BMW Championship Notebook: Bill Haas in contention for second FedEx title

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Bill Haas dug himself out of a big hole Friday, tying the Crooked Stick record with an 8-under 64.

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Michael Marot

Associated Press

Series: PGA Tour

CARMEL, Ind. -- Bill Haas is in position to do something even Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk haven't -- making it back to the FedExCup finale in Atlanta a year after winning the playoffs.

Haas dug himself out of a big hole Friday, tying the Crooked Stick record with an 8-under 64 at the BMW Championship. He will go into Saturday's third round four shots behind leader Singh, and most importantly, 27th in the points. The top 30 get to play for the $10 million prize.

Haas knows what's at stake.

"If I have a good tournament this weekend, I get to play at East Lake and if I don't, I don't," Haas said. "That's just the way it is and I wish I could be that relaxed on the course about it, but I have to keep telling myself to just go play the game, let it come to me, and if it works out great. If not, it's still been a good year."

In the five years under this playoff format, no defending champ has made it back to Atlanta. Not Singh, not Furyk and not even Woods.

Furyk and Singh, the 2008 and 2010 winners, both failed to qualify.

Woods, who won in 2007 and 2009, missed the 2008 tournament because of an injury and the 2010 tourney because of personal turmoil.

On Thursday, it looked as if Haas might become the next victim of the FedEx jinx after shooting 71 on a day the rest of the field averaged 69.47.

By Friday morning, the 30-year-old player had forgotten all about his struggles and started playing the way he finished last season.

Haas birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 5 before making eagle on No. 9, a hole that set up his charge on the back side. He made four birdies on the first seven holes and finished with only one bogey, at No. 17, which cost him the outright course record.

"I knew after shooting 1 under, I was going to need a 7 or 8 under at least one day and maybe one other one just to stay with the guys in the lead," he said.

Occasionally, he tried to sneak a peek to see the overall standings. At one point, the scoreboard at No. 18 even showed him in the most dreaded spot of all -- No. 31.

But when play ended, Haas had moved up four spots and was back in position to become the first defending champ to play in Atlanta.

"I think you can guess what it would mean," he said. "It's another week to play against the best players in the world, and I think it validates a good year. I won't say it's a bad year if I don't make it, but I think making it in the top 30 is everybody's goal at the beginning of the year."

CONFUSING CALL: Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell shot 67 in the second round and was tied for ninth at 9 under, four shots behind Singh.

But with a little help, McDowell could have been two shots closer to the lead.

On Thursday, McDowell was penalized after hitting into a bunker on his final hole. When he swung, his club grazed a leaf attached to a branch behind his ball. It was determined he had touched a loose impediment in a hazard and was penalized two strokes.

He blamed himself.

"Like I say, my caddie told me not to touch it, and I thought he meant don't remove it," McDowell said. "But he meant don't touch it with your club either, you doughnut."

McDowell said he wasn't aware the rule existed until the penalty was assessed.

Afterward, McDowell said, a rules official suggested the rule needed to be changed -- and McDowell won't argue with that.

"It just hurts when a guy is not in any shape or form trying to gain an advantage and like me yesterday, I brushed that leaf and I get a two-shotter," he said. "I haven't gained an advantage, I haven't improved my lie, my ball is still in exactly the same scenario, I believe, has not moved. But yet I've got to add two shots to my scorecard."

MOORE TO DO: Ryan Moore put himself in position to make a weekend run after shooting his second straight 66.

If he can make it through two more rounds, the Washington state native may finally produce the 72-hole score he has been craving and put himself in position for his first win of the season. He was a shot off the lead at 12 under, tied with Rory McIroy, Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood.

"I've had a lot of those tournaments this year where I've gotten myself up where I want to be and haven't necessarily done what I wanted to on the weekend," he said. "Last week, I started putting better. I hit the ball great in New York and really have been hitting it well for the last few months and just not putting up to my standards."

That hasn't been a problem at Crooked Stick, where the greens were softened by heavy rain Wednesday.

"I'm to the point of actually feeling good over my putts and actually feeling a little bit of confidence," he said. "It's amazing what that can do."

ACE STUDENT: Wisconsin's Steve Stricker had the first ace of this year's tournament, using a 6-iron on the 201-yard sixth hole.

The shot moved Stricker from 4 under to 6 under on a day that was terribly uneven. After shooting 68 Thursday, Stricker opened the second round by going bogey-birdie before the ace on No. 6. He gave both shots right back with a double bogey on the next hole, and finished with a 73 -- leaving him 10 shots behind leader Vijay Singh.

The real winner, though, was Justin Cruz, a sophomore at Northwestern University.

BMW donated $100,000 to the Evans Scholars program for caddies. Cruz will receive the money to complete his education.

DIVOTS: Singh, who turns 50 in February, said he intends to continue competing on the PGA Tour rather than the Champions Tour next season. ... Local favorite Bo Van Pelt followed Thursday's 64 with a 69 and was two shots off the lead heading into the weekend. ... Saturday's tee times have been moved back because tournament officials expected severe weather in the area Friday night. The first groups will start at 11:00 a.m. Officials wanted the extra time for course maintenance. ... There are no players in Indianapolis form the last PGA Tour event played at Crooked Stick, the 1991 PGA Championship. But there are at least two caddies back -- Steve Williams, who worked with Raymond Floyd in 1991, and Tony Navarro, who caddied for Jeff Sluman in the PGA Championship.

