Sunday, May 13, 2001
Verplank, Damron lead a Texas
shootout
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Even before he
teed it up Saturday with a share of the lead, Scott Verplank noticed
on the electronic scoreboard that Justin Leonard was on his way
to a tournament-tying 61 in the Byron Nelson Classic.
“When you see that, obviously low scores
can be shot,” Verplank said.
Only Verplank couldn't manage one.
Neither could co-leader David Duval. Or
Tiger Woods.
The best news for Verplank on a day of wasted
chances was that his bogey-free 2-under 68 still left him in a
tie for the lead with Robert Damron.
“I could have put some distance between
myself,” said Verplank, who joined Damron (67) at 13-under
197. “It'll be a lot more exciting.”
It should be a classic Texas shootout —
Leonard and Vijay Singh (67) one stroke behind, 11 players within
three shots of the lead, and 32 players within six shots.
It didn't have to be that way. With overnight
rain making the TPC at Las Colinas play as easy as it has all
week, Verplank made only two birdies — a 12-footer on No.
4 and a 5-footer on No. 16.
Damron was headed in that direction until
he got a good break when his tee shot hit a tree and stopped short
of going in the water on No. 9. He got his par, and decided that
must have been a good omen.
Damron made six birdies on the back nine,
including four of the last five holes, and is a 54-hole co-leader
for the second time in his career. The last time, in the 1997
St. Jude Classic, Greg Norman birdied the last three holes to
beat him out.
“I'm playing well enough,” Damron
said. “My job now is just to not put any undue pressure on
me because of the situation.”
Duval made five bogeys, three times missing
the green that left him virtually no shot at par, but birdied
the last for a 70 and was at 199 along with Brian Watts (63),
Mike Weir (65) and Nick Price (65).
Like Verplank, Duval took only positives
out of an otherwise lackluster round.
“I'm excited about having a chance,”
he said. “I could have really hurt myself today, and I didn't.”
Woods, who squandered a chance to make a
move by making three bogeys on the back nine for a 69. He was
at 203.
“I struggled all day and have a lot
of work to do,” Woods told a tour official. He went straight
to the practice range after his round.
What could make the final round even more
intriguing is that none of the top 13 players on the leaderboard
have won this year on the PGA Tour. Four of them have never won
at all.
“It's going to be a real dog fight,”
Singh said.
Leonard is not known for taking it low.
Until Saturday, his best score was a 63 two years ago on the easier
Cottonwood Valley course. The bigger surprise was that he finished
at 12 under as the leaders were on the fifth hole, he remained
close to the lead at day's end.
While Verplank had only two birdies, Duval
also wasted a chance to pull away by missing greens on the short
side of the flag. One of those came on No. 6, when a chip from
a swale scooted some 50 feet past the hole.
Meanwhile, good scores turned into great
ones with the leaders not making a move. Weir was was walking
down the fairway when he looked at a scoreboard and saw the lead
at 12 under.
“I thought I had missed a page,”
he said. “I thought shooting 65, I might be within four or
five of the lead.”
David Toms, who last week had a 127 on the
weekend in New Orleans to win, got started in the similar direction
with a 62.
About the only guys who didn't make a move
were those at the top.
Verplank gave himself a few decent chances
and missed only three greens, but mostly stared at 25-foot putts.
He holed a 15-footer on No. 4 for birdie, and after 11 straight
pars, pitched to 5 feet for another birdie on the par-5 16th.
Still, he is in great position to go wire-to-wire
in the Nelson Classic since Tom Watson in 1980, and become the
first Dallas-born player to win this tournament.“Obviously,
I'm very pleased to be tied for the lead,” he said. “It
would really be something special to win this tournament.”
Still, there was evidence that an opportunity
was left behind.
A dozen player had 65 or better, and 38
players had at least 67.
Leonard, who has never had a top-10 finish
in his hometown tournament and last year opened with an 80, was
headed for another ho-hum finish when he reached the turn. Starting
with a 40-foot putt, he made birdies on the first two and final
four holes for a 29 for his career-low round.
“I've played a lot of bad rounds on
this golf course and at this tournament,” Leonard said. “All
those people have seen and been with me through all those poor
rounds. Today is kind of a nice way to pay them back.”
Woods had been the last player to shoot
61 on the TPC at Las Colinas. The others were Charlie Rymer in
1996, Ernie Els in 1995 and Billy Mayfair in 1993. Of those, Els
is the only player who went on to win the tournament.
Leonard was thrilled to at least have a
shot.
“Shooting a score like today and getting
back in the middle of the tournament going into the last round,
that's where I want my game to be,” Leonard said.
He indeed has a chance. So does just about
everyone else.
Divots:
David Duval had reason to be distracted on his approach to the
first green. Several people in the gallery behind the green were
waving white paper fans to cool themselves, making it look like
a bunch of flags waving. ... The Salesmanship Club of Dallas treated
Mike Weir to a cake and a song of “Happy Birthday.”
The Canadian turned 31 on Saturday. ... Local club pro Perry Arthur
was among those who had a 65. He was at 203, just six strokes
out of the lead.
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