Saturday, October 20, 2001
Rising Son: Yokoo soars to
the top at Disney
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Kaname
Yokoo doesn't have a flashy smile or wear extravagant hats like
some of the more popular Japanese stars. He'll settle for the
36-hole lead in the National Car Rental Classic.
Yokoo, a PGA Tour rookie who made it through
qualifying school on his first try, made another breakthough Friday
at Disney World with a 7-under 65 that gave him a one-stroke lead
over Jerry Smith.
Yokoo was at 131. Keeping the lead will
be far more difficult, especially with the low scores the Palm
and Magnolia courses have yielded over the first two days. The
cut was 139, the lowest in the 23 years of stroke play at Disney.
Still, Yokoo has been better than everyone
else — Davis Love III, David Toms, Vijay Singh and even Tiger
Woods.
“If I can keep playing like I played
today and yesterday, then I have a chance,” Yokoo said through
his interpreter. “I'm afraid to go to sleep. My swing might
change.”
The greater fear is glancing over his shoulder
at the cast of characters behind him. Love made a birdie from
the trees on the 18th hole for a 66 that left him two strokes
back, along with Jose Coceres of Argentina.
Woods blistered a 360-yard drive on the
18th at Magnolia. Even though he had to settle for par, some tinkering
with his swing Thursday evening showed signs of paying off, and
a 67 left him only five strokes out of the lead.
“By Sunday, he might be caught up to
me,” Yokoo said of Woods.
Yokoo, who has won each of the past three
years on the Japanese tour, secured his PGA Tour card for next
year with a tie for sixth in the Texas Open three weeks ago, his
best finish in America and his third top 10 of the year.
He will be paired Saturday with Smith, a
37-year-old from Iowa who is 120th on the money list and is grinding
to finish the year in the top 125 on the money list.
“You're always sort of aware, and everybody
asks you about it,” Smith said after his second straight
66. “I've really tried to just say, 'Hey, I don't care what
happens.' It has played out very well for me. I've gotten myself
back into the number, but I've got three weeks left. There are
only 125 guys that are going to stay.”
Love played his second bogey-free round,
a 65 capped off by an unusual birdie on the 18th at Magnolia.
He hit one of his few poor drives that hit a spectator in the
back and landed in the rough, leaving him a 6-foot wide gap between
the trees.
He chased a 5-iron through the trees and
it hopped up to the green, leaving him 10 feet for a birdie.
“I've been hitting a few sand wedges
about 40 feet from the fairway. Maybe I needed an obstacle to
go around to get it that close,” Love said.
Woods just needed a few putts to fall.
Asked the distance on the drive at No. 18,
Woods replied, “All I know is I hit a shot in there pin-high
and missed the putt.”
“That's the way it is sometimes,”
Woods said. “You hit good shots and don't make a putt, hit
a bad shot and make a bomb.”
Coceres, who won the week after the Masters,
had a 65 and was tied with Love at 133. Toms (68), Singh (68),
David Peoples and Brian Wilson were another stroke back.
This has been a breakout year for Japanese
players.
Toru Tanaguchi finished third at the Match
Play Championship in Australia. Toshi Izawa tied for fourth at
the Masters, the highest finish by a Japanese player in the history
of Augusta National.
The biggest stars are Shigeki Maruyama and
his dynamic smile. He captured the Greater Milwaukee Open to become
the first player from Japan since Isao Aoki in 1983 to win on
the PGA Tour, and the first ever to win on the mainland.
Then there's Shingo Katayama and his cowboys
hats. He starred at the PGA Championship and tied for fourth.
“They are both really well-known. They
have had good success in Japan,” said Yokoo, who is No. 186
in the world rankings. “But I think once the Japanese people
see me in the newspaper tomorrow morning, they will be pretty
surprised.”
Divots: Patrick Macune, the New York police
officer who has been sifting through rubble at the World Trade
Center since the terrorist attacks, made an eagle on the 14th
hole of the Palm Course. His team finished at 18-under par, tied
for 15th. “Everybody down here has been absolutely wonderful
to me,” he said. “I'm just a regular Joe Citizen, and
they're treating me like some kind of star.” ... Mark McCumber,
who joined the Senior PGA Tour this year, made his first cut of
the year and was at 135, four off the lead. ... Yokoo said he
has no problems with the food in America. “We most go to
Japanese restaurants,” he said. “I also like P.F. Chang's.”
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