Stock Watch: Who’s rising and falling at the halfway point of the PGA Championship

We're at the halfway point of the PGA Championship and with the wind making an appearance on Friday, plenty of players went from potential contenders to pretenders in just 18 holes.

Tiger Woods' stock continues to rise after another under-par round at the Ocean Course, while the Ryder Cup bubble boys saw their stock take a major hit. Here's a look who else made our PGA Championship edition of "Stock Watch."

Stock rising

The Ocean Course — You knew the wind would make an appearance at the PGA Championship. A day after players were treated to prime conditions at the Ocean Course, the Pete Dye layout bit back on Friday in a big way. How difficult did the course play during the second round? The 78.1 scoring average was the highest in PGA Championship history and was almost five shots worse than Thursday's 73.3 average. Two players shot in the 90's and 39 in the 80's. It was a day that left Keegan Bradley tweeting that the Ocean Course, on Friday, was the "Hardest golf course/day I've ever played."

[Eric Adelson: Tiger Woods ends brilliant round with disappointing putt]

Tiger Woods — The knock on Tiger Woods coming into the PGA Championship was that his putter was a problem. After two round, however, that doesn't appear to be the case. With 23 one-putts in his first two round and 48 total putts, Woods is staging a putting clinic at Kiawah (he also led the field in scrambling on Friday). His 1-under 71 during the second wasn't a thing of beauty, but considering most of the field went the other direction, he should be happy with a spot in the final pairing on Saturday. Now it's time to see if Woods can actually shoot a round in the red on the weekend.

Phil Mickelson — Mickelson's two days spent at the Ocean Course can be summed up with one stat: 22 one-putts. Despite hitting just 13 fairways and 13 greens over his first two days, he was able to stay in contention with some brilliant up-and-downs from a number of wacky lies. Mickelson may be the only player in the field that's seen all of Kiawah Island, but he's somehow managed to hang around at even par. If he can produce another solid round tomorrow, watch out.

Vijay Singh — Less than a year away from the Champions Tour, you'd think Vijay Singh would be content with just making the weekend at a major championship. But after finding something prior to the British Open, the three-time major winner came into the week with high hopes. Hopes of winning the PGA Championship? Probably not. Following a 3-under 69 on Friday, however, Singh might want to change his expectations. He was the only player in the field to shoot a round in the 60's on Friday and seems to be playing with a renewed sense of purpose. He'll get one heck of a test on Saturday, though: he's paired with Tiger Woods in the final group.

[Related: Blustery conditions at PGA Championship fail to deter Vijay Singh]

Stock falling

Ryder Cup bubble boys — If Phil Mickelson was nervous about his automatic spot on the Ryder Cup team, he's likely breathing a huge sigh of relief following the second round. Hunter Mahan, who was right behind Mickelson in the standings, missed the cut, as did Rickie Fowler (12th) and Brandt Snedeker (13th). So much for Ryder Cup being added motivation for two of America's brightest stars. The silver lining for both guys, however, is that they'll both likely make the team as captain's pick.

John Daly — Daly looked like a lock for the "Stock rising" side following his 4-under 68 ... until the wind showed up on Friday and the former PGA champion's game disappeared. He recorded three bogeys in his first three holes and posted 5-over 77 to fall six shots off the pace. He's still in contention at the moment, but with wind expected to hang around for the weekend, he'll likely have to change up his game plan if he wants to find a way back into the mix. Regardless, give Daly credit for the pants he wore on Friday supporting prostate cancer awareness.

Gary Woodland — For seven holes on Friday, Gary Woodland was leading a major championship for the first time in his career on a course that was absolutely ripping the rest of the field to shreds. Cruising along at 6-under, Woodland hit a small bump in the road when he doubled the par-3 8th ... and then the wheels came off. To call Woodland's final 11 holes an implosion would be kind. The big bomber went 8-over during the stretch, closing with 5-over 41 on the back-nine to go from in contention at 6-under to out of the mix at 2-over.

Lee Westwood — We might as well leave Westwood down here, because the way he's playing at the moment, it looks like he'll never win a major in his career. A contender at the first two majors this year (T-3 Masters; T-10 U.S. Open), Westwood crashed and burned at the British Open (T-45) and then missed the cut at the PGA Championship with round of 75-77. It's the second time in the last five years he won't be around for the weekend at the final major of the year.

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