THE PLAYERS: Second-round notebook

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Phil Mickelson made the cut on the number Friday. In his career at TPC Sawgrass, Mickelson has made 12 cuts in 16 starts with three top-10s, including a victory in 2007.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Alex Cejka, 66-67=133 (-11), has posted 13 birdies (and two bogeys) through two rounds, halfway to the tournament record of 26 birdies (Fuzzy Zoeller, 1994).

• Cejka has yet to win on the PGA TOUR, but he had a shot at the 2005 PLAYERS Championship title. Fred Funk won at 9 under par. Cejka was 8 under through 14 holes, but finished double bogey, par, bogey, bogey to fall into a tie for 12th.

• The 36-hole record at THE PLAYERS was set by Greg Norman in 1994 at 14-under 130 with opening rounds of 63-67. Norman went on to win THE PLAYERS by four shots. With Cejka's 11 under total, 20 players in tournament history have been in double digits under par after 36 holes, with Norman and Nick Price the only ones who have gone on to win.

• Cejka has held an outright lead only once before in his career, when he shot 7-under 64 during the first round of the 2009 Verizon Heritage. Cejka went on to finish tied for 13th after rounds of 71-72-72. He has shared a lead four other times, at the 2001 British Open, where he was tied for first after three rounds; at the 2004 Michelin Championship, where he was tied for first after two rounds; at the 2006 FBR Open, where he was tied for first at the first round; and at the 2006 Valero Texas Open, where he was tied for first after the first round.

• In the last 10 PLAYERS Championships, only Phil Mickelson (2007) and Hal Sutton (2000) have managed to turn a 36-hole lead into victory. In the event's 35-year history, the 36-hole leader has gone on to win the tournament only eight times. If Cejka can do so, he would be the fifth international player in the last eight years to win THE PLAYERS and only the second player in tournament history to make THE PLAYERS his first PGA TOUR win (joining Craig Perks, 2002).

• Ian Poulter, 67-68=135 (-9), has made six starts on the PGA TOUR this year and has missed only one cut (Arnold Palmer Invitational). His best finish came last week, when he tied for fifth at the Quail Hollow Championship. He finished tied for ninth at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and has three additional top-20 finishes.

• Poulter has made all but one cut at THE PLAYERS in six starts (including this year), but he has never finished inside the top 20. His best performance was a tie for 21st in 2008.

• With rounds of 67-68, Poulter posted his best back-to-back rounds at THE PLAYERS. He had only three of 18 rounds in the 60s at TPC Sawgrass coming into this week.

• Kevin Na, 71-66=137 (-7), carded a 6-under 66 on Friday, his first round in the 60s at THE PLAYERS in 10 tries, to move into contention at 7-under 137. In three starts at THE PLAYERS, Na has missed the cut twice (2005, 2006) and tied for 54th in 2008.

• Na is in the midst of a great season, with four top-10 finishes so far this year. In five seasons on the PGA TOUR, he has never recorded more than three top-10s in one year (3 in 2007 and 2008). His best finish this year was third place at the FBR Open. Na is currently ranked 25th in FedExCup points. He ended the 2008 season ranked No. 83 in U.S. Presidents Cup Team points; he's now No. 31.

• Na, like Cejka, is looking to become the second player in tournament history to make this championship his first PGA TOUR win.

• Masters champion Angel Cabrera, 72-65=137 (-7), made a nice run with a 7-under 65 on Friday, two shots off the record second-round score at THE PLAYERS set on Friday by Daniel Chopra. This was Cabrera's first round in the 60s at THE PLAYERS and only the fifth time he's broken par at TPC Sawgrass in 18 rounds.

• Only three players have won THE PLAYERS and a major championship in the same year and only one player has won both the Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship in the same season. Tiger Woods also won the 2001 Masters, Sutton also won the 1983 PGA Championship and Jack Nicklaus also won the 1978 British Open.

• Since THE PLAYERS began in 1974, Cabrera is just the fourth sitting Masters champion to be in the top five on the leader board after 36 holes. Cabrera joins Vijay Singh (2001, third), Seve Ballesteros (1984, third) and Raymond Floyd (1977, third).

• Cabrera (tied for third) leads the field with 14 birdies through two rounds and has 15 par-breakers on the week. He has missed the last four cuts at THE PLAYERS (2003-08) and finished tied for 26th and tied for 36th in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

• Daniel Chopra, 75-65=140 (-4), made the largest move in Friday's second round, moving from a tie for 123rd to a tie for 22nd, thanks to a 7-under 65.

• Chopra started on the back nine for his second round and reeled off an eagle and four birdies, tying the 9-hole back nine tournament record at 30 (-6). He is only the second player to do so in Round 2. The other was Joe Durant in 2005.

