Can Matt Kuchar revive 2010 magic at Barclays

August 24, 2013. Matt Kuchar is yet to see if the magic of 2010 works here in Barclays for him. Though, when he came to play on Friday, he could barely see his ball cross the water and set up a two-putt birdie on the 13th hole that gave him the outright lead, and there was enough light coming from lower Manhattan across the Hudson River to hit his tee shot on the 14th

Kuchar, who stands at No. 2 in the ranking, finished the day at 10 under with five holes remaining and has to return Saturday morning to hold his one-shot lead over Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland, who both finished the second round in the rain-delayed opener to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Simpson ran off six birdies over an eight-hole stretch and had a 5-under 66.

“It’s much nicer when you’re playing well to keep playing. And when you’re playing well, you feel like you could play 40 holes in a day,” Simpson said.

Woodland was another one who finished the second round strong. He birdied four of his last five holes for a 64 to join Simpson in the clubhouse at 9-under 133. After starting the week at 60th in the FedEx Cup standings, Woodland projects to move into the top 10.

Still struggling with sore back, Tiger Woods couldn’t get off the course fast enough.

Woods challenged the target set by Simpson with three birdies in five holes — he was two shots behind — and he had a pair of par 5s in front of him. He failed to make birdie on either of the par 5s, and made three bogeys out of the bunker through the 12th hole to fall off the pace. He made birdie on the 13th, the last hole he completed, but was still five shots behind Kuchar, who was in his group.

“I got off to a great start today and then lost it the middle part of the round and made too many mistakes,” said the FedExCup leader.

Rory McIlroy showed more signs of turning his game around. After three double bogeys on Thursday, he limited the mistakes with some nifty par saves and was at 5 under with two holes remaining, starting with a shot from the 17th fairway after a big tee shot.