Saturday, June 21, 1997

Grace retains lead

By TED DUNNAM / Abilene Reporter-News

John Grace didn't run away from the field Friday. The field ran from him.

Grace fired an even-par 72 in blustery conditions, and then he watched his closest pursuers stumble as the Fort Worth golfer opened a five-shot lead at the midway point of the 69th annual Men's West Texas Golf Championship at Fairway Oaks Country Club.

Grace, the defending champion of the tournament, was having his own struggles until he reached the 14th green. There, he rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt to put his round at 1-over par for the day.

After parring the 15th hole, Grace then hit a choke-down 4-iron within three feet of the cup, and fed his downhill birdie putt into the heart of the cup.

Grace then parred the final two holes of the day to post his even-par round for a 141 two-day total, five shots better than Buddy Trumpf of Wichita Falls and Ty Cox of Amarillo.

At 3-under par, Grace is the only golfer in the field under par for the tournament.

Trumpf shot a 76 Friday while Cox carded his second consecutive 73 for their 146 totals. Six shots back at 147 are Tim Hamilton, Ed Brooks and Bart Granger.

All of his closest challengers believe that Grace is going to be a difficult golfer to catch.

"It would be very uncharacteristic of John if he lets us back in the tournament. He's not going to come back to you, you're going to have to catch him," Brooks said. "He's a gentleman, a sportsman and one of the most intense competitors you'll ever run into.

"If the wind stays up like it has been, I don't think anyone will catch him. John plays smart golf. But there's 36 holes left and I guess anything can happen."

Trumpf, who finds himself in contention despite his 4-over-par total Friday, knows he has his work cut out.

"We've all got to shoot all-world and John's got to make some mistakes," Trumpf said. "I think I've seen John shoot over par twice in all the times I've seen him golf. Somebody like Mark Granger, Ty Cox or Ed Brooks might be able to do it.

"That 72 John shot today is probably better than the 69 he shot yesterday. There weren't really any double-bogeys out there yesterday. They were out there today, though."

Grace didn't right his ship until the 14th hole and that gave him some momentum coming home.

"There's no doubt the course played much tougher today," Grace said. "The wind probably blew 5-10 miles per hour harder which put it in the 20-25 mile-per-hour range.

"I didn't hit it as well today as I did yesterday, but I still hit it pretty well."

Grace missed the second green for his first bogey and picked up his second bogey at the 12th hole where he pulled his tee shot. Two holes later, though, he produced his first birdie of the afternoon.

"That helped. It was the only long putt I made all day. It really kind of surprised me when it went in," he said. "At 16, I hit a choke-down 4-iron and played a little draw. If it drew, fine. If it didn't I was still in the middle of the green.

"It was really difficult to get the ball close to the hole today. I thought I hit some good iron shots that wound up short. But I did a pretty good job of getting up-and-down today. I really didn't have that many tough opportunities."

Cox might have been able to cut into Grace's lead, but the flat stick wasn't kind to him.

"After the fifth hole, I hit every green and two-putted every one of them," he said. "I had birdie putts on each of the last 14 holes and didn't make one. I hit good putts most of the time, it was just that none of them fell.

"I'm not discouraged, though. I'm striking the ball well, and it's just a matter of rolling in a few putts. But I think a score under par is going to win this tournament so somebody's going to have to shoot red numbers to catch John.

"This is the type of course where you have to play smart golf and be patient."