Saturday, January 16, 1999
Steady Huston
in the hunt again
Unlike his runaway win
By Paul Arnett
last year, two 68s leave him
two strokes off the pace
Star-BulletinJohn Huston was so far below par at the halfway point of last February's Hawaiian Open, people wondered aloud if the PGA Tour record of 27-under, first set by Ben Hogan, was safe.
Not that Huston was among them. Even at 14-under after only 36 holes, Huston had his doubts of winning the event, much less etching his name in the PGA Tour record books.
With his sister, Julie Jones, as his caddy, Huston managed to do both, and avoid possible PGA Tour extinction. A bad bout with bursitis plagued him throughout the 1997 campaign, dropping him to 141st on the PGA Tour money list with earnings of only $151,840.
The Auburn product overcame those shoulder and wrist problems to end a 47-month-long winless drought, and a 53-year-old Tour record, all in one weekend.
The 37-year-old not only got back his Tour card by finishing 10th on the money list with $1,544,110 in earnings, Huston also regained some confidence in his game that he had lost along the way.
It may be a deciding factor coming into this weekend's final two rounds of the inaugural Sony Open in Hawaii. No, Huston is not 14-under. In fact, he's not even in the lead.
But you get the feeling the Palm Harbor, Fla., resident likes his chances. Despite not playing his best, Huston found himself today trailing second-round leader Brandel Chamblee by only two shots.
His 4-under 136 was a far cry from his 128 last Valentine's Day, but he'll take it. Huston is currently tied for fourth with Craig Stadler and Len Mattiace.
"Once again, I didn't play that great," Huston said. "But I hung in there, I putted good enough and scored pretty well.
"I'm definitely not playing as well as I did a year ago. I think I've already missed more fairways this year than I did the first three tournaments last year.
"But I'm still in a pretty good position. If you win, you win. It doesn't matter if you win by seven or if you win by one."
Huston has taken some good-natured criticism from his fellow Tour members this week for the design changes that took place since he last played the Waialae Country Club course.
For one, it's now a par-70, instead of a friendly 72. There have been other alterations to several tee boxes as well, forever changing the look of this course.
"I think they all believe that they tried to make it tougher because of last year's score," Huston said, then smiled. "But from what I understand, they had that planned before last year's tournament, so ... "
But that didn't stop fellow Johnny Bellinger Shoot-Out players Peter Jacobsen and Paul Azinger from giving Huston a hard time.
After he birdied No. 10 on Tuesday, Jacobsen said, "We're down to 29-under, time to change another par-5." And then Huston birdied the 11th, prompting Azinger to say, "Now, it's 30-under. Huston can't be stopped."
Huston wasn't exactly a showstopper at last week's Mercedes Championships. His four-day, 287 total earned him $51,025. But he trailed winner David Duval by 21 shots.
Fortunately for Huston and the rest of the field, Duval took off this week. If Huston can tame the winds, play his irons and sink some putts, he has a chance to be near the top of the leaderboard come tomorrow.
"I think the conditions, if they stay the same, are at least a couple of shots harder," Huston said. "The course is basically the same, other than two or three tee shots.
"I don't think from one year to the next, even if there weren't any course changes, that you can compare or be frustrated because it's a totally different tournament. The weather is different, the greens might be slower or faster, or whatever.
"You try to play very well one year and try to match up to that, well, it's pretty hard to do. You still have the same goals and that's to try to give yourself a chance to win on the last day, and hopefully, coming through it."
First-round leader Tommy Tolles believes the golfers who barely survived the cut have the best chance of posting a low number at today's Sony Open in Hawaii. Sony Open in Hawaii Notebook
Tolles: Early starters
likely to have an edgeThat's because they will go off in the early morning hours, benefiting not only from more subdued tradewinds, but wet, soft greens.
Tolles knows of what he speaks. He was among the first to tee it up on Thursday en route to firing a blistering 7-under 63.
He was among the afternoon crowd yesterday and wound up shooting a painfully average 72 to find himself tied with Mike Hulbert for second, one shot behind leader Brandel Chamblee.
"I thought the difference was the moisture on the greens," Tolles said. "They always spray them in the morning, so they are very putter friendly.
"Today, they were crustier, which makes them difficult to chip to because it's much quicker around the hole. It actually makes for better scoring conditions in the morning.
"So, it's going to be tough for the guys later in the day to keep pushing the number forward. It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone even or 1-under shoots a 65 or a 64 and vaults in the lead or near the lead."
That means such big-name players as Davis Love III and Scott Simpson at even-par, and Jeff Sluman, John Cook and Tom Watson at 1-under, could find themselves back in if they get hot early on.
SIMPSON LOVES JONES: You don't have to convince Simpson that former San Diego resident June Jones is the right man for the head coaching job at Hawaii.
Simpson is a big fan of the football coach for the Rainbows, and recently said as much.
"I was so excited to hear June got the job," said Simpson, who shot a 69 yesterday to stay within shouting distance of the leaders. "He has the perfect temperament for here. He loves the islands and their people.
"He's also a great coach, who I think can keep the local kids from Hawaii, and get some talented players from the mainland."
Simpson recently sold his home in Kailua and is now a full-time resident of San Diego, and a big fan of the Chargers.
"We'll miss June," Simpson said. "But I'm very happy he's Hawaii's new coach. Hopefully, he can get them winning again."
DALY TRIPLE: John Daly came to the 15th hole 4-under-par and in the thick of the race. But after suffering a triple bogey at the par-4, 396-yarder, his chances of winning the $2.6 million PGA Tour event were diminished.
He wasn't the only one to have the 15th hole jump up and bite him. Cameron Beckman was momentarily tied with Tolles for the lead at 7-under.
But sandwiched between bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16 was a 5-over 9 at the tough 15th that wound up being the third-most difficult hole of the second round.
The toughest with a stroke average of 4.389 was the par-4 No. 1 hole that measures 488 yards. It used to be an easy par-5, but was changed during the year to make the course more difficult.
The par-5 18th hole was not only the easiest yesterday, but for the two days as well with a 36-hole average of 4.469. It has yielded 12 eagles, 138 birdies, 131 pars and only six bogeys.
The No. 6 hole has been the most difficult during the first two rounds. The par-4, 459-yarder has a stroke average of 4.358. So far, there have been only 17 birdies and 87 bogeys.
HALLBERG DISQUALIFIED: Gary Hallberg was disqualified from the tournament for making an improper drop on the 18th hole.
The 39-year-old was 6-over at the time and would not have survived the cut. Last year, he finished 156th on the money list, earning $167,540.
By Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin
