Honda Classic Round Two: Allenby close to ending his drought

It’s hard to believe Robert Allenby has gone 139 PGA tournaments without a win. He said Thursday he thought one was imminent and this could it. He was, however, fortunate Friday to be one of the early birds that enjoyed some of the calmest conditions of the week.

His stats tell a very impressive tale of all-round performance. Can he keep it up? He was a bit contradictory after Friday’s round. He felt he could easily go another five under this weekend, but then said the course “is only going to get tougher". Mmmmmmmm. But look back to the Nissan, another tough test, and see how consistent Allenby was over the four days.

The wind holds the key. It’s been changing direction virtually every day, confusing the players. It was slightly milder Friday - ten more players bust par than the day before - but not a lot. I hesitate to quote weather forecasts but there are signs it might again be difficult Sunday.

Saturday though might allow a few stragglers to make a name for themselves. Camilo Villegas and Jesper Parnevik catch the eye, although the likes of David Toms and Jim Furyk face a huge challenge.

What a time Charlie Wi has been having. Who would have put money on him following a triple bogey with three straight birdies Friday? But he was ragged on his last nine and he’s not my tip for the top, albeit he’s the tournament’s top putter.

The consistent rounds of Will MacKenzie and Steve Stricker, sitting two shots behind the leaders, look interesting. MacKenzie is the best iron player of the bunch, a key marker for the week. It’s difficult, though, to tell how he feels about it all because as soon as he gets near a press conference all reporters want to talk about is surfing, fishing, drugs, anything but his round of golf.

Stricker, the comeback kid of 2006, is just grinding out a measured all-round game. Sixth at the US Open last year and seventh in the PGA give clues that he quite enjoys these tough affairs. But in his two four-round outings this year he’s let himself down on the Sunday.