

 LAST YEAR: Jay Don Blake chipped to within tap-in range for a birdie on the second playoff hole to turn back Mark O'Meara and claim his third victory on the Champions Tour after winning only the 1991 Shearson Lehman Brothers Open in his career on the PGA Tour. O'Meara, won captured the Masters and the Open Championship in 1998 among 16 titles on the PGA Tour and was seeking his third win on the Senior Circuit, missed birdie putts of eight feet on the first extra hole and 15 feet on the second. Blake and O'Meara both finished with 68s to force the playoff after starting the final round one stroke behind leader Willie Wood, who closed with a 70. 

LPGA TOUR: CN Canadian Women's Open at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT; Friday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. EDT, and Sunday, 4-6 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel all three days.

 LAST YEAR: Lydia Ko, a 15-year-old amateur from New Zealand, closed with a 5-under-par 67 to claim a three-stroke victory over Inbee Park of South Korea at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, British Columbia. Ko became the fifth amateur to win on the LPGA Tour and the youngest, one year after Lexi Thompsoncaptured the Navistar LPGA Classic at the age of 16. Ko, who captured the U.S. Women's Amateur two weeks earlier in Cleveland, became the youngest female to win a professional event at the New South Wales Open in Australia earlier in the year when she was still 14. However, but Brooke Henderson, also 14, broke her record by a few months in June by winning a Canadian Women's Tour event. 

Inside the Ropes: Champ Snedeker on track for FedEx final

Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange August 19, 2013The SportsXchange

In the PGA Tour's version of "Star Trek," otherwise known as the FedEx Cup playoffs, Brandt Snedeker might boldly go where no man, or Cup winner, has gone before, back tothe Tour Championship. 

 Starting with the FedEx Cup's inaugural season of 2007, the first five winners were Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Woods, Jim Furyk and Bill Haas. Not one of them made it back to the final event of playoffs, the Tour Championship, the following year because of sub-par play and/or injury. 

 Snedeker, the reigning FedEx Cup champ, enters the playoffs this week at the Barclays at third in the standings, trailing leader Woods and Matt Kuchar. That makes him virtually a lock to make it back to the finale at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, as long as he avoids the chronic rib injuries that have dogged him in recent years. 

 Having played in tournaments five consecutive weeks, Snedeker is going to make it seven in a row through the Deutsche Bank Championship next week, after which the playoffs will take a one-week break before the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. 

Snedeker isn't simply thinking about a return trip to Atlanta. He wants to join Woods as the only multiple winners of the FedEx Cup.

"I've got a big stretch of golf coming up, and this is a great time of year to be playing your best golf," said Snedeker, who captured the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the RBC Canadian Open this season.

"I knew this stretch was coming at the beginning of the year. I took a lot of time off in the middle of the summer, so now I'm kind of in my big part of my schedule, important part of my schedule, and I feel like I'm rested, I'm ready to go.

"Golf game feels as good as it's felt in a long time, and I'm excited to keep playing. I did the exact same schedule last year, and it worked out pretty well, so hopefully I can (win the FedEx Cup) again this year."

 Steve Stricker and Hunter Mahan are the only players who have teed it up in all 24 tournaments since the playoffs began, but that will change this week because Stricker is staying home in Wisconsin, in part to rest his torn right hamstring. 

Stricker said at the start of the season that he was going to play in only 11 tournaments this year, and right now he is at 10. He wasn't planning on playing in the playoffs unless he believed he had a good chance to win the FedEx Cup.

 In fact, he has an elk hunting trip planned for the week of the Tour Championship, but that might have to wait. 

 Stricker said recently that he isn't going to completely skip the playoffs because he is 11th in the Presidents Cup standings and wants to make sure he qualifies for the team on his own merit instead of relying on a captain's pick from Fred Couples. 

 "At the beginning of the year, I was definitely not going to play the playoffs," said Stricker, who is 20th in the FedEx Cup standings. "Now I've got some thoughts about playing. If I make the (Presidents Cup) team, I need to be playing. 

"I can't play the (first) three, then not play the Tour Championship and expect to play well at the Presidents Cup. I don't know what I'm going to do out of those first three. Play them all, play two, play one, play none. I don't know."

 To use a term from "Star Wars," that other sci-fi epic, the force has been with Stricker in the playoffs. He is one of six players with two victories in the series, winning the 2007 Barclays and the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship. 

 Not only that, but he is one of three players who have a series-high 10 finishes in the top-10, the others being Furyk and Camilo Villegas. 

