PGA Championship:Every time Ross Fisher walks inside the lobby of the Wentworth Club, he is reminded of its place in history. Old putters, irons, fairway woods and drivers line the wall. Underneath each club is a bronze plaque with the name of each donor. The names are a who's who of golf: Arnold Palmer, Ernie Els, Gary Player, Colin Montgomerie.
So, if Padraig Harrington felt something like the hometown hero last week, the role this time has fallen to Fisher, a member of Wentworth. Does he feel added pressure?
"No, I just go out and perform to the best of my ability. I'm trying my damnedest to shoot as good a score as I can," said Fisher, who yesterday shot a second-round 67 over the West Course, which he knows likes the back of his hand.
Fisher, though, is learning how to deal with pressure. Back in February at the Dubai Desert Classic, Fisher - who won his full tour card last season and finished an impressive 66th on the money list - was paired with a certain Tiger Woods, on the way to finishing fifth in the tournament. He came home to a string of queries from club members and friends: "How was it playing with Tiger? What was he like? Did he talk to you?"
Of that final round in company with Woods, Fisher recalled, "Playing with big-name players is what you really want to do. It's what I have dreamt of doing for a long time. Obviously, I've had a chance to play with some of the best players in the world, and hopefully it will stand me in good stead here."
What it did was show Fisher he could contend in tournaments, although results since then - five missed cuts in six tournaments, most recently at last week's Irish Open - didn't exactly indicate his form was good enough to deliver the scores of the past two days.
Yet, playing on his home course, the 26-year-old Englishman has produced rounds of 70 and 67 to be in the thick of the action heading into the weekend.
Not that Fisher got off to the ideal start in yesterday's second round, running up a double-bogey six on the first hole.
It acted like a kick in the teeth, a wake-up call that was followed by golf that produced far more good than bad and ended in a flourish of birdie-eagle-birdie over the final three holes.
Walking off the 15th green, his caddie asked for a big finish. On the 16th, Fisher's decision to use a two-iron off the tee for safety backfired when he found a fairway bunker. But he hit a wedge recovery to six feet and sank the birdie putt.
On the 17th, he hit a three-iron approach to three feet and holed out for eagle, before finishing with another birdie on the 18th.
"I'm just not here to represent the club and make up the numbers, I'm here to win the tournament, which, you know, I firmly believe I can do," said Fisher.
Certainly, Fisher has given the home support much to cheer about; but the hard work takes place over the weekend, as he plays catch-up on midway leaders Justin Rose and Angel Cabrera.
Rose had a real mixed bag of a second round, featuring seven birdies and five bogeys. "I didn't play that well, didn't hit enough fairways," lamented Rose, who reported no recurrence of the back injury that has hampered him for much of the season.
His co-leader, Cabrera, won this tournament two years ago. But, as he noted: "That's in the past. I'm now enjoying the chance to be in the perfect position going into the weekend."
Among those to miss the cut were Retief Goosen and Ian Poulter, while Ernie Els - who is responsible for remoulding the course - was living dangerously for much of his second round before a birdie on the last for a 76 left him on 144, two shots inside the cut line.
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