PODS Championship round two: Copperhead bares its fangs

Sometimes, says Stephen Leaney, it’s easier to putt when you can’t see the hole. I’m still trying to figure exactly how that works, but it certainly did the business for him on the 18th Friday because he swears blind he couldn’t see where his 45ft birdie putt should go. “All I was doing was trying to get it past the hole … I was blinded by the sun.”

Good fortune like that can win tournaments. Trouble is, the Australian (yup yet another one clambering the PGA’s greasy pole) needs two more lucky days on a merciless course. If things go on like this they’re going to have to rename Friday “bunching day". We’re just a shot further forward than Thursday and it’s more crowded at the top than a rush hour bus queue.

The rough is really biting and everyone’s talking of Innisbrook like it’s the US Open. Forget last week’s bear trap. The Copperhead course’s final four are “the hardest we play all year", according to Leaney.

Vijay Singh might beg to differ, because he came horribly unstuck on the last four of the front nine, with three bogeys that put a huge dent in his chances. But, thanks to the Groundhog Day phenomenon, he still has some, although it’s likely some of our leaders will make a push Saturday.

The performances I like best are Doug LaBelle II and Chris DiMarco because they are both managing to combine good approach work and putting with a high degree of accuracy off the tee. Leader Leaney might think he’s hitting a good number of fairways, but 46% says not and that might prove his undoing.

Mind you K J Choi sprays it every which way too but, like DiMarco, has two ultra-consistent rounds of 69 to show for it. He’s certainly the current market favourite to retain his trophy at just over 9. I wonder what the Copperhead will have to say about that over the next two days.