Leaderboard at Pebble takes its share of lumps

PEBBLE BEACH -- The burgeoning future of golf meets the expanding waistline of golf?

That would be the junction of heralded 20-year-old Jason Day and the anti-diet called Tim Herron, the man who proudly carries the nickname Lumpy. And on Friday at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, they each wrapped themselves in their formidable reputations.

“Who knows what can happen?” Day said.

Good question, and everyone can think about that while Herron ponders using a belly putter, acutely aware that there’s no shortage of surface area where he can anchor it.

Herron shot a three-under-par 69 at Poppy Hills, then headed for a late lunch.

But first, he was asked to explain his nickname again. Herron, 38, and conservatively listed at 210 pounds, got it from a pro back home in Wayzata, Minn., while working at a golf shop.

“The pro asked if I like the name and I said no, so it kind of stuck,” he said.

While many have been waiting for Day, the youngest player on the PGA Tour, to stick, or to move into contention in a tournament as a rookie, he did so with a two-under 70 at Spyglass Hill.

Day is tied for sixth with five others at five-under 139 but only two shots behind Herron, whose seven-under total of 137 was good enough for the 36-hole lead.

As far as reputations go, Day’s is taking shape rapidly. It’s all about an edgy attitude, a streaky putter, sharp iron play and being the guy who says he wants to take out Tiger Woods and claim the No. 1 ranking.

Day hasn’t met Woods, but when he does, he isn’t concerned that Woods would take offense to his comments.

“I think he’d be pretty all right about it,” Day said. “Obviously, he’s winning still and he’s killing everyone. Until I go out there and actually beat him for the first time, I guess it’s going to be really good competition.”

After two days here, the competition side of things is thicker than the foam on the surf pounding the bulkhead along the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach. And so far, it’s not exactly what everyone could have expected.

Start with defending champion Phil Mickelson, who begins the weekend tied for 53rd, with the cut coming after today’s round. He shot even-par 72 Friday at Spyglass, an up-and-down round that included four birdies and the same number of bogeys. Mickelson birdied four of his first six holes, but none after. He had only two pars on his front nine and lamented what slipped past him.

“This is the round that could have been,” Mickelson said. “I really could’ve had it going. I had a number of opportunities to be well under par and just gave it away.”

There’s a four-way tie for second that includes Robert Floyd, the part-time real estate salesman, part-time mini-tour player and full-time son of Raymond Floyd. Floyd surprised many, including himself, with a two-under 70 at Poppy Hills.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to handle my nerves well enough to play,” said Floyd, who received a sponsor’s exemption. “So far I guess good enough.”

Michael Allen stayed afloat with a two-under 70 at Spyglass and he begins today’s third round tied with Floyd, Nicholas Thompson and J.B. Holmes, who continues to put together solid rounds.

Holmes won last week at the FBR Open and he’s in position to do it again after his opening 68 at Spyglass and his second-round 70 at Pebble Beach.

Herron is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, his last one the 2006 Colonial. Ranked 111th in putting last year, Herron has only one bogey in 36 holes, and that was the result of a three-putt at the 17th, his ninth hole, at Poppy Hills. He’s using a new putter this year after seven years with his old one.

But if things eventually turn sour on the greens, Herron has tinkered with a belly putter.

“That will be the next resort,” he said.

Floyd’s next resort is the Northern Trust Open at Rivera, where he received another sponsor’s exemption. At least he has good memories at Pebble, because he won the pro-am portion of the tournament in 1994 with pro Dudley Hart.

“So that’s my claim of fame among my friends, that I won Pebble Beach,” Floyd said. “I don’t really tell them it’s the amateur portion of it.”

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thomas.bonk@latimes.com