FanHouse JonathanByrd

The Players Championship is often referred to as the fifth major, but Jack's tournament, the Memorial, makes a strong case for the title, even if it's a media creation.

Heading to the weekend, only 24 players are under par, and the 4-over cut line was four strokes tougher than The Players last month. Jonathan Byrd is one of just two players to fire back-to-back rounds in the 60s, and he's currently 7-under, tied for first place. (Mike Weir, T3, is the other.)

Tiger Woods has played in The Players Championship 12 times, and has never broken 70 in any of his first rounds. On a calm Thursday that gave up some very red numbers, Woods continued his trend of taking a mild approach, carding a 1-under 71 on an up-and-down day.

Woods' round was highlighted with an approach shot on the par-5 16th hole that ended up three feet away for a kick-in eagle. Tiger followed that up with a solid 9-iron on the 17th hole's island green to just outside 10 feet, but a nasty horseshoe left Woods with just another par.

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We continued with part two of your FanHouse Media Guide.

• Charlie Beljan -- DNP -- He qualified for the U.S. Open, so he is probably happy just to be there. The 23-year-old has been one of the most consistent golfers on the Gateway Tour, currently eighth on the Player of the Year list.

• Yohann Benson -- DNP -- Maybe the most random profile on the Gateway Tour website. His interests - Montreal Canadiens, New York Yankees and Jack Daniels. The USGA just put out a collective sigh that Benson isn't paired with John Daly for the first two rounds. Also, he's single ladies.

• Brian Bergstol -- DNP -- Hey, a 23-year-old assistant golf pro is in the field? Somebody notify Jim Nantz, he loves this stuff.

• Travis Bertoni -- DNP -- I know he played at Cal Poly and I can tell you he's playing some mini-tour golf, but my favorite bit of information is him throwing the deuces in his Facebook profile picture. On a side note, Bertoni was heard saying he thinks those 2000 Lakers championship rings are so sick!

• Jason Bohn -- DNP -- Bohn won the 2005 B.C. Open and once made a hole-in-one worth a million bucks. I'm still on the fence on which one is better, a million bucks or winning a free ball from every member in the hole-in-one club at my home course. Tough choice.

• Jeffrey Bors -- DNP -- It appears Bors went all Adam Morrison on us after qualifying for Torrey Pines. "It's...I don't know...it's...hard to think about...it's the ultimate," cracked Bors, wiping his hand across his suddenly teary-eyed face. "Anyone who loves the game and loves competing wants to play in the Open." To his credit, I'd probably look like a group of guys after "Brian's Song" if I qualified.

• D.J. Brigman -- t-30 -- Brigman is currently 25th on the Nationwide Tour money list, the last possible spot for exemption into the PGA Tour at year's end. A solid year so far, look for Brigman to be one of the few qualifiers to make the cut in San Diego.

• Bart Bryant -- t-32 -- Hey, would you lookie there! Younger brother and older brother, together at the U.S. Open after Bart qualified in sectionals. If the USGA really wanted a power pairing, they'd go with the Bryant brothers.
  

• Brad Bryant -- t-13 -- Big Brother Brad hasn't played in a major on the PGA tour since 1996, so you might consider him a touch rusty with those young bucks. No matter what happens this week, he'll still have the nickname Dr. Dirt because of his 5 o'clock shadow, so there's that.

• Jonathan Byrd (above) -- t-15 -- Not to be confused with yummy Jonathan Byrds, the golfer namesake has won three times on tour including last year's John Deere Classic. Two top tens and five top 25s so far this season are pretty mediocre for a guy like Byrd.