Perez Has The Look Of A Guy Who Can Keep It Going

   Thoughts on the Wells Fargo Championship at the halfway point:

  -- Pat Perez sounds very confident, having undergone a major swing reconstuction that has him bombing the ball again. He's also rediscovered an old putter that's brought back some old magic so he'll be a formidable force this weekend.

   The guy has made 18 birdies in 36 holes. He won't keep making them that fast but when Perez gets going, he can go low. He's fought his temper in the past. That could be his biggest challenge.

  -- There's a distinct ACC feel to the leader board. Clemson has Jonathan Byrd and Lucas Glover near the front, Wake Forest has Bill Haas and Webb Simpson, N.C. State has Carl Pettersson and Georgia Tech has Stewart Cink and North Carolina's Davis Love III isn't that far back.

  -- Phil Mickelson got his competitive groove back Thursday afternoon and rolled it into Friday morning. The 66 he shot in the second round looked easy and it could have been a handful of shots lower. He's been close here so often, you know this is one he'd really like to win. Saturday will determine if this is the year or not.

  -- With a SubAir system under the greens at Quail Hollow, I expect they'll have the blowers working all night to pull as much moisture as possible out of the putting surfaces. They don't mind guys shooting good scores at Quail Hollow but they know the greens need to have some fire to have the course where they want it.

  -- You could see the disappointment on Rory McIlroy's face after missing the cut Friday afternoon. He was grinding until the end and made a couple of late bogeys when he had to force the issue.