It’s become 3rd String Safety tradition. Time for the best work of Bill Pullman’s career:

Enjoy your BBQs. We’ll be back tomorrow.

All week during pre-tournament preparation, Tiger Woods talked about his desire to be a “greedy host”. Yes, he is the man who’s name is on the tournament. Yes, he has had a much busier week then other players. And yes, after all that- Tiger leads his own tourney headed into the weekend.

Coming into yesterday tied for second place, Tiger shot up the leaderboard after a four under, 66 yesterday. Ironically, the round was two shots worse then Thursdays’, but I think Tiger will take the dividends. He sits a shot up on Rod Pampling and two shots up on defending champion Anthony Kim.

Kim, who set the course on fire on Thursday, shot a mediocre even par 70. Thanks to his record smashing day on Thursday, Kim still sits in good position to win the tournament. I would say great, but I never think looking up at the best player on the planet ever puts someone in great position for anything.

If your looking for a good non-Tiger story line for Saturday, I think Kim is where you go. Here’s a guy who hasn’t won in exactly a year and is looking to get back on the right track. Their is no doubt that Kim has all the potential in the world. One TV commentator on Thursday came short of guaranteeing that he would win “multiple majors” before he hits the Champions tour. This may be true, but whether Kim realizes that potential is yet to be seen. One thing going for him is youth. At 24 years old, he is well aware the the typical golfer does not hit his prime until his early thirties. Since one of Kim’s main weaknesses is his apparent love for nightlife and parties, the theory that his slump is purely a case of being young and immature does carry a lot of weight.

Today’s round will be a huge one for Kim. Does he forget his definitively average round from yesterday and play Congressional like he’s shown he can play Congressional? Or does the demons of the slump rise up and bite Kim, sending him back on the leader board? I think he can stay in this tournament. He was a shot off on almost every hole yesterday. The holes he bogeyed, he pared yesterday. The holes he pared, he birdied yesterday. Their wasn’t that big double bogey blow up hole for Kim that might suggest a meltdown. A few more birdies and one less bogey and we’re looking at Kim in serious contention on Sunday morning.

Other notables- Jim Furyk shot a -3, 67 on Friday to sit in fourth at seven under. U.S Open champ Lucas Glover is tied for eighth at 5 under. This is the third consecutive tournament for Glover. It’s a bit odd for a major champion not to take a week off, but Glover seams to be handling it well.

Trunk Slammers (missed the cut): Robert Allenby, who was in contention at the St. Jude, missed his fourth cut of the year after two straight rounds of 72. WCWP fav John Merrick is going home despite playing at even par on Friday. His six over 76 on Thursday sunk him. K. J Choi was one of similar fate. His 69 was good for a respectable -1 on Friday, but it could not erase a disastrous +7 Thursday….

Continuing our theme of fighter predictions from earlier in the day, MMAWeekly has some quotes from Georges St. Pierre that suggest his help is going to put Kenny Florian over the top at UFC 101 in Philly:

“I’ve trained with him two times and he looked really sharp. I put my money on him against B.J. Penn,” St. Pierre stated.

The Canadian has put together some of the most legendary camps to prepare for his title fights, so his physical and mental strategy could be a key edge that Florian will carry into the fight in August.

St. Pierre complemented Florian for the work they did together while in Montreal, and he’s confident that Penn will have no answer for what Florian will bring into the title fight.

“Kenny Florian is a great training partner, and is going to be a great champion, and he’s also a greater person and human being (than B.J. Penn),” said St. Pierre.

Much like his own strategy and gameplan, he wouldn’t let anything out of the bag as to what Florian will do to beat Penn, but he is boastful that it will happen.

“A lot of things, but they are part of his gameplan so I can’t talk too much about it,” St. Pierre commented about what Florian will bring into the fight against Penn. “It basically consists of using his strength and putting it against his opponent’s weaknesses.”

First off, GSP needs to worry about Thiago Alves first. Second of all, this is the best news that I have heard in weeks. It seems like Georges has a legit dislike for B.J. Penn, and since I have an extreme dislike for B.J.’s number one fan, it’s good to hear that my favorite fighter is helping Kenny Florian win. I’ve stood by Florian all along, and I can’t help but think that the stars may be aligning for a title change in Philly.

One of the things that we loved to point out on this website was that all of Matt Cassel’s success last year came from the shotgun formation, and people generally assumed that GM Scott Pioli would bring the spread offense that the Pats used so well with him to Kansas City. Not so Fast. From Rotoworld:

Beat writer Kent Babb observed that the Chiefs didn’t practice many plays out of the spread formation in OTAs.
Babb also noted that the offensive braintrust prefers “to at least enter the season using Cassel in a Pro Style, drop-back look.” While the Chiefs figure to run plenty of multiple receiver sets, it’s worth a reminder that the shotgun was responsible for much of Cassel’s 2008 success. He’s going to be a risky fantasy pick if he remains under center where he has trouble reading the pass rush.

Well, this is interesting. Let’s take a player who we signed and knew he was only good at certain things, and take him out of his comfort zone completely. Then, let’s put approximately zero weapons around him and see how he does. My guess? The Chiefs will be among the league’s worst offenses.

Huh, Here I was ready to pick Michael Bisping to win this fight at UFC 100. It appears that a lot of the UFC’s stars seem to think that Dan Henderson will triumph next Saturday. Here’s the video from MMA Connected:

So excited for UFC 100. Just 8 days away.

Anthony Kim really likes Congressional. No, he really likes it. If recent history is any indication, Congressional is the only course that Kim looks competent at. Of course, that last statement is inherently unfair- but no less the truth.

After struggling through what has been an absolutely disastrous year for Kim, the 24year old returned to the site of his last victory yesterday with a bang. Kim birdied the last eight holes of his first round and set a course record with an 8-under 62.

You would generally think that setting a course record would put you well in the lead. Especially because Thursday is useully a day where players are still working out the kinks of the course, all while trying to put themselves in a position to make the cut on Friday. Not the case this week. Kim holds only a two shot lead over Tiger Woods, D.A Points, and Bryce Molder.

Other notable “top 10ers” include Jim Furyk, who is tied for sixth after at four under 66, and Boo Weekly. Weekly is tied for ninth after a three under 67.

K.J Choi (+7), WCWP fav John Merrick (+6), and last weekends near hero Paul Goydos(+3)are all in danger of missing the cut.