-It hasn't been an easy few weeks for Will Wilcox. While suffering through a stretch of nine straight tournaments without making a cut (eight missed cuts and one withdrawal) earlier this year, Wilcox has dealt with a bout of pneumonia, his grandfather's death - with his dad suffering a heart attack on top of it.
Wilcox has righted the ship a bit in the last two weeks, posting back-to-back made cuts in Midland, TX and Charlotte. At Charlotte's Chiquita Classic, he opened strong with a 6-under 66 before fading to a 55th-place finish.
Now here in Washington, Wilcox has gotten off to another solid start, posting a 5-under 65 on Thursday to open the week in a tie for second. In Friday's second round, which has surprisingly proven more difficult than round one so far, Wilcox held steady with a 71 and is currently tied for 6th.
The weekend is a whole different animal, but Wilcox is in position to make a big check with a couple of solid rounds. He needs them, too, currently at 83rd on the money list.
-In another example that blurs the distinction between professional caddy and complete novice (see: Prise, Springfield, 2012), Ewan Porter has a former pro football player on the bag this week. The lucky man is Mark Rypien, former Redskins signal-caller, who led Washington to a 1991 Super Bowl win over Buffalo - the Bills' second loss of the infamous four-Super Bowl losing streak.
Porter and Rypien met a few years ago, and the relationship developed to the point where Porter extended the caddying gig for this year's D.C. event.
The results so far aren't as nice. Porter opened with a 8-over 78, and will need to go low Friday afternoon if he wants to give Rypien the weekend experience inside the ropes.
-With Friday's scoring average currently two strokes higher than Thursday's, the simple question is why. Morning conditions tend to be more receptive to scoring, with softer fairways and greens, and this week's averages so far indicate a discrepancy against the norm.
One possible explanation is the fact that TPC Potomac plays plenty long, with only two par-5's (one that isn't realistically reachable), and several long par-4's that require hybrid approach shots for the shorter hitters.
Another was raised by Lee Janzen, speaking with Tour media official Joe Chemcyz after posting his 1-under 69, compared to a Thursday 71.
And the possibility borders on psychological.
"People went out yesterday and realized how hard this course was," Janzen said.
Could be true. We'll see what the afternoon's results bring.
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