Saturday, January 5, 2002
[MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS]
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Toms, Perry KAPALUA, Maui >> The Kona winds soared and only a few players scored in yesterday's second round of the $4 million Mercedes Championships.
beat winds
On a blustery day that was
tough on scores, the 2 rode solid
rounds to a tie for the leadToms shoots back
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comSouthern boys David Toms and Kenny Perry kept their golf balls low into a wind people in these parts have rarely seen. As a result, they breezed into the lead entering today's third round that promises similar conditions.
Their 11-under scores of 135 were one better than fellow southerner Scott Verplank, who knows all about the wind living in dusty Oklahoma. He managed a 69 en route to birdieing three consecutive holes on the front and back nines.
First-round leader Mike Weir wasn't even close to the course-tying 63 he shot in excellent conditions Thursday. He came back with a 74 yesterday that left him at 9-under and alone in fourth place. Mark Calcavecchia and 1999 Mercedes Championships winner David Duval were tied for fifth with two-day totals of 138.
"It was an opposite wind for this golf course," Toms said. "That makes a few of the holes play very difficult. The first hole is obviously brutal, two is tough. It's not too bad as long as you can pick the right clubs into the greens."
Toms' second-round 66 was matched only by Calcavecchia, who made the biggest jump on the leader board -- from 24th to a tie for fifth place. But unlike some of his counterparts near the lead, the Arizona resident felt he got lucky.
"I made 15-footers for birdie that broke six feet that you never hope to make," Calcavecchia said. "I shot 7-under today after bogeying the first two holes. That's pretty good. I'm right back in it."
So are Perry and Toms, who opened with rounds of 68 and 69 Thursday that barely left them in the top 10. Like Calcavecchia, they had some fortunate moments yesterday. But they also put themselves in the lead by avoiding major mistakes.
Toms was the only golfer not to card a bogey, and although Perry bogeyed twice, he offset it with eight birdies en route to a 67. It was the second-best round for the day.
"Considering I haven't played since the Tour Championship (two months ago), I played pretty well," said Perry, who also needed 24 hours to get from Kentucky to here last week.
"I'm not sure what it is, but everything is going real well for me right now. I've been out here 16 years, so I don't really have any expectations. I just try to relax and go out and play good golf.
"It's a big difference out there from (Thursday). In these winds, the golf course plays really difficult. Yesterday, I could get to all the par 5s. On 15, I hit a driver and a 4-iron to the middle of the green. Today, I hit driver and a 3-wood and a sand wedge. I couldn't even get close to that hole."
Verplank also noticed the differences from Thursday's to yesterday's round. He particularly felt the wind as he stood over the ball to putt.
"It was hard to hold still on the greens," Verplank said. "When you can't hold still, you don't feel that solid standing over a putt. You know, this wind direction kind of makes the course a little bass-ackwards almost.
"You know, I hit a 3-wood to the first hole, a 3-wood to the second hole. Normally, you hit a tee off the first and a 9-iron to the green. It makes it a little tougher, definitely."
Weir felt the breeze in his face as well. He had five bogeys yesterday after not carding one Thursday.
"I think the conditions were much tougher," the Canadian said.
"The course was playing at least three, four shots harder than yesterday. For David (Toms) to shoot 7-under today was like me going 10-under on Thursday. I was awful on the greens. I didn't have a feel at all."
Tiger Woods struggled on the greens as well, missing several short putts for birdie and par. He wound up with a 1-over 74 and is currently seven shots off the lead.
At The Plantation Course MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS SCORES
Kapalua, Hawaii
Purse: $4 million
Yardage: 7,263; Par 73
After two rounds
David Toms 69-66 -- 135 Kenny Perry 68-67 -- 135 Scott Verplank 67-69 -- 136 Mike Weir 63-74 -- 137 Mark Calcavecchia 72-66 -- 138 David Duval 67-71 -- 138 Jim Furyk 67-72 -- 139 Chris DiMarco 67-72 -- 139 Cameron Beckman 67-73 -- 140 Frank Lickliter II 66-74 -- 140 Retief Goosen 69-71 -- 140 Joel Edwards 69-71 -- 140 Bob Estes 70-70 -- 140 Tom Pernice, Jr. 70-70 -- 140 Davis Love III 69-72 -- 141 John Cook 72-69 -- 141 Steve Stricker 71-70 -- 141 Robert Damron 69-73 -- 142 Tiger Woods 68-74 -- 142 Brad Faxon 71-71 -- 142 Justin Leonard 70-72 -- 142 Sergio Garcia 73-69 -- 142 Scott McCarron 71-72 -- 143 Joe Durant 73-73 -- 146 Robert Allenby 74-72 -- 146 Shigeki Maruyama 72-75 -- 147 Scott Hoch 72-75 -- 147 Hal Sutton 75-73 -- 148 Jesper Parnevik 74-75 -- 149 Jeff Sluman 74-76 -- 150 David Gossett 74-78 -- 152 Garrett Willis 77-80 -- 157