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Greetings ...

Yessss - I know what the OFFICIAL NAME of the event is, but tell me - what does Travelers Championship tell you that Travelers-Hartford Open doesn't?

Current Hartford Leaderboard

Glad to see Chris Dimarco play well. He's currently 102nd on the 6-17-2007 PGA Tour Money List and needs some high finishes to get back on track. While I hope Chris does well this week, I'd really love to see him win the British Open, after his 2nd place finish last year.

Good luck also to Jason Gore, who turned in a good score of his own. Gore is 135th on the 6-17-2007 Money List, and his two-year victory exemption is over at season's end, so he needs to get golfing!

Ahhh - I also see 2005 Hartford champion Brad Faxon, 220th in money, lighting it up a bit on Day One. Go Faxie!

Finally, congratulations to the first-round leader, Hunter Mahan, who stands 92nd on the 6-17-2007 Money List, and apparently headed for a good year overall.

Thanx-A-Lot and Enjoy the Golf, Frank-0-Sport

Greetings ....

And now the 2nd round is in the books.

Hunter Mahan and Chris DiMarco are still among the Top-5, while David Toms made a nice move to tie for 1st with Jay Williamson at 8-under-132

Credit Mahan for staying close to the leaders. As always, it is tough for one to come back after a great effort the previous day.

Brad Faxon followed up a 65 with 74. Faxie - How could you? All of New England is groaning! Jason Gore is still among the Top 30 - get golfing, boy.

Grand Old Bulldog Corey Pavin, with a 66, moved from 61st to 12th. Fred Funk, an even older dog, did Corey one better, firing a 65 to move from 61st to 7th. Are these two looking to join Jim Furyk on the Alleve commercials?

The 36-hole cut came at 1-over-141. If a 10-shot rule were in place, six players at 2-over-142 would be joining the other 79 for a weekend party in Cromwell.

Overall, first and last are separated by 9 strokes. As Brad Faxon demonstrated with his 65-61 weekend finish in 2005, anyone has a chance to win. I like it that way. How about you?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

Greetings ....

Current Hartford Leaderboard

It's moving day alright - but so far, a lot of folks are moving in the wrong direction. What was a 9-stroke difference between first and last at the start of the day is now (11:30 am) a 14-stroke difference.

It will be interesting to see which directions the leaders all go later on this afternoon.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

Greetings ....

What else can one say?

Great shots by both Jay Williamson and Hunter Mahan - in regulation and sudden-death

Great win, Hunter.

Great Performance, Jay - although I think the birdie try in the playoff had some adrenaline in it.

A Great Golf Match - that's all it had to be.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

Frank - you're the resident expert on tour policy regarding exemption categories, etc. So what does this 2nd place finish mean for a Nationwide Tour player with like Jay Williamson? He got in on one of the eight sponsor's exemptions - so does he get to tee it up with the big boys again, or is it back to the minors?

Greetings ....

The $648,000 2nd prize that Jay Williamson earned today is well in excess of what the 150th player on the 2006 Money List earned - that was Chris Riley, of all people. So Jay is now eligible to accept as many sponsor invites as can be offered to him for the rest of 2007. The Top-10 finish alone gets him into next week's Buick Open.

Item - Because Jay is on the non-members money list, he is currently not eligible for such things as Fed Ex Cup Points or money towards invitations to a future major.

If Jay wins a PGA Tour event, then he'll be elevated to the regular money list and be eligible for the Masters, PGA Championship, Players Championship, Mercedes-Benz Championship and have job security thru 2009.

The new top earner in 2007 for non-Tour members. Not bad for a week's work.

So beyond next week - and assuming he doesn't post another top 10 - basically he can only get into to future events through sponsor's exemptions. Based on the last few years (with a minor adjustment upward), top 125 in 2007 will be around $680K. His only other start on the big Tour was a MC at the Honda, so he needs probably one more top 30 to be inside the top 125 at season's end (currently, he would rank 84th on the money list if he were a Tour member).

As a non-tour member, what will his status be next year (2008) if he makes more than the 125th ranked golfer?

Greetings ...

PGA Tour Exemption Categories

If Jay Williamson's 2007 PGA Tour earnings equal or exceed those of the 125th player on the final 2007 Official Money List, then he gets a 2008 PGA Tour Card. He would be exempt in the category below that for the regular Top 125.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

Thanks, thought that was the rule.

Hopefully he'll receive enough invites the rest of the year to earn his card.