The Breakdown: Eisenberg's Five Thoughts vs. Patriots

Posted Dec 22, 2013

John EisenbergBaltimoreRavens.com ColumnistAll John Eisenberg Articles



Good idea to burn the game tap. Brady had it easy. Seemed like Flacco’s knee had an effect.



Five thoughts on the Ravens’ 41-7 loss to the New England Patriots Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium:

Good Idea To Burn Tape
Asked what went wrong, the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs initially resorted to a cliché. “I don’t know, we’ll have to look at the tape,” he said. But then he reconsidered that idea. “Actually, let’s just burn the tape,” he said. It’s a great idea. The Ravens bore little resemblance to the team that had won its previous four games. That was a playoff-caliber team. This was not. The Ravens littered the field with mistakes, penalties, missed tackles and turnovers. Their offense failed to sustain drives. Their defense consistently yielded and forced no turnovers. Even Justin Tuckerbombed, snapping his streak of 33 straight field-goal conversions. It’s hard to remember a game at M&T Bank Stadium when the home fans had less to cheer about. Where did this come from? Who knows? Several players said Head Coach John Harbaugh told them just to “forget about this game” and focus on next week’s season finale in Cincinnati. I endorse the idea. Some losses can be educational, but this was just a classic clunker, a lump of coal under the tree. Go ahead, burn the tape.

Ravens Imploded At Worst Time
When the Ravens worked themselves back into the playoff picture with four straight wins going into Sunday, it was said they now “control their own destiny.” That meant they didn’t need help, that they would earn a playoff spot as long as they won their remaining games. It’s the situation every team wants and it spiked a round of playoff fever in Ravenstown last week, but there’s one thing about it that gets overlooked: You only have that control if you win every game you play, and that’s not easy to do in a league as balanced and unpredictable as the NFL. You face tough opponents, experience days when your “A” game doesn’t materialize, or when the breaks don’t go your way. The Ravens ran headlong into all of those obstacles Sunday. It happens. Life isn’t perfect. They came in hot but came out flat and dug a deep hole – too deep against a team like the Patriots. As I see it, there’s no Great Thought that explains it all. They imploded at the worst possible time. Some breaks may have gone against them, but they deserved their fate. Now they’re paying the price for losing so many games earlier in the season. When they were 4-6, they were left with little margin for error, and, well, they erred in a big way Sunday. It’s pretty hard to be perfect.

Brady Had It Easy
The Ravens have been tough on New England quarterback Tom Brady in several of their recent matchups, but Brady had it easy this time. The Ravens’ defensive front didn’t harass him much. He had plenty of time to throw, was hit just four times and sacked just twice, once because he tripped. His running backs consistently churned out gains, putting him in appealing down-and-distance situations. His mighty-mite receivers got open and, no surprise, he threw strikes to them. No picks, no fumbles, no memorable hits. The Ravens defense did clamp down on him after he put up two quick touchdowns, but the damage was done and he easily protected the big lead. For a Baltimore defense ranked in the top 10 in the league in many statistical categories, it was a disappointing showing. Coming off a great performance in Detroit, the secondary gave up a lot of big plays. And the run defense allowed 142 yards, setting the tone. You just can’t have that happen.

Seemed To Me Flacco’s Knee Had An Effect
Although Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco took the high road and said his sprained left knee “felt great” and the brace on it “didn’t affect anything,” it seemed to me there were times when he wasn’t operating at full blast. He certainly didn’t seem as anxious to tuck the ball under and scramble for gains, an aspect of his game that has really blossomed in 2013. He wasn’t quite as elusive within the pocket, either. As for his throwing mechanics with a brace on his plant knee, they seemed somewhat off early in the game, resulting in a handful of incompletions. But he did get better as the game progressed and wound up throwing for 260 yards, his highest total in more than a month. So while the narrative is convenient, it’s really not fair to say the offense stumbled just because Flacco might be compromised. There’s a lot more to what happened – familiar issues with the running game, pass protection and short-yardage situations, for starters. “We can’t score,” receiver Torrey Smith said. Yeah, there’s that, too.

Not Fun To Need Help
It’s hard to remember the Ravens experiencing a more disappointing day in recent years. When the day began, they entertained dreams of going into Cincinnati next week with a chance to win their third straight AFC North title, quite a turnaround for a team that was two games under .500 not long ago. But when the day ended, the Bengals were celebrating the division title and the Ravens were down to calculating various scenarios for how they can still slip into the playoff field next week, depending on whether they get the right kind of help. It’s far from impossible, but as Flacco admitted, the Ravens have never been in this position before – needing not only to win their finale but also to get help if they want to make the playoffs. It’s neither a fun place to be nor where the Ravens expected to find themselves, but, well, here they are. After a 41-7 loss, you can’t ponder the “might have beens.”