Just a mish-mash of stuff from Friday’s action at the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral….

For an official PGATOUR.COM recap of the second round at the Cadillac Championship, click HERE.

Notable Quotes

“Yeah, it’s pretty tough not to have a giggle (laughter). We all hit bad shots. Hit a couple of those in my time. You know Tiger actually hit two tee shots today, I would say combined didn’t go further than 200 yards. He hit that snap hook off two, which didn’t go further than 85 yards. And he hit a pop-up fly to midfield on 14 there which probably wasn’t about 120, max.” – Graeme McDowell commenting on two woeful drives from playing partner Tiger Woods on Friday

“Half the tournament is already over. There’s a long way to go. It’s just weird how sometimes you have good starts and poor finishes, and poor starts and good finishes. You just never know what’s going to happen. You just have to be on your toes and that’s why everybody keeps working. This game is unforgiving and you always have to keep working. You can’t think you’ve figured anything out.“ – Tournament leader Hunter Mahan, after shooting 1-under 71 on Friday to maintain his lead going into the weekend

“I think I hit more bad shots than good shots. I got lucky on the par 3 that didn’t go in the water. No. 8 I hit it a little thin and just went over the water and I made birdie. Was a little unfortunate sometimes but the good thing is my bad shots are still okay. So that helps.” – Martin Kaymer, after posting 2-under 70 on Friday and only 1 shot back of Mahan

“Not that good, either, and Woods used to be way above good. For now, he’s a reconstruction project, technically and mentally. Watching and wincing at the wayward drives and putts on Friday, it was hard to believe the Blue Monster used to be his pet.” – Columnist Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald, commenting Tiger Woods’ play this week at the WGC Cadillac Championship

“Without really knowing too much about the assessment or extent of damage, I cannot talk too much about the earthquake itself,” Ishikawa said through an interpreter. “But I realize, with the extent of coverage here, it must be a very grave situation in Japan. Many of the players walked up to me, such as Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, and asked how was my family and showed a lot of concern. And I appreciated that. But as you can imagine, it’s a tough day.” – Ryo Ishikawa, commenting Friday about the devastating earthquake that occurred overnight in his homeland of Japan. The dire situation laid heavily on his heart Friday, as Ryo struggled to a 4-over round of 76.

Bob Harig over at ESPN went a little more in-depth about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan, and how that country’s 3 players in the field this week at the WGC event in Miami were trying to cope with the uncertainty.

The world has become smaller because of things we take for granted: cell phones that call across oceans, Internet connections that allow for instant communication. Except, of course, when those things don’t work due to an unfathomable natural disaster that renders one helpless. The scene inside the Doral resort Friday morning was surreal as more than 30 Japanese media members here to cover a golf tournament were frantically trying to reach family, friends and co-workers back home. Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa carded his best round in a PGA Tour event Friday, but he had trouble focusing on anything but the devastation back home. The earthquake that later caused a tsunami had rendered most forms of communication useless, not so much due to the destruction in the northeastern part of the country, but to an overloaded system that could not deal with the crush. All of it made the golf Friday during the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship seem a bit pointless.

Indeed, the devastation that we’ve seen unfolding on television paints a very grim picture for Japan, making it very difficult to get wrapped up in something so trivial as golf. Our hearts go out to those who have been seriously impacted by this disaster.