Mercedes Championship Tournament... after 36 holes

Question: Who's winning, the golfers or the course?

Have you been following this tournament? There are 28 tournament champions playing, and believe me, about 18 of them are feeling just a little lost right now.

When you look at the leaderboard, there's something very obvious... those who have played there before, or who have played lots of tournaments in very difficult conditions have an obvious edge.

My "Pick-A-Pro" selection, Sergio Garcia is a former winner of the Mercedes. He's on the leaderboard... only a couple of strokes down.

The rest of my guys... well, let's just say they're gaining a lot of experience.

Everyone gets paid this week. With no cut, the salary cap competition will be tough for me to win. I chose to go with the guys on my regular rotisserie tournament. That was more so I could get the hang of tracking stats, than to go in for a quick win. It's a long season, and one tournament with 28 guys most likely won't affect the outcome.

While I was watching the live coverage, I was totally impressed with the utter patience of all the players. I didn't get to watch Carl Pettersson today, as he was having a terrible round, but from what I heard, trying to putt (using the long putter) was really giving him fits.

The tradewinds blew for a second day. Today, they were gusting to over 40 mph. You could see the balls wobbling on the green as players were getting ready to put. Now, that's a serious wind. The beautiful 18th hole which has yielded many eagles in the past, gave up very few birdies even, today. The wind just wouldn't let many players reach the green in two.

Would you believe I heard the tradwinds are forecasted to blow for the rest of the tournament? Kapalua is playing as it was designed, with the tradewinds rather than the more friendly Kona winds.

Watch for scoring to look more like US Open or British Open. The champion will be lucky to be double digots under par, and it wouldn't surprise me to see this go to extra holes again this year.

Appleby has to continue as the odds-on favorite, but I wouldn't write of the top 8 players after 36 holes. That would be Campbell, Furyk, Toms, Singh, Garcia, Browne, Bohn, Bryant, and Short.