"My caddie and I talked beforehand about taking advantage of the par 5s and the shorter par 4s, just because we knew we were going to make bogeys," Simpson said. "It was just one of those long, tough days. But I feel good with where I'm at."
He was at 8-under 134, two shots clear of Paul Goydos and Steve Marino, who started the second round tied for the lead and did well to get around in even-par 71.
Sergio Garcia also was tied for the lead, got stuck in the morning wave and the worst of the rain, and shot a 76.
"It was hands down - I mean, forget about the PGA (Championship) - it was the longest course I've played this year, the way it was playing," Garcia said. "I don't know how many 5-, 4- and 3-irons I hit into the greens. I hit some woods into the green."
Tiger Woods tried to hit driver onto one green on the 16th, where the tees were moved up. His shot sailed 65 yards wide of his target, over the water hazard, beyond the tee boxes at No. 17. He nearly crushed a tee marker before stopping the club a foot short, and while he made par, it summed up his frustration.
Woods had a 72, yet still moved up 10 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 17th at even-par 142. For the second straight day, he refused to meet with the reporters to discuss his round.
Smiles were rare on Friday, except at the top of the leaderboard.
The cut came at 5-over 147, matching the highest cut of the year (Bay Hill). Only nine players broke par, one day after there were 26 scores under par. The average score was 74.361, nearly 2 1/2 shots harder than the first round.
Simpson and Ernie Els had the low round at 68, and the Big Easy only got there with a driver on the 16th hole that stopped 8 feet from the hole for an eagle.
Goydos was atop the leaderboard for most of the round until he finished with three bogeys over his last four holes. He at least was happy to make enough pars and birdies that a sloppy ending to his round didn't hurt him.
Plus, he knew what to expect.
"I was watching it a little bit this morning, and it didn't look like anybody was having a whole lot of fun," Goydos said. "And quite frankly, I went downstairs about nine o'clock and looked down, and didn't look like the guy parking the cars was having a whole lot of fun, either."
The difficulty came from a combination of factors.
A half-dozen tees were moved up, which helped. What hurt was the wet conditions
- the rain in the morning and the soft turf throughout the cloudy day - and the heavy air that kept the ball from traveling very far.
"Throw in the fact that if you do hit it a little crooked, you've got 3 or 4 inches of wet rough," Goydos said. "You've got greens that look like my shirts after I've packed them. It just makes for a challenge."
