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Thursday
Aug202009

Furyk's 62 leads record-setting round

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Writing from Town and Country, Mo.

The first hint there were birdies to be had at Bellerive Country Club in the second round of the 105th Western Open came early, even before fog caused a 91-minute delay. Angel Cabrera birdied his first two holes.

Another hint came three minutes past 10 a.m., when Sergio Garcia made an ace on the 203-yard third hole.

Then came the onslaught, not including the third round ace by Bart Bryant. By the end of the round at midafternoon Saturday, the Western's two oldest scoring records had fallen. Jim Furyk scored 8-under-par 62, including a 7-under 28 on his inward nine, breaking a pair of marks that had stood for over 50 years.

The culmination of Furyk's record round was a curling 13-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, the last of his second round. When that, his fifth straight birdie to end the round, dropped, he not only gained a share of the lead with Camilo Villegas for the moment, but knocked Cary Middlecoff and George Payton out of the record perches they had occupied for more than a generation.

Villegas, playing in a group finishing 90 minutes after Furyk, birdied his last hole for a second-round 66 and a total of 9-under 131, a stroke ahead of Furyk on paper and in reality. That was a big recovery from the double-bogey 6 he made on the ninth hole, when he four-putted from 60 feet.

"It wasn't pretty there," Villegas said. "Four-putts always make you feel a little shaky. They rattle your day, rattle your head. Fortunately, it rattled mine in a good way."

By the time Villegas, who birdied the next two holes, had finished, Furyk, who had birdied the first hole of his third round to advance to 9 under, was once again at 8 under.

"Through 10 (holes), I probably didn't see a 62 coming, and then you hole out a wedge and a whole bunch of putts go in," Furyk said between rounds. "I just kept knocking it down the middle of the fairway and hitting it to about 10 feet, and giving myself a chance."

The birdies in his closing streak came from about five feet on the par-4 fifth hole, seven feet on the par-3 sixth, 16 feet on the par-4 seventh, eight feet on the par-5 eighth, and 13 feet on the par-4 ninth, after an approach from 165 yards on the uphill test.

Furyk, who won the Western in 2005, two years after he captured the United States Open at Olympia Fields, had opened with an even-par 70, and wasn't pleased with his putting.

"I didn't get the ball in the hole real well shooting even par, but it turned around quickly," Furyk said. "It seemed like they came in bunches. You just had to stay patient."

His round was both consistent and spectacular. Furyk hit 13 of 14 fairways – his missed the 12th, his third hole of the morning round, where his only bogey came about – and made seven birdies in all, along with the eagle.

Middlecoff, the golfing dentist from Memphis, was the first player to shoot 29 for nine holes in a Western, doing so on the front side of the final round at Portland Golf Club in 1955. Now he and the quartet who had matched him are relegated to second place.

Payton was the first player to score 63 in the Western, accomplishing the feat in the second round of the 1947 Western at Salt Lake Country Club, 61 years ago. Two days later, Ben Hogan matched him in the second round, and another 12 rounds of 63, the last two by Tiger Woods, had been posted since.

Furyk's sterling 62, which included an eagle 2 from 113 yards out on the second hole, now leads the pack.

Amazingly, three players in the next three groups finishing on the ninth had opportunities to do go low as well. Furyk holed out at 1:19 p.m., doing so to a good round of applause, but without the majority of the gallery around the ninth realizing history had been made. The big electronic scoreboard installed by the PGA Tour was turned off, because it was in direct line of most of the players when they were putting.

Then came Furyk's challengers. D.J. Trahan, in the following group, settled for par on the ninth hole, and a 63, at 1:32 p.m. Aaron Baddeley was next, and parred the last for a 64, at 1:46 p.m. Finally came Boo Weekley, who was 7 under on his first 12 holes. He faltered with two bogeys in the final four holes and settled for a ho-hum 65, which was also accomplished by John Mallinger, who was playing with Baddeley. Tommy Armour III also had a 64.

It must have been a tough day to be Jonathan Byrd. He played with Baddeley and Mallinger, scored 68, and had to feel he had been lapped by the field.

The third round began for many players before the second round ended for the final groups, which allowed Furyk to take the outright lead when he dropped a 20-footer on the first hole. Villegas, a stroke behind, then birdied the 18th after Furyk bogeyed the fourth hole in the third round to jump ahead again.

The third 65 of Round 2 belonged to Phil Mickelson, who, clad in a bright yellow shirt, was about the only thing to be seen in when the fog was at its thickest. That allowed the lefthander to climb to 8-under 132 for the first 36 holes.

Then there was Garcia's ace, created via a 5-iron from 203 yards on the par 3 third. Neither he nor Bryant, who used a 5-iron on the 171-yard 13th hole early in his second round, will receive a BMW from the sponsor of the now-titled BMW Championship. (Had the aces come on the 16th hole, BMW would have funded an additional Evans Scholarship for each ace.)

Chad Campbell withdrew before the round began for the best of reasons. Wife Amy, due with their first child, began contractions at their home in Dallas. Campbell's absence leaves the field at 68 players. He had scored 3-over 73 in the first round.

– Tim Cronin

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