WGC-Cadillac Championship 2015: Leaderboard Highlights, Reaction from Friday

J.B. Holmes wasn't able to match his blistering 62 from the opening round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday. The good news for the American is that he'll head into the weekend with a two-stroke lead at 9-under par.

Doral provided a more formidable test for Holmes in the second round. He could only manage a 73, including a double bogey on his final hole. Ryan Moore is his closest challenger with Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Bubba Watson also firmly in the mix.

Here's a look at the current leaderboard through two days: 

After Thursday's action, Holmes talked about his enjoyment getting tested by a tougher, meaner Doral. Hank Gola of the New York Daily News passed along the leader's thoughts as compared to his previous trips to the event.

"I like it," he said. "I think it's way better before this, I didn't care for it at all. One of my least favorite tracks on Tour. It was just too easy, I felt like, for a World Golf Championship... 22-under winning really shouldn't happen."

Backing up that type of round is always difficult. That's especially true on a tough course, which didn't allow any player to shoot better than 4-under on Friday. Aside from the finishing hole, Holmes did a nice job of playing smart golf to maintain the lead.

The tournament passed along his post-round thoughts:

He still has a couple more rounds to go if he wants to close it out. Justin Ray of Golf Channel notes it's been awhile since anybody led a PGA Tour event the entire way:

Scott, who's switched to a short putter this week, had the lowest round of the day at 4-under par. It helped him move up into third place and the Tour noted he thinks the changed has definitely helped his cause so far:

Of course leaving short putts with terrific approaches, like he did on No. 6, always helps:

The most talked about highlight of the day had nothing to do with a great shot. Instead, it came courtesy of a frustrated Rory McIlroy. The world's top-ranked player watched his approach shot at the 8th land in the water and then decided the club should join it.

It was a grind all day for McIlroy, who couldn't maintain momentum for any extended stretch. It finally got the best of him after that missed opportunity:

Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel noted it left the four-time major champion, who's eight strokes off the pace, without one piece of his arsenal:

One player who had more fun on the par fives on Friday was Watson. He posted two eagles in a three hole stretch starting with the eighth to vault up the leaderboard.

Quiet On The Tee applauded the effort:

Watson is five shots back heading into the weekend.

Ultimately, Holmes' mediocre second round leaves the door open heading into the weekend. The top of the leaderboard is littered with big names and the tricky scoring conditions should make for a intriguing finish, barring somebody posting another 10-under round.

It will be interesting to see how Holmes rebounds on Saturday. He needs to get off to a strong start to quickly wipe away the memory of that double bogey finish. Otherwise that big lead he built after Round 1 is going to evaporate.

One thing's for sure: with the way Doral is playing, whichever golfer comes out on top is certainly going to earn the trophy.