Golf

Calcavecchia surprises himself

The 46-year-old had his bags all packed, but his putter keeps him from missing the cut.

By RODNEY PAGE
Published March 10, 2007

Silent treatment

It doesn't take much to put Vijay Singh, right, in a foul mood. He was 4 under after his first seven holes, but it went downhill from there. He bogeyed four holes on the front nine, his last nine, including Nos. 8 and 9. Four shots off the lead, he said: "I ain't talking to nobody."

Making the cut

Dunedin's Bob Heintz shot 2-under 69 for 2-over 144, right on the cut line. He has made five of his seven 2007 tournament cuts, including four in a row. This is the first cut Heintz has made in three tournaments at Innisbrook 2000, 2002.

Taking a fall

First-round leader Cliff Kresge shot 3-over 74, a nine-shot swing that included double bogey on the par-4 sixth hole and bogey on 16. On 18, his ninth, he hit his second shot off the scoreboard near the green and onto a TV tower. He took a drop before bogeying the hole.

PALM HARBOR - Mark Calcavecchia had so little confidence in his game that he had his bags packed and was ready to head home. After an opening 75, Calcavecchia figured there was no way he was going to make the cut.

Then his putter began to cooperate.

Calcavecchia, 46, shot 4-under 67 for a two-round total of par 142. It was tied for the best round of the day with leader Stephen Leaney and Kirk Triplett. Calcavecchia moved from a tie for 112th to a tie for 38th.

His round ended with a 40-foot putt to save par on the ninth hole. He made the cut by two.

"I was gone, completely," he said. "The bags were packed and downstairs."

He said his problems have been on the greens. At the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens last week, he said he didn't make a putt longer than 4 feet. He missed the cut.

Thursday, he had 36 putts. He cut it to 23 Friday. Calcavecchia credits a new Ping putter he bought for $256 at an Edwin Watts store. It's his sixth putter in as many rounds.

"To me, the hole looks like it's slightly bigger than the ball," the former University of Florida golfer said. "You know those little miniature cups they put on putting greens sometimes? That's what it looks like to me. So when you're in that mode you don't expect to make many putts. My putting is so bad that I didn't see this coming.

"But this putter stays in the bag, at least for another day. Who knows, maybe I'll be using something else on Sunday."

UNHAPPY RETURN: Brandt Jobe's first tournament since slicing off a portion of his left thumb and forefinger while sweeping his garage in November went pretty much as he expected. He totaled 8 over and missed the cut.

"I drove it poorly and putted poorly," he said. "You could definitely see that I haven't been playing and not quite in the swing of things. I just couldn't score. I guess that's what you expect."

His next event is March 29 at the Houston Open.

DEFENDING HIS TURF: K.J. Choi won the October Chrysler Championship. He is right in the hunt to defend his title. Choi shot a second straight 2-under 69 and was two shots off the lead.

There has not been a repeat winner since this tournament became a PGA event in 2000. Choi is the only two-time winner (2002, 2006).

"All day (Thursday) it was chip, putt, chip, putt, save par, save par," Choi said. "Today was more comfortable. I didn't have as many birdie chances as I wanted, so (today) maybe I'll have a better swing."

WITHDREW: John Daly's shoulder pain proved to be too much. Daly, who teed off at 7:20 a.m., completed the back nine in 5-over 40 before withdrawing. Fred Funk withdrew before teeing off. Funk, 50, has a back injury. He opened with 1-under 70 and was only five shots off the lead. Craig Barlow withdrew because of a sore left wrist. He opened with 74.

AROUND COPPERHEAD: Daniel Chopra ended his day by draining a 76-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the ninth green. Chopra was 4 under and tied for third. ... There were six sponsors exemptions handed out, and all six missed the cut (Duffy Waldorf, Greg Kraft, John Huston, Rocco Mediate, Lee Janzen and Daly). ...Tee times begin at 8:20 a.m. with twosomes going off the first hole. J.P. Hayes, who has the first tee time, will play by himself because of the odd number of players making the cut.

Rodney Page can be reached at page@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8123.