Stricker finished second in the FedEx Cup in 2007 and third in 2009. He has been so consistent in the playoffs that he has earned the nickname "Mr. September."

There is $8 million on the line in each of the four FedEx Cup tournaments, and a $35 million bonus pool will be divvied up at the end of the playoffs at East Lake, with $10 million going to the winner.

 The top 125 in the standings will tee it up this week at Liberty National in the Barclays, with only 100 of them making it to the TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship next week. 

 After a week off, the top 70 in the standings will make their way to Conway Farms outside of Chicago for the BMW Championship, where the field will be whittled down to 30 for the Tour Championship in Atlanta. 

 Snedeker figures to be there, but with Stricker, it remains to be seen. 

Course Source: Lake Chabot, La Quinta Resort

Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange August 19, 2013The SportsXchange

IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Lake Chabot Golf Course in Oakland, Calif.

THE LAYOUT: Lake Chabot reopened in April 2007 after completion of a much-needed renovation that restored the classic course that introduced generations of East Bay residents to golf.

Included in the improvements were comprehensive reseeding, fertilization and improved irrigation that have significantly improved course conditioning and playability.

 Also, the historic Spanish-style clubhouse was remodeled, including an upgrade to the Chabot Cafe, and enhanced banquet and catering facilities. 

 Operated by the City of Oakland, Lake Chabot was designed by William Lock and opened in 1923. It measures 5,972 yards from the back tees, but because it is located on hilly terrain overlooking the city, many holes play longer than the actual yardage. 

 While the course is a spectacular walk through the Oakland Hills adjacent to Anthony Chabot Regional Park, with magnificent views of San Francisco Bay and the hills of Contra Costa County, use a cart unless you are in excellent shape. 

However, Chabot's outstanding par-3 course is the perfect walk in the park.

 Several top players have grown up playing at Lake Chabot, most notably the late Tony Lema (St. Elizabeth's High in Oakland), who captured the 1964 Open Championship at St. Andrews; Pat Hurst (San Leandro High), the 1998 Nabisco Dinah Shore champion; John Brodie (Oakland Tech High), former All-Pro quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers who played on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours; and Gary Vanier (Skyline High in Oakland), the 1982 California Amateur champion and 2007 California Senior Amateur champion, who played on the Stanford golf team with Tom Watson. 

 HEAD PROFESSIONAL: Brandon Chapman. 

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Regulars at Lake Chabot know to consider at least one more club when playing the uphill holes, not only because of the elevation changes but because the omnipresent fog that rolls in off San Francisco Bay can make the air heavy.

Standing out on the front nine are back-to-back roller-coaster par-5s, Nos. 3 and 4, that play only 458 and 464 yards but are very difficult to reach in two. The tee shots on both holes from elevated tees carry downhill into a valley and across the road that enters the course, but the approach shots are severely uphill.

The ninth probably is the most fun hole on the course, playing 151 yards from a tee perched on the side of a hill to a green more than 100 feet below. A short tee shot is in the weeds, long is in the trees beyond the green and left is into a gully, but the green complex is ample.

No. 14 features a blind tee shot to an elevated fairway, with a periscope situated next to the tee from which to see if the fairway is clear. The hole plays longer than its 358 yards because usually the golfer is hitting into the prevailing wind.

The most spectacular views on the course are on the last four holes, starting with the reachable 259-yard 15th, where a gully gobbles up wayward slices.

The home hole is the most remarkable on the course, a downhill 673-yard monster that plays to a par 6 -- and that's no typo.

 The hole lost its par-6 rating for a while when the course fell into a bit of disrepair, but when Raymond Chester, former All-Pro tight end of the Oakland Raiders, came aboard as general manager several years ago, the course was retooled and the designation was returned by the Northern California Golf Association. 

 Kevin Hardy, an Oakland kid (St. Elizabeth's High) who was a 270-pound All-America defensive tackle for Notre Dame in the 1960s, once drove the ball to the bottom of the hill, wedged his second shot to the elevated green and sank the putt for a rare double-eagle 3. 

 OTHERS COURSES IN THE AREA: The City of Oakland also operates the Metropolitan Golf Links, a Scottish-style course formerly known as Galbraith Golf Course on the Bay adjacent to the Oakland Airport, and the par-3 layout at Montclair Golf Course. 

 Not far from the Metropolitan is Monarch Bay Golf Club in San Leandro, featuring the 18-hole Tony Lema Course and the 9-hole Marina Course. 

