John Deere Classic round two: Has anyone got a pin?

They should entitle this competition Blazing Putters. The top five on the leaderboard are all in the top 10 for performance with the flatstick.

But it was a sharp improvement in hitting fairways and greens and that allowed Nathan Green to sneak into the lead at the end of Friday’s play. Hard cheese for Carl Pettersson, in the lead in the clubhouse after firing a round of seven under, to see Green go one better with a career-low 63. Even that was not unique - Brian Gay also hit eight under to sneak into contention.

But so many are still well in contention you might as well use a pin to sort this one out. In recent memory players have come from as far as 8 strokes off the pace to win.

A pity about Zach Johnson. The rust was obviously harder to shed than he thought.
But Tim Clark rewarded anyone who backed him to stage a comeback Friday. His admission that he’s still a way off being fully fit rings an alarm bell or two. But against that is the lure of the last qualifying place for Carnoustie.