• The other players to post 9-hole 30s are John Cook (1991, final round); Greg Norman (1994, first round); Phil Mickelson (1996, third round); Kirk Triplett (1996, final round); Justin Leonard (1996, first round) Taylor Smith (1997, first round); Padraig Harrington (2004, final round); and Charl Schwartzel (2007, third round).

• Chopra added four birdies and three bogeys on the front nine. He only hit 6 of 14 fairways in his round and still shot a 65, the lowest score by a player who hit less than 50% of the fairways in the last 25 years. Chopra made eight birdies, one eagle and three bogeys in the second round.

• Chopra's best round on the PGA TOUR is a 64, which has happened seven times, most recently during the third round of the 2007 Valero Texas Open. He eventually finished tied for third.

• Defending champion Sergio Garcia carded rounds of 71-73 and made the cut on the number, despite three-putting from 6 feet, 9 inches for bogey on 18. He came close to becoming the seventh defending champion to miss the cut the following year. The six who did miss the cut were 1985 champion Calvin Peete in 1986, 1987 champion Sandy Lyle in 1988, 1990 champion Jodie Mudd in 1991, 1991 champion Steve Elkington in 1992, 1993 champion Nick Price in 1994, and 2006 champion Stephen Ames in 2007

• Mickelson (73-71=144) also made the cut on the number. In his career at TPC Sawgrass, Mickelson has made 12 cuts in 16 starts with three top-10s, including a victory in 2007.

• In his first appearance at THE PLAYERS, Jason Dufner is tied for third at 7 under posting rounds of 67-70. Dufner finished tied for fifth last week at the Quail Hollow Championship, his best finish in 91 career PGA TOUR events. He has three top-10s in 12 starts in 2009 and ranks 39th in the FedExCup standings.

• With his 3-under-par 69 on Friday, Woods has posted 16 of 17 rounds at par or better in 2009. His lone over-par round was a third-round 71 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

• Woods has played the 16th hole in 38 under par for his career at THE PLAYERS. His next-best hole is the par-5 second, which he has played at 23 under in 46 rounds, including a birdie on Friday.

• Scott Verplank had a nice no-three-putt streak going of 177 consecutive holes until he reached the 14th green on Friday and three-putted from 33 feet, 5 inches. Steve Stricker had gone 167 holes without a three-putt coming into Friday's round, but on his first hole of the day (No. 10), he three-putted for bogey. Stricker shot 71-71 and is 2-under 142 heading into the weekend.

• Brian Gay withdrew due to illness prior to the start of the second round. Carl Pettersson withdrew after playing 15 holes of Friday's round. Dudley Hart withdrew due to a sore back and hip prior to the start of his second round.

• Nineteen first-time participants (and four rookies) completed 36 holes at this year's PLAYERS Championship. In the 35-year history of THE PLAYERS, Nicklaus (1974), Sutton (1983) and Perks (2002) are the only players to win the tournament in their first attempt.

• The best finish by a PGA TOUR rookie at THE PLAYERS was posted by Fulton Allem and Camilo Villegas with ties for third in 1988 and 2006, respectively. Other top-10 finishes by rookies at THE PLAYERS: Jeff Quinney (tied for sixth in 2007) and Dave Rummells (tied for 10th in 1996).

• Leonard (tied for 13th) is tops among the 10 past champions in the field this week. The 1998 PLAYERS winner posted a 3-under-par 69 on Friday and is 5 under par through 36 holes.

• Garath Lord, winner of the caddie shootout on 17 on Wednesday (Robert Karlsson's caddie), is donating $1,000 of his winnings to the Bruce Edwards Foundation for ALS Research.

• Scoring has been easier in the morning than the afternoon so far, but the differential was much smaller on Friday. The Thursday morning average was 71.69, compared to 72.47 in the afternoon. The Friday morning average of 72.37 was only slightly better than the afternoon average of 72.39.

• The cut fell at even-par 144 and included 83 players, marking the 10th time in tournament history that the cut has been even par or lower. The total of 83 players is the third-most ever to make the cut here. A total of 85 players made the cut (even-par 144) in 1985, while 84 players (1-under 143) made the cut in 2005 and 83 players (2-under 146) made the cut in 2004.

• A total of six balls were hit in the water off of the tee on the famed 17th hole on Friday, which is the fewest since the third round in 2004 (four).

• The Birdies for Charity program annually leads up to THE PLAYERS Championship and allows the community to support local charities through tracking the exciting, high-level of play during the tournament. Similar to a walk-a-thon, Birdies for Charity participants make a pledge to a local organization for each birdie made by professional golfers during THE PLAYERS. A record 68 local organizations are participating this year, up from 51 in 2008 and a strong indication that the generosity of First Coast residents will allow for a record fundraising effort.

• The players made 548 first-round birdies for a total of $58,485.60, then added 486 second-round birdies for another $56,892.20. The two-day total of 1,034 works out to $115,377.80.