COUPLES, DIMARCO HAVE STRONG SECOND ROUNDS

The elevator was running at full throttle late Friday afternoon as the cut line of 6-under-par loomed ominously for several golfers hoping to remain in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Fred Couples had a strong second round, shooting 8-under 64 to make the cut at 12-under. Chris DiMarco locked up a spot for the weekend after firing a 64 to go to 11-under.

Defending champion George McNeill was at 10-under through two rounds. He's still alive in his attempt to repeat. But at eight shots back of the leaders he’s going to have to pick up the pace Saturday to have any chance.

Former UNR star Mike Allen made the cut but his 2-under 70 was a far cry from his opening-round 63. Ditto for Kevin Na who was 2-under after an opening-round 64.

OH, WELL, THERE'S ALWAYS HOOTERS

John Daly played better in the second round, finishing with a 6-under 66. But that only got him to 5-under for the tournament, which meant he was going to miss the cut by one shot.

Daly was scheduled to make a personal appearance at Hooters Hotel this evening. Which means he’ll likely be pounding chicken wings and beers well into the night now that he doesn’t need to be at the golf course Saturday. The slot machines await!

LET’S GO RAYS

Also missing the cut is Paul Azinger, who shot a 71 to get to 4-under.

The bad news is Captain America doesn’t get to play this weekend. The good news is he was probably able to catch a red-eye flight back to Florida on Friday night, giving him plenty of time to make it over to Tropicana Field for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

Azinger is a hard-core Tampa Bay Rays fan, so he figures to be on hand Saturday night.

Maybe he can help Joe Maddon sort out his bullpen.

CONCERT NEARS

It appears many of the pros are planning to attend tonight’s Justin Timberlake and Friends benefit concert at Planet Hollywood.

Matt Kuchar, the co-leader, told a story of his caddie on the course imploring him to go low.

“He said, ‘Man, you gotta keep making birdies so we can sleep in after the Timberlake concert tonight.’” Kuchar said.

Now that’s incentive.

And you know the wives or significant others are awaiting the show. After all, how many trips to the spa and shopping splurges at the mall can a woman endure?

BETTER CROWDS

When it comes to giving out attendance figures, this tournament is about as open as the UNLV basketball locker room — meaning it's not. But it was clearly evident that more people were on the course today than at the same time a year ago.

How many more, the tournament organizers couldn’t or wouldn’t say. But it looks like things have picked up at the turnstiles, though it would have been a higher count had they let that lady and her dog in earlier this morning.