- Too Young To Be Forgotten:  It’s been an interesting year for Germany’s top young prospect, 23-year-old Martin Kaymer, who gained a bit of early attention as the only under-25 to be ranked among the world top 50 following a season-opening E Tour win in Abu Dhabi.  A late run at Tiger Woods in Dubai two weeks later (where Kaymer eagled the last to claim solo 2nd) appeared to validate all of the attention, but his performance has slipped slightly since, with only two top 10s (neither better than 7th) in seven subsequent E Tour starts.  More disappointing, however, have been Kaymer’s sojourns in America, where he lost in the first round of the WGC Match Play, then failed to better his recent tie for 53rd at the U.S. Open in four additional starts (including an MC at Augusta).  None of this is too terrible, of course – we are, after all, still talking about a 23-year-old – but perhaps benefiting from this exposure to elite competition, Kaymer has once again found his form this week at the BMW International outside of Munich.  On Thursday, he stood an unimposing one-under-par through his first 16 holes before birdieing the 17th and making eagle at the 567-yard finisher to post a solid 68, good enough to tie for 10th.  But picking up where he left off on Friday, Kaymer reeled off a bogey-free nine-under-par 63 on a golf course which is playing rather more difficult than several recent E Tour pushovers.  The result is an imposing five-shot halfway lead over England’s Benn Barham and France’s Francois Delamontagne – though one suspects that Kaymer’s eyes will focus more upon world number 15 Henrik Stenson, who won this title in 2006 and currently sits one stroke further back on 137.
 
- Older, But Won’t Let Us Forget:  It’s not as though Massachusetts’ Nashawtuc Country Club, site of this week’s Bank of America Championship, is the toughest venue on the Champions Tour schedule, but one still must take notice of 72-year-old Gary Player once again playing remarkable golf, his opening 73 coming within a single putt of shooting his age – rather a rarity in major competition.  But this was hardly one lightning bolt round.  On the contrary, Player already has bettered his age in 2008 (with a second-round 70 at February’s ACE Group Classic), then both equaled and bettered it (with second and third rounds of 72, 71) at March’s Toshiba Classic.  Guess the five decades worth of lectures he’s given on physical fitness weren’t just blowing smoke…

- Young, And Hoping To Forget: Last year, that is.  Carding four birdies against three bogeys, Stanford University student Michelle Wie posted a second consecutive 71 to stand on 142 at the halfway point of the Wegman’s LPGA in Rochester.  The good news: she’s tied for 17th in a fairly strong field of professionals, hardly a bad show for someone who struggled so mightily during 2007.  The bad news: She stands seven and eight shots behind Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel respectively, both of whom carded seven-under-par 65s on Friday.  Wie, by the way, is tied with world number one Lorena Ochoa, though the high-profile pair are not scheduled to play together on Saturday.

- Almost Forgotten:  In the field as a past champion, John Daly fired a pair of 72s at the BMW International in Germany, his 144 36-hole aggregate being neither embarrassing, nor good enough to make the cut.  What’s next, the Japan Tour?