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One seeks first win, other seeks any win

Briny Baird's 66 leaves him two behind Ernie Els at the Genuity Championship.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 2, 2002

MIAMI -- As a kid growing up in Miami who witnessed Greg Norman's final-round 62 more than a decade ago and once labored along the Doral fairways as a standard-bearer, Briny Baird dreamed of playing in the Genuity Championship.

But a final pairing? With Ernie Els?

For Baird, it is more than he could have imagined. A 6-under-par 66 on Doral Resort's "Blue Monster" course Friday put him atop the leaderboard for most of the day until Els charged in front with a 67.

Still, it means playing with the fifth-ranked player in the world, a two-time major championship winner, with the opportunity to win his first PGA Tour event.

"This is nice," said Baird, 29, who has played just two full seasons on the tour and posted only two top-10 finishes. "This is what you play for, and this is where you want to be. Now let's see what we can do from here."

Playing with the Big Easy might not be so, well, easy. Els, as he often does, appears to make the game look so simple.

For the second straight day, he didn't make a bogey on the 7,125-yard course despite tricky winds and higher scores. His 36-hole total of 133, 11-under par, is two shots ahead of Baird.

Five players, including Tiger Woods (70) and Justin Leonard (70) are tied at 137, four shots back. First-round leader Chris DiMarco shot 79 and barely made the cut at 144, even par. "I have just been steadily working on my game over the last six, seven months, and I guess it's steadily improving," said Els, who won the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne in Australia last month and a tournament in his native South Africa at the beginning of the year. "I just feel when I tee it up now, I have got a good chance to win wherever I play."

Els won more than $2.3-million on the tour last year and had nine top-10 finishes, but he has spent most of his time explaining why he didn't win. For the first time since becoming a member of the tour in 1994 -- the year he won his first U.S. Open at age 24 -- Els failed to win a PGA event although he had success in other parts of the world.

At a loss to explain the lack of victories last season, Els suggested the 2000 season might have worn on him more than he let on. While Woods won three major championships, Els finished second in three majors. Woods won nine times in all while Els had 10 top-10s and one win. He put pressure on himself to close the gap.

"You play really well one year, and Tiger was just better than anybody," he said. "I do not think even Jack Nicklaus in his prime would have been with him that year. That was a little frustrating, and then maybe it just went over into last year." Baird would love to come so close so often. The son of former PGA and Senior PGA Tour player Butch Baird, he finished second last year at the John Deere Classic.

"I did everything I could at the time," said Baird, who finished a shot behind first-time winner David Gossett.

"I played some really solid golf toward the end to put myself in position to win the tournament. I could have easily won. David Gossett played one shot better, and I couldn't have done much more. I shot 66-66 on the weekend."

Similar success this weekend would go a long way for Baird. And it couldn't happen at a better place. Baird thought back to those earlier days when he saw a teenager carrying the scoreboard in his group.

"I'm thinking to myself I did the same thing. And to get stuck with our group, it's not a group you would get excited about. 'Oh yeah, Briny Baird, (Brad) Elder, (Brandel) Chamblee,' " Baird said. "I was the same way. There's seniority, and you look for, obviously, the biggest name you can find and take that group."

Now Baird has a chance to make a name for himself.

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