Associated Press
Saturday, March 24

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Jerry Kelly is a former hockey player whose aggressive nature is not always a good fit for golf. He also is 0-for-175 in his career on the PGA Tour, another reason he was an unlikely leader Friday in The Players Championship.

What he had in his favor was an early wake-up call.

	Jerry Kelly had an eagle, five birdies and just one bogey on Friday.

Playing before the whipping wind began to terrorize the Stadium course, Kelly kept the ball in play and finished with a 6-under 66, giving him a one-stroke lead over Paul Azinger heading into a weekend that should prove to be quite a test.

"They were good scoring conditions," Kelly said. "Even when they are at their best conditions, you still have to be patient. This is a tough golf course."

It was more of a nuisance to Tiger Woods, who made double-bogey for the second straight day by hitting into the water. This time it was an 8-iron on the island-green 17th, although he still managed a 69 in the morning and was six strokes back.

Kelly, who has made only one bogey in 36 holes, was at 9-under 135, the best 36-hole score in this tournament in four years.

No player has ever made The Players Championship his first career victory in the 27-year history of the fifth biggest tournament in golf.

The closest Kelly has ever come to winning on the PGA Tour was runner-up in 1996 in his hometown Greater Milwaukee Open. At stake on the weekend is a $6 million purse, a three-year pass to The Masters and a victory against the toughest field in golf.

"I'm going to be nervous and spitting cotton at any tournament that I've got a chance to win," Kelly said. "I love that feeling. And I'm going to have it all weekend."

Azinger also got an early start and, while he was not nearly as crisp as he was in the opening round, avoided significant disasters and had a 70 to reach 136.

Masters champion Vijay Singh caught the brunt of the bad conditions and didn't make a bogey over his final 11 holes. He had a 70 and was two strokes back, along with Kenny Perry and Scott Hoch.

"I would have been happy with even par, but I did better than that. I'll take that and go to bed," said Singh, one of the few times he chose a pillow over pounding balls on the range.

Perry, who hasn't won in six years, had the best round of the day because he teed off in the afternoon. He managed seven birdies, including a 50-footer on the par-3 eighth, for a 66.

"I don't think anyone goes out thinking they're going to shoot 74 or 66," Perry said. "I think 66 just happens."

Of the 29 players who broke par, only 10 played in the afternoon. The course played a little more than one stroke harder than the first round.

Round Two at a glance

Leading: Jerry Kelly shot a 66 for a two-round total of 9-under 135. He has one bogey in 36 holes. Following: First-round leader Paul Azinger shot a 70 and was a stroke behind. Scott Hoch, Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry were two back. Tiger: Tiger Woods had a 69, only the second time in 18 rounds in The Players Championship he has broken 70. He's six back, tied for eighth. Signature hole: Sixteen balls were hit into the water on the par-3, island-green 17th, including one by Woods, who left with a 5. The worst scores were a 6 by both Brandt Jobe and Steve Lowery. Key statistic: Only 10 of the 29 rounds under par came in the afternoon. Noteworthy: Davis Love III missed the cut for the first time in 10 years at Sawgrass. Quoteworthy: "I'm going to be nervous and spitting cotton at any tournament that I've got a chance to win." -- Jerry Kelly, The Players Championship leader who has not won a PGA Tour event.

The only downside for Perry was at the end of the day when he ran into the course superintendent, who told him the greens were almost where tournament officials want them to be -- firm, fast, unforgiving.

"At the end of the round, I could see a drastic change in color on the greens," Perry said. "We were already getting an extra foot, 15 inches of roll."

That could lead to a dramatic weekend with endless possibilities.

Woods had to make three great par saves on his first five holes, including a flop shot from a 6-foot swath of rough that separated the water from the bunker on the par-5 11th to an elevated surface with only 10 feet of green.

He birdied five of six holes in the middle of his round, one of them a 7-iron from gnarly rough on the 18th into about 8 feet. The exception was his 8-iron that found land only briefly before spinning back into the water on No. 17.

Woods finished with seven straight pars.

"I didn't hit the ball as well as I did yesterday," said Woods, who will be paired with Phil Mickelson on Saturday. "I grinded my way around. It's really tough out there. It was definitely a day of patience."

Lee Westwood lost his on the 18th hole. He was even par for the tournament when he hit two balls into the water down the left side of the fairway and took an 8 as his manager started booking a flight home to England.

Ernie Els also missed the cut after a 75, hardly the way he wanted to tune up for The Masters in two weeks.

Sawgrass even took some of the steam out of Davis Love III, who played his first three holes in 4-over and missed the cut, after playing in the final group his previous three tournaments.

"This is like any big tournament," Love said. "If you're rattling around the trees, you're not going to do well. It's like the U.S. Open or the PGA -- hit it off line, and you're in trouble."

That was the key for Kelly.

"I changed my game plan this week and just tried to get the ball in the fairway," Kelly said. "I played smart golf, which is kind of new to me."

With snow covering the golf courses in Wisconsin for too much of the year, Kelly turned to hockey as a second passion. It was a natural choice, because NHL players Barry Richter and Kevin Dean grew up down the street from him.

"I used to go into the corner a lot. I started breaking bones," Kelly said. "My aggression wasn't doing all that great for my golf career."

The transition took time.

Kelly was only interested in power and pins, not always the best combination in golf, and rarely does such an aggressive style pay off at such demanding venues as the Stadium course on the TPC at Sawgrass.

"I'll play it a little less aggressive, be more patient and let my putter do the work," Kelly said. "If I get the ball in the fairway, I'm very confident that I'm going to make birdies this weekend."