 Across the Oakland Estuary in Alameda are two fine muni courses at Chuck Corica Golf Complex, the Earl Fry Course and the Jack Clark Course, named for a longtime sportswriter with the Alameda Times-Star. 

 Also a short drive away is Tilden Park Golf Course, another traditional muni course that opened in 1937, in the Berkeley Hills above the University of California. 

 Yet another nearby public course is Willow Park Golf Course in Castro Valley. 

 WHERE TO STAY: Other than the Marriott Oakland City Center in the revitalized downtown, the best places to stay in Oakland are in trendy Jack London Square or near the Oakland Airport. 

 Try the Hilton Oakland Airport, the Best Western Oakland Airport Inn and Suites or the Holiday Inn and Suites Oakland Airport Hotel in the Hegenberger Road area. Closer to downtown are the Jack London Inn, the Waterfront Hotel and the Homewood Oakland Waterfront. 

ON THE WEB: www.lakechabotgolf.com

 THE LAST RESORT: La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif. 

THE LAYOUT: Guests at the resort, which has been a hideaway for Hollywood stars since 1926, have the luxury of choosing from five magnificent and varied courses on which to play.

 There are the Mountain and Dunes courses on the hotel property, as well as the TPC Stadium Course, theJack Nicklaus Tournament Course and the Greg Norman Course right down the road at PGA West. All of the properties are owned by KSL Resorts. 

Both courses at the hotel and the famed Stadium Course were designed by the legendary Pete Dye.

 The Mountain Course, which plays along the base of the San Jacinto Mountains and opened in 1960, has hosted the World Cup of Golf, the California State Open and the PGA National Club Professional Championship. It measures 6,756 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 72. 

 Even though the Dunes Course (opened in 1981) runs alongside the mountain, the 6,742-yard layout meanders through flatter desert terrain. It is a kinder, gentler Dye layout for the resort golfer, although it can provide plenty of challenge. The Dunes Course has hosted PGA Tour Qualifying School six times. 

 The TPC Stadium Course, which opened in 1986, is most famous as host of the Skins Game from 1986 to 1991, with Fuzzy Zoeller, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange (twice), Raymond Floyd and Payne Stewart hoisting the trophy. It stretches to 6,753 from the tips, plays to a par of 72 and was part of the Bob Hope Classic rotation in 1987. 

 The Nicklaus Tournament Course, which opened in 1987, is a tamer version of the Stadium Course and also has hosted PGA Tour Q-School. It measures 6,556 yards and plays to a par of 72. 

 The Norman Course is the youngest of the five, having opened in 1999. It lies in an ancient seabed 40 feet below sea level and is surrounded by dark, forbidding mountains that contrast the grass and the white crushed marble in the bunkers. 

The Norman Course can play the longest of the five at 7,156 yards and a par of 72, but there are five sets of tees.

 The Jim McLean Golf School is located on both properties. 

DIRECTOR OF GOLF: Bill Shaw.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: The most famous hole among this fabulous fivesome of courses is the 147-yard 17th hole on the Stadium Course, which is known as "Alcatraz" because of its island green.

Lee Trevino made the hole part of golfing lore with the only hole-in-one in the history of the Skins Game in 1987.

 Before you get to Alcatraz, try to stay out of the 19-foot deep waste bunker on the par-5 16th hole. Short-game guru Dave Pelz once started an instructional show on the Golf Channel from the bottom of the bunker. 

 Even though the Dunes might be the most user-friendly course of the bunch, its 17th hole is annually selected by the PGA of America as one of the most difficult par 4s in the United States. The 433-yard monster wraps around a large lake that runs all the way down the left to a treacherous, two-tiered green. 

And No. 18 on the Dunes is no picnic either, even though it is only 390 yards, because this time the water is on the right.

No. 16 is the signature hole on the Mountain Course, a gorgeous 167-yard par 3 from an elevated green. It runs alongside a huge talus slide and has been called one of the 500 best holes in the world by Golf Magazine.

 Best of the Nicklaus Course probably is the par-5, 561-yard 15th, which features a well-bunkered island green. The finishing hole, a 432-yard par 4, requires an approach shot over water to a huge double green it shares with the ninth hole. 

 No. 8 on the Norman Course lists at 617 yards from the back tees, with water running all the way down the right side of the hole, one of nine ponds on the course covering 18 acres. 

When you get on the greens, remember that putts in the Coachella Valley tend to break toward Indio to the East.

 OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: If five courses are not enough, the city of La Quinta also boasts another world-class course at Trilogy Golf Club, which hosted the Skins Game from 2003-06. There are more than 100 golf courses across the Coachella Valley and 300-plus sunny days a year on which to play them. What more could a golfer ask? 

 WHERE TO STAY: La Quinta Resort & Club features 800 guest rooms tucked away in Spanish-style casitas throughout the 45-acre property. In addition to five championship golf courses, guests also have the use of 23 tennis courts, 42 swimming pools, 52 hot tubs, five restaurants and the world-famous Spa La Quinta. 

 Other golf resorts in the Coachella Valley include the Doral Desert Princess and the Cimarron Golf Resortin Cathedral City; Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage; Indian Canyon Golf Resort in Palm Springs; the Golf Resort at Indian Wells; Indian Palms Country Club and Resortin Indio, and the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa in Indian Wells. 

ON THE WEB: www.laquintaresort.com

Manning does another commercial, this one silent

DENVER (AP) -- Peyton Manning's latest commercial doesn't have a catchy tune like ''Football On Your Phone'' that he rapped with brother Eli.

In fact, he's downright silent in this one.

A straight-faced Manning teamed up with John Elway, John Lynch and Chauncey Billups in a humorous ad campaign that launches Monday promoting the 2014 BMW Championship golf tournament at Cherry Hills Country Club.

The campaign, which coincides with the launch of public ticket sales, features print and video ads showing the four Denver sports greats attending ''husher school'' at Cherry Hills so they can serve as marshals at next year's event.

They do some training to learn how to properly hold up the ''QUIET'' signs, with Lynch serving as a helpful tutor to Manning.

The print portion of the campaign features the foursome around a red golf cart holding their ''QUIET'' signs. They also 30-second recorded radio spots.

''I had this thought that with Denver being such a great sports town, if you were to get all the great sports stars in our town pitching theBMW, people are going to pay attention,'' said George Solich, general chairman of the 2014 BMW Championship.

The BMW Championship is part of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. No announcements have been made for future venues, but Solich said he's confident Colorado can become a regular stop for the playoffs because of its great golf weather around Labor Day.

''Now, if we can just get the Thursday night opening NFL game again next year, we'd have the perfect storm,'' he said. ''There's one way to assure that: the Broncos win the Super Bowl.''

The Broncos are hosting the NFL kickoff opener Sept. 5 but only because the defending champion Ravens couldn't play the game in Baltimore because of a scheduling conflict with baseball's Orioles.

Golf-U.S. PGA Tour Barclays Classic scores

Aug 25 (Infostrada Sports) - Scores from the U.S. PGA Tour Barclays Classic at the par-71 course on Sunday in Jersey City, New Jersey

