Battling on Day 2

The second round of Q-school's First Stage here at Irish Creek was a very challenging day. Rain fell on and off throughout the day and certainly added to the challenge of the situation. I was fairly pleased with my play through the tough conditions, but a pair of uncharacteristic misses on short par putts left me with a score of even-par 71 for my round. Conditions certainly were not difficult enough to make that a good score, but I was pleased with the way I overcame a bit of adversity and turned in a solid score.

I made three bogies in my second round, and all of them were fairly sloppy. A series of poor shots led to a bogey on the par-five 6th hole before I made a pair of back-nine bogies by missing putts from inside of five feet. The first miss was truly just a misread, but the second one was a case of not getting comfortable over the putt and trying too hard to make it rather than just relaxing and trusting my read and my stroke. I was definitely feeling some tension at times today, so I will really try stay more relaxed and enjoy myself a lot more in the final two rounds.

My game feels good. I have played well all year and really feel like my skills are all sharp right now. As cliche as it sounds, I really do just need to go through my routine and trust myself on each shot and play one shot at a time, and I will be in great shape. My buddy, Clint Jenson, is trying to spoil my plan of winning this stage (he is 16 under through two rounds and leading the field by seven shots), but still feel like I can make a good surge in that direction over the next two rounds.

High winds are in the forecast for Thursday's third round, so it will be another challenging day. My game is ready for the challenge, however, and will be having fun out there! Come back for a round 3 report in the evening.