He who hesitated was lost; Tiger shoots 74
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
TROON, Scotland (AP) - Day Two of the British Open brought
a change of seasons at Royal Troon. The wind was down and so were
the scores.
The springlike bluster of the first round gave way to gentle
summer breezes on Friday, and anyone who didn't take advantage
of it was left behind as player after player battered par.
Darren Clarke, Justin Leonard, Jesper Parnevik, Fred Couples
and unknown David Tapping grabbed a healthy handful of Troon's
generosity to separate themselves from all but a few in the field.
Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Jim Furyk were among
those who let a golden scoring opportunity slip away on a suddenly
tranquil day on the west coast of Scotland.
The wind that whipped off the Irish Sea on Thursday turned
into a bit of a breeze on Friday. Clarke warmed the balmy day
with a hot putter to shoot a 66 to be at 9-under-par 133, two
strokes better Leonard, who also shot a 66.
"We were hitting 3-, 4- and 5-irons into the par-4s on
the back nine today," Clarke said about the decidedly different
conditions at Troon. "Yesterday we were hitting 3-woods in."
Only 11 players bettered par on Thursday while 46 took advantage
of the gentle conditions in the second round to shoot 70 or below.
"Yesterday was the toughest Open course ever and today
it was easier, with birdie opportunities on the back nine,"
Parnevik said after also shooting a 66 to trail Clarke by three
strokes.
Couples, with a 68, was four back along with Tapping, a 22-year-old
pro from England playing in his first British Open.
Almost unbelievably, he made birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 - two
of the most difficult holes on the course - and shot a 66 to be
tied with Couples at 137.
"It was a fantastic high out there all the way around,"
Tapping said. "You have to just just milk the situation when
it happens."
Clarke, a 28-year-old rising star from Northern Ireland looking
for his first victory in a major championship, milked it as well
as anyone.
"It's only Friday," Clarke said. "But if I do
get into contention on Sunday afternoon, I believe I can give
it a go."
He will have plenty of company. Leonard, Parnevik, Couples
and Tapping all played as brilliantly as Clarke in the second
round.
"Tomorrow, I'm not worried about Darren Clarke,"
Couples said after turning in the only scorecard among the leaders
without a bogey on it. "I am worried about the way I play."
If the weather remains as calm over the weekend as it was on
Friday, many birdies will be needed to stay in contention. Some
big names were not able to do that in the second round.
Furyk, the co-leader with Clarke after the first round, shot
a 72 to fall six strokes behind at 139, a number matched by Tom
Kite, who climbed back into contention on the strength of a 67.
Others were not as fortunate.
Norman managed only a 73 and was at 142. Faldo's mediocre 73
put him at 144 along with U.S. Open champion Ernie Els. Defending
champion Tom Lehman had a 72 to be at 146 along with Woods, who
shot a 74 marred by a quadruple bogey.
"Obviously, if you don't shoot a good number today, you
feel like you didn't accomplish what you wanted to," Woods
said.
Hometown favorite Colin Montgomerie, perhaps the best player
in the world without a major championship victory, shot a 69,
but that wasn't good enough to make up for a 75 in the first round.
He was also at 144.
Getting off to a good start is the key to Royal Troon. The
first six holes include three par-4s that are 391 yards or less
and two par-5s that can be easily reached in two strokes.
Clarke played the course the way it needs to be played - attacking
the front nine with six birdies and two bogeys. He began the much
more difficult back side with a bogey on No. 10 but managed two
birdies in three holes starting at No. 14.
Clarke's fine round came on solid putting. Five of his eight
birdies were from 20 feet out.
"The past few weeks I've had a lot of lip outs,"
Clarke said. "But the last two days I've made up for the
last few weeks."
Leonard, who had a chance to shoot the lowest round of the
tournament until he had a three-putt bogey on No. 18, made eagles
on both of the par-5s on the front nine as he shot a 31.
"I was a little bit surprised to see the wind lay down
like it did," Leonard said. "It's still a hard golf
course. We've seen the two extremes."
Couples started his round with a birdie and ended with a birdie.
At one point, he made 13 consecutive pars.
"I tried to be aggressive," Couples said. "I
hit driver and drove it very well, solid, long and straight."
Parnevik, second to Nick Price in the 1994 British Open at
Turnberry when he bogeyed the final hole after failing to check
the scoreboard and see he was leading, played a nearly flawless
round.
His only bogey came on the first hole when he three-putted
from 30 feet using a putter he switched to overnight after making
three good birdie putts on the closing holes of the first round.
"My putting felt terrible all day yesterday," Parnevik
said. "It was just incredible how I could shoot one-under
par on the back nine."
He continued his mastery there Friday with a 33.
For the second straight day, Woods ran into trouble early on
the back nine. On Thursday, it was a triple bogey on No. 11. On
Friday, the Masters champion made a quadruple bogey on No. 10.
After driving into the left rough, his second shot flew over
the green into heavy rough near a thorny gorse bush. He swung
at the ball but went right under it without moving it.
Woods then hacked it about six yards into more nasty stuff
and finally chipped to just off the front of the green. From there
he chipped to 12 feet and two-putted for an eight.
"If you take away those two bad holes," Woods said
of Nos. 10 and 11, "I am three-under par and not playing
that badly. Hopefully, I will get off to a good start tomorrow."
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