Saturday, October 28, 2000
Flesch gets weekend date with
Tiger
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Steve
Flesch has spent the last two days having fun at Disney with his
family and having a blast on the golf course, so much that he
tied the 36-hole scoring record Friday in the National Car Rental
Classic and wasn't even aware.
That could be about to change.
If the weekend isn't enough to raise the
intensity, perhaps it will come from the guy there to greet him
on the first tee — Tiger Woods, two strokes behind, but well
ahead when it comes to experience in winning.
Flesch, the PGA Tour rookie of the year
in 1998 but still searching for his first victory, had a 7-under
65 on another ideal afternoon for tourists and golfers. He was
at 128, which tied the Disney record set by Tim Simpson in 1990.
Woods struggled with his driving and made
birdie on only one of the par 5s, but still extended his streak
to 87 holes without a bogey and made enough putts for a 67.
Carlos Franco and Duffy Waldorf each had
a 66 and were another stroke back at 131.
It will be the first time Flesch has played
with Woods, and he gladly welcomed his position.
“Usually, if you're playing with Tiger
you're doing pretty good,” Flesch said.
That's because Woods has won nine times
in 17 tournaments, the most in one year by any player since Sam
Snead in 1950. And because he has 41 consecutive rounds on the
PGA Tour at par or better, dating to the first round of the Byron
Nelson Classic in May.
Woods has done some homework on Flesch,
knowing the left-hander from Kentucky has played well enough this
year to have 12 top-10 finishes to qualify for his first Tour
Championship for the top 30 on the money list.
Woods knew his own record, too.
“Twelve top-2s,” he said.
Then again, he also pointed out that Saturday
is merely for positioning, and not a duel between he and Flesch.
After two days on the Magnolia and Palm courses, where palm trees
swayed ever so gently under sunny skies, the cut was at 4-under
140. That tied with the Honda Classic for the lowest on tour this
year.
Former PGA champion Jeff Sluman had a 64
and was at 132, and those still within shouting distance included
Davis Love III, Masters champion Vijay Singh and Paul Azinger,
all at 136.
“There's a lot of guys behind us who
can shoot 7 or 10 under and get back in the ball game, if not
lead,” Woods said.
Or Flesch can keep having a good time in
the presence of Woods and post another low number himself.
He had one decent chance to win this year,
when he was one stroke out of the lead on the back nine of the
Western Open. He started pressing and wound up with a 75.
“More than anything with me, it's just
patience and trying to stay in there and play my own game and
not worry so much what everyone else is doing,” Flesch said.
“I'll figure it out one of these days.”
He has had an answer each of the first two
days. Flesch birdied his first two holes from inside 4 feet, but
then started rolling in longer birdie putts, including a 30-footer
on the par-3 sixth hole.
“No bogeys today, which I think reflects
I'm hitting my irons pretty well and driving pretty well,”
he said.
While Woods was only 1 under on the par
5s, he made up for it on the shorter holes. He changed clubs to
an 8-iron on the par-3 third and hit it into 8 feet for birdie,
then birdied both the par 3s on the back nine of Magnolia.
And he wasn't terribly ashamed of not taking
advantage on the par 5s. He tried to reach one of them with a
driver off the fairway, and on another he had to crush a 3-wood
just to clear the water.
“They weren't exactly on the short
side,” he said.
The only thing that upset him was an errant
drive on the par-5 10th, which he can reach with an iron when
he's not next to a tree and forced to chip out sideways and backwards
just to get to the fairway.
Woods slammed his club into the ground —
Disney isn't always the “Happiest Place on Earth.” But
he had few complaints at the end of the day.
He was only two strokes back, and has once
again given himself a chance to win.
Divots: Casey Martin had a 75 and missed
the cut. With only $138,518 in earnings, he will have to finish
no worse than second alone next week in the Southern Farm Bureau
Classic to keep his card, and at least fourth place by himself
to get conditional status and advance to the final stage of Q-school.
Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange missed the cut for the first
time since the U.S. Open, a stretch of five tournaments. ... Pairings
were clearly rigged in the first two rounds. Not only did Tiger
Woods play with Bob May for the first time since their PGA playoff,
Jean Van de Velde was paired with Brian Watts — both lost
British Open playoffs. Michael Clark II was paired with Kirk Triplett,
whom he beat in a playoff at the John Deere. Another interesting
pairing — Gary Nicklaus and Dave Stockton Jr., sons of famous
fathers.
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