273 Adam Scott (Australia) 69 66 72 66 

274 Graham DeLaet (Canada) 67 73 69 65

 Justin Rose (Britain) 68 68 70 68 

 Tiger Woods (U.S.) 67 69 69 69 

Gary Woodland (U.S.) 69 64 68 73

275 Phil Mickelson (U.S.) 71 69 70 65

D.A. Points (U.S.) 70 72 66 67

Jim Furyk (U.S.) 70 66 70 69

276 Jason Kokrak (U.S.) 70 69 70 67

Matt Every (U.S.) 67 72 69 68

 Nick Watney (U.S.) 68 70 69 69 

 Rickie Fowler (U.S.) 71 64 71 70 

277 Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 71 67 71 68 

 Bubba Watson (U.S.) 68 70 68 71 

278 John Huh (U.S.) 73 64 71 70 

 Daniel Summerhays (U.S.) 70 69 69 70 

Webb Simpson (U.S.) 67 66 74 71

Kevin Chappell (U.S.) 68 72 62 76

279 Brendon De Jonge (Zimbabwe) 67 69 72 71 

Rory McIlroy (Britain) 71 65 71 72

 Jordan Spieth (U.S.) 70 68 68 73 

 David Lynn (Britain) 71 65 69 74 

 Kevin Streelman (U.S.) 70 68 68 73 

Matt Kuchar (U.S.) 66 65 70 78

280 Lee Westwood (Britain) 73 68 71 68

 Bryce Molder (U.S.) 69 69 72 70 

Bill Haas (U.S.) 73 66 71 70

 Jason Day (Australia) 66 73 71 70 

Hunter Mahan (U.S.) 69 68 72 71

 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 68 67 74 71 

 Roberto Castro (U.S.) 70 70 69 71 

Ryan Moore (U.S.) 67 72 69 72

281 Charles Howell III (U.S.) 72 66 73 70 

Matt Jones (Australia) 71 68 72 70

Keegan Bradley (U.S.) 72 63 74 72

 Chris Stroud (U.S.) 73 66 70 72 

282 Jason Dufner (U.S.) 71 70 71 70 

Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 68 68 74 72

Greg Chalmers (Australia) 73 69 66 74

 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 70 66 71 75 

283 Stuart Appleby (Australia) 69 71 72 71 

Luke Donald (Britain) 67 72 72 72

284 Brian Gay (U.S.) 68 72 77 67

Erik Compton (U.S.) 72 70 72 70

George McNeill (U.S.) 71 68 76 69

Kevin Stadler (U.S.) 64 73 76 71

Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 65 73 75 71

 Scott Piercy (U.S.) 72 70 69 73 

Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69 72 66 77

285 Nicholas Thompson (U.S.) 67 74 72 72

Kyle Stanley (U.S.) 70 67 76 72

Martin Kaymer (Germany) 68 70 75 72

John Merrick (U.S.) 69 73 70 73

286 Martin Flores (U.S.) 71 69 77 69

 Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 68 73 73 72 

Jimmy Walker (U.S.) 68 73 72 73

 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 65 73 72 76 

287 Boo Weekley (U.S.) 69 72 75 71

Cameron Tringale (U.S.) 74 67 73 73

Bob Estes (U.S.) 72 68 74 73

 Jonas Blixt (Sweden) 69 67 70 81 

288 Scott Brown (U.S.) 70 70 78 70

Scott Langley (U.S.) 72 69 76 71

John Senden (Australia) 71 71 71 75

289 Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 68 73 77 71 

290 Jeff Overton (U.S.) 68 74 74 74

Ryan Palmer (U.S.) 65 73 75 77

291 Stewart Cink (U.S.) 70 70 79 72 

K.J. Choi (South Korea) 71 71 73 76

292 Charley Hoffman (U.S.) 68 71 79 74

294 Marc Leishman (Australia) 72 70 75 77

295 Martin Laird (Britain) 74 68 77 76 

 David Hearn (Canada) 73 68 79 75 

Josh Teater (U.S.) 68 72 76 79

Ko dominates for history-making victory in Canada

Australian teenager Lydia Ko became the first amateur to win twoLPGA Tour events by shooting a final-round 64 to defend her CN Canadian Open title with an astounding five-shot victory in Edmondton on Sunday. 

 Ko entered the final round training Sweden's Carolina Hedwall by one stroke, but Ko's 6-under round was three shots better than anyone else in the field as she finished the tournament at 15-under. France's Karine Icher shot a 3-under 67 to take second place, while Hedwall finished in a tie for third place at 9-under along withAmerican Brittany Lincicome. 

 Ko won the CN Canadian Open in 2012, becoming the youngest winner of an LPGA event at 15 years, 4 months, 2 days. A year later, she now holds the top two spots on that record chart. 

With the victory, Ko will move from No. 19 in the Rolex Women's World Rankings to No. 7. It is her fourth international victory world wide.

Ko is the first LPGA player to defend a title since Yani Tseng won the RICOH Women's British Open in 2010 and '11.

Ko has not missed a cut in 14 LPGA events over the past two seasons.

Dufner ties major scoring record with 63 at PGA

CBSSports.com wire reports

Aug. 9, 2013 7:47 PM ET

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Jason Dufner ties a major record with a 63 at the PGA Championship on Friday. (Getty Images)

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Jason Dufner lost his chance to make history in the PGA Championship.

And then he lost his shirt.

He still walked away from Oak Hill late Friday evening with a round he won't forget -- a 63 -- and a place in the record book with some of golf's greatest players. The moment was big enough that Dufner even agreed to show a little emotion.

Prompted in a television interview, Dufner flashed a smile. But only for a second.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Second-round leaderboard

"To join history, to shoot 63 in a major, pretty unbelievable," he said. "And to be leading the tournament, even better. So hopefully, it will propel me to a great weekend."

There was nothing dull about his golf. If anything, it was historic.

Dufner holed out from the fairway for eagle, rolled in a putt across the green for par and kept making birdies until he stood 12 feet away from a shot at the lowest score in the 153 years of championship golf. One last birdie attempt didn't even get to the hole, and Dufner had to settle for a 7-under 63.

"You couldn't have a better putt for a 62," he said. "And I left it short in the jar."

He also left behind his shirt, his cap and the glove he was wearing, which he signed with the date, the course and the score. The PGA of America shipped the items to its museum in Florida to put on permanent display.

