Woods stumbles, cards 72
By RUSTY MILLER / AP Sports Writer
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - The "Mini-Volcano" had no reason to scream at his golf ball. More times than not it was headed into the cup.
Dudley Hart, who turned 29 earlier this month, stole the thunder from the other 20-somethings Friday, shooting a 5-under-par 65 to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the World Series of Golf.
"It's a nickname people seem to like," Hart said, "but I'm not the worst out here by a long ways. There are guys who make me look like a church boy. But I have my moments."
A birdie at the second hole and 20- and 25-foot birdie putts at the fifth and ninth holes allowed him to pass first-round co-leaders Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Hart took sole possession of the lead with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-4 14th.
At the par-4 17th hole, he rolled in an 18-footer from the fringe for another birdie, his fifth against no bogeys. After an opening-round 69, Hart was at 6-under 134.
"What really saved me was my putting," Hart said. "I hit some funny approach shots, but every time I did that I seemed to chip it up to 6 or 8 feet and I made just about all of them.
"I took advantage of my birdie opportunities out there. I didn't have many, but the ones I did have I seemed to cash in on."
Despite all the talk about the onslaught of Generation X players such as Woods, Mickelson, U.S. Open winner Ernie Els and British Open champion Justin Leonard, it was Hart who mastered the 7,179-yard Firestone Country Club layout.
His 65 was the low round of a wet and dreary day. Only eight players in the elite 46-man field broke par as the course played extremely long because of a second day of intermittent rain.
Before shooting his 69 in the opening round, Hart hadn't cracked 70 in a tour event since June. In 23 starts, he has missed the cut in 11, finishing in the top 10 three times including a runner-up performance to Greg Norman in the St. Jude Classic in late June.
Norman, putting the finishing touches on his second straight 2-under 68, knocked a pitching wedge to 5 feet at the 16th hole and made the birdie putt to cut the gap to two strokes. Norman, who three-putted from 6 feet for double-bogey at the fourth hole, is alone in second at 4-under 136.
"To me, 68 was probably going to be the worst score I could have had," Norman said. "I had a lot of good opportunities. On the back nine, I hit a lot of good iron shots and a lot of good putts but didn't make them. I lipped out on three or four holes.
"All in all, I had a good chance of shooting a good, low score today. If I have the same opportunities tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to convert them."
Meanwhile, Woods and Mickelson stumbled to 72s, while Els, Nick Price and Davis Love III, fresh from winning the PGA Championship last weekend, had 71s. Price's 71 included a hole-in-one on the 206-yard, par-3 fifth hole.
Woods, followed by a huge gallery, duck-hooked a drive on the ninth hole and hit a female spectator in the middle of the back, knocking her face down on the asphalt cart path. She was treated on the course and sustained no serious injuries. After checking on her condition and giving her a golf ball, Woods went on to par the hole.
Woods has only hit 11 fairways in two rounds.
"I hit some good recovery shots, but if you do that all day you're not going to shoot a really good score," he said. "Tomorrow I'm going to have to shoot something in the mid-60s like Dudley Hart did today."
In third place and three shots back of hart was local favorite John Cook, a former Ohio State player who grew up in Akron. Cook, whose father is the tournament manager of the World Series, shot a 69 after his opening 68 to stand at 3-under 137.
"This would be a great win," Cook said. "To win on this course under his wing would be neat."
Loren Roberts followed an opening 71 with a 67 that left him fourth at two-under 128.
Woods, Mickelson, Price, Els, Love, Mark O'Meara and Fred Funk made up the group five shots back at 1-under 139.
Tom Lehman's 66 got him to even-par 140 while Nick Faldo shot a 70 to stand at 143. Leonard had his second straight 73 to finish at 146.
The winner collects $396,000 and a 10-year PGA Tour exemption.