Steve Stricker produced a much-improved second round, bouncing back from his opening-day 65 with a 69 that improved him to two-over.
STEVE STRICKER: Today was a better today. Could have been better. I didn't make some putts today that I normally make or should make, so in that regard a little bittersweet. But all in all, I'll be playing the weekend, so it's a good thing.
Q. What reversed the trend today? You were having all sorts of struggles. Maybe not a big turnaround but some difference.
STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, I don't know, got it in play a little bit more off the tee, I think. Hit some good iron shots, gave myself some opportunities, just played a little bit better, a little bit smarter today, I guess.
Q. 18, from where you drove it, no chance to get to the green?
STEVE STRICKER: I could have tried to hit something, but I have confidence in my wedge game and I hit it in there to five feet and I lipped that out. So I did everything I was supposed to do there, just didn't make the putt. Again, I can't quite figure them out. Sometimes they really break, sometimes they don't, and that one didn't. I'm struggling on reading the greens, and I think I had a lot of putts yesterday after going over the round. Hopefully I can shape that up over the weekend.
Q. If not for Rory, you wouldn't be all that far off the lead.
STEVE STRICKER: It's crazy, isn't it? He just hit it in the water, though, I saw at 18. But to be 13-under, pretty incredible. But there's a long ways to go yet. I mean, just got to keep hanging in there and keep trying to shoot under par. He's got to come back. The way he's playing now, it doesn't seem like he'll do that, but you've just got to keep fighting and see what happens. But pretty incredible what he's done so far.
Q. On the 9th tee, there was the big roar. What was that like out there? Did you think it was probably him?
STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, we figured it was probably him just the way he was going. Players get in those kind of grooves or those kind of rolls where they start to make everything and shots go in from the fairway and whatever. But we kind of had a feeling it was him.
Q. Once you see that number, is it hard to block it out of your mind?
STEVE STRICKER: Not really. I was paying attention to my own thing, and knowing what I needed to do to get back to play the weekend, that was my first goal was to shoot under par so I could play the weekend. So I really wasn't worried about him. The lead was too far away to be thinking about it.
