ASSOCIATED PRESS Mark Calcavecchia acknowledged the gallery after birdieing No. 2 yesterday at Kapalua.

Calcavecchia enjoys this visit to Hawaii

KAPALUA, Maui » The last time Mark Calcavecchia was in Hawaii he broke one club and one putter before boarding the plane for his return trip to the mainland.

That wasn't a problem yesterday for the second-oldest player in the Mercedes-Benz Championship field. He needed only a modest 29 putts that included six on two holes to shoot a 7-under 66 for the best round on the PGA Tour this season.

The stellar performance left the 47-year-old from Florida in a tie for sixth in this winners-only event. He trails front-runner Mike Weir by only three shots entering today's third round.

Not bad for a guy who didn't have any fond memories of playing in last year's Sony Open in Hawaii, missing the cut by 1 foot on the 18th hole after his putter let him down.

"First tournament of the year, I broke two clubs over here in Honolulu, and that's hard to do," Calcavecchia said. "Usually everybody's attitude is pretty good the first week of the year. I had this rescue thingy I put in there and I couldn't break it fast enough on No. 9.

"I putted horrible all week and I knew I needed to eagle 18 and I hit it to 10 feet, missed the hole by a foot. On the walk back to the hotel there, it's (his putter) in a hedge over there somewhere. It took about five hard throws. It was durable, but the head went flying off and it ended up in this bushy hedge. I guarantee it's still over there. I probably went through 10 different putters of various lengths and looks (last year)."

Calcavecchia brought the short putter he won with at last year's PODS Championship, and the belly putter he uses for shorter putts. He had both with him on Thursday, but played so poorly with an opening-round 75, that he left the short guy he found in the garage, before coming to Maui, out of his bag.

"I carried two putters and then I'd use my shorter putter for the 30-, 40-, 50-footer," Calcavecchia said. "And I wasn't very good with it, either. I needed my 5-wood twice, so I just kind of said, I'll just figure it out with the belly putter today. I put my 5-wood back in and never needed it."

Using his long putter for a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 4, he struck it so badly, he had a 45-footer for par. That putt hit the hole so hard, it bounced straight up and landed a foot from the cup for bogey.

"I was lucky it hit the hole, otherwise I probably would have four-jacked," Calcavecchia said. "I brought (the short putter) over here, I don't know why. But you'll probably never see it in action again. It got me here, though."

Just a few years shy of the Champions Tour, Calcavecchia is just happy to be here for perhaps his final time. At his age, you never know when you've won your last tour event, but the big man is realistic about his chances competing with all the young pups as he huffs and puffs his way around the hilly Plantation Course.

Coming over here, he decided to hike up South Mountain in Phoenix to try to get his old body into shape. He text messaged Tiger Woods after reaching the top. It read, "Hiking a mountain." Woods answered him back, "You must be on the Plantation Course."

Calcavecchia waited for those in the media room to stop laughing.

"I texted something else pretty funny, too, that I don't remember," Calcavecchia said. "But I remember that one. I got to the top of South Mountain and really thought I was going to have a heart attack."

A winner of 13 tournaments, including a major, Calcavecchia conceded he probably would have had a better career had he drank and ate less, and worked out more. He has finished second 26 times, including to Sandy Lyle at the 1988 Masters. Of all the seconds, that's the one he'd like back most.

"I was just a kid back then," Calcavecchia said. "I could have slumped around in my green jacket for the last 20 years. That would have been nice."