It was the third time in the last seven years at the PGA Championship that a player had a putt at becoming the first player to shoot 62 in a major. Tiger Woods circled the hole at Southern Hills in 2007. Steve Stricker narrowly missed at Atlanta Athletic Club two years ago.

Dufner didn't feel disappointed for long.

On a rain-softened Oak Hill, where pelt-sized divots were flying and birdies were falling, Dufner surged to a two-shot lead over Masters champion Adam Scott, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar. At 9-under 131, Dufner tied the 36-hole record at the PGA Championship he now shares with six other players.

Dufner was alone at the top, and in the company of some big names in history.

His 63 broke the course record at Oak Hill held by Ben Hogan, Curtis Strange and Webb Simpson, who shot 64 about five hours earlier. Dufner became the 24th player to shoot 63 in a major -- Greg Norman and Vijay Singh, both in the Hall of Fame, did it twice.

And through it all, he barely cracked a smile.

"He's very calm," said Stricker, who played alongside Dufner. "I'm sure he was churning on the inside. He just told me while we were signing our cards, he was like, 'This is a lot for a Friday.'"

The possibilities were endless on a day that began with three hours of a steady rain until the sun broke through and took all the bite out of Oak Hill.

Simpson also had a chance at 63 until he made a bogey on the 16th hole of his round. U.S. Open champion Justin Rose shot 29 on the front nine to get back into contention. When the second round finally ended, 27 players remained under par -- this on a course that is stubborn when it comes to par. In five previous majors at Oak Hill, only nine players have finished the tournament in red numbers. Jack Nicklaus did it twice.

The cut was at 143, the lowest at the PGA Championship since 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club.

For all the low scores, Woods and Phil Mickelson were left behind.

Woods couldn't get anything going, exchanging birdies with bogeys during a poor putting round that led to an even-par 70. He was at 1-over 141 and 10 shots back going into the weekend. Woods went to the range with his swing coach, trying to find answers. He has only one score in the 60s in 14 rounds at the majors this year.

"Obviously, I'm going to have to put together a really good weekend," Woods said. "This golf course is pretty soft. It's definitely gettable. Got to hit the ball in play and keep the ball near the hole so I can be aggressive with my putts."

Mickelson's swing apparently went missing in the three weeks since he won the British Open. He was all over Oak Hill and still managed a 34 on the back nine until his wild shots caught up with him. Another 71 left him 11 shots out of the lead.

Dufner was in prime position to win the PGA Championship two years ago when he had a four-shot lead with four holes to play, only to be tracked down by Keegan Bradley and then beaten in a playoff. Dufner said that day he would only be disappointed "if I never get another chance."

And here he is, in record fashion.

Dufner's popularity has grown the last two years because of his zombie state. He was responsible for the craze known as "Dufnering" in April when someone took a photo of him slumped against a classroom wall, eyes in a daze, during a charity event at an elementary school as the teacher taught children how to relax and concentrate.

But there were nerves, no doubt, and Dufner showed them at the very end.

A 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole put him at 7 under for the round, and his 15-foot birdie putt on the next hole grazed the cup. He followed with two flawless swings on the tough 18th hole, which had yielded only four birdies at that point. That left him about 12 feet below the hole.

And he left it short by about 18 inches. There even was a nervous moment on the tap-in, when the ball came off the putter weakly and dove in the right corner of the cup.

"It's tough when you're chasing history," Dufner said. "You will be the first one to do something. I don't think I've been the first to do anything in my life. So it was a little nerve-racking for a Friday. It's usually the pressure you might feel toward the end of the tournament."

That part is still to come.

Low scores were available to anyone. Even after Dufner finished his round, K.J. Choi had an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to reach 7 under. It narrowly missed, and Choi made bogey on the next hole to end that threat.

Scott is swinging the club beautifully, and his only flaw Friday was not holing enough birdie chances when the rain stopped. Even so, he was in the hunt on the weekend for the fourth time in the last six majors. He will be in the final group with Dufner on Saturday.

Henrik Stenson, a runner-up at Muirfield, had a 66 and joined Rose at 6-under 134, only three shots behind. Stricker and Robert Garrigus were another shot behind.

Dufner is a student of golf history and was thrilled to part of it. But while that 63 put him in the record book, it doesn't guarantee the trophy. Of the 25 previous times that someone shot 63 in a major, only five players went on to win -- Nicklaus and Johnny Miller in the U.S. Open, Norman in the British Open, and Woods and Raymond Floyd in the PGA Championship.

Now that's some elite company.