Results

At Palm Harbor

Second round

Stephen Leaney 69-67 - 136 -6

Heath Slocum 68-69 - 137 -5

K.J. Choi 69-69 - 138 -4

Vaughn Taylor 70-68 - 138 -4

Doug LaBelle 67-71 - 138 -4

Pat Perez 68-70 - 138 -4

Chris DiMarco 69-69 - 138 -4

Daniel Chopra 67-71 - 138 -4

Jonathan Byrd 69-69 - 138 -4

Arron Oberholser 67-72 - 139 -3

Jason Bohn 69-70 - 139 -3

Billy Andrade 69-70 - 139 -3

Cliff Kresge 65-74 - 139 -3

Jeff Quinney 69-71 - 140 -2

J.J. Henry 72-68 - 140 -2

Bart Bryant 71-69 - 140 -2

John Senden 69-71 - 140 -2

Vijay Singh 70-70 - 140 -2

Lucas Glover 72-68 - 140 -2

Jeff Gove 70-70 - 140 -2

Ryan Moore 69-71 - 140 -2

Anthony Kim 67-73 - 140 -2

George McNeill 70-70 - 140 -2

Cameron Beckman 71-69 - 140 -2

Brian Davis 72-68 - 140 -2

J.B. Holmes 72-68 - 140 -2

Mark Wilson 69-71 - 140 -2

Paul Goydos 71-69 - 140 -2

Camilo Villegas 68-73 - 141 -1

Brian Gay 69-72 - 141 -1

Sergio Garcia 70-71 - 141 -1

Trevor Immelman 69-72 - 141 -1

Chris Couch 70-71 - 141 -1

Kirk Triplett 74-67 - 141 -1

Charley Hoffman 72-69 - 141 -1

Gavin Coles 70-71 - 141 -1

Charlie Wi 72-69 - 141 -1

Ryan Palmer 72-70 - 142 E

Bubba Watson 71-71 - 142 E

Mark Calcavecchia 75-67 - 142 E

Rich Beem 73-69 - 142 E

Dean Wilson 72-70 - 142 E

Briny Baird 71-71 - 142 E

Zach Johnson 71-71 - 142 E

Joe Ogilvie 70-72 - 142 E

Nick Watney 71-71 - 142 E

Nathan Green 70-72 - 142 E

John Rollins 74-68 - 142 E

Kenny Perry 73-69 - 142 E

Tom Lehman 69-73 - 142 E

Ryan Armour 69-73 - 142 E

Johnson Wagner 72-70 - 142 E

Frank Lickliter 70-73 - 143 +1

Joey Sindelar 68-75 - 143 +1

Will MacKenzie 71-72 - 143 +1

Eric Axley 71-72 - 143 +1

Peter Lonard 71-72 - 143 +1

Troy Matteson 70-73 - 143 +1

Michael Putnam 70-73 - 143 +1

Woody Austin 70-73 - 143 +1

Jesper Parnevik 68-75 - 143 +1

Mark Hensby 72-71 - 143 +1

Ken Duke 71-72 - 143 +1

Shaun Micheel 72-71 - 143 +1

Bo Van Pelt 71-72 - 143 +1

Glen Day 71-73 - 144 +2

Charles Howell III 70-74 - 144 +2

David Branshaw 71-73 - 144 +2

Shigeki Maruyama 73-71 - 144 +2

Bob Heintz 75-69 - 144 +2

Brandt Snedeker 69-75 - 144 +2

Dudley Hart 71-73 - 144 +2

D.J. Trahan 73-71 - 144 +2

Tim Herron 73-71 - 144 +2

Brad Faxon 70-74 - 144 +2

Richard S. Johnson 73-71 - 144 +2

J.P. Hayes 72-72 - 144 +2

Failed to qualify

Kevin Sutherland 72-73 - 145 +3

Hunter Mahan 68-77 - 145 +3

Mathias Gronberg 73-72 - 145 +3

Rocco Mediate 73-72 - 145 +3

Billy Mayfair 76-69 - 145 +3

Jerry Kelly 72-73 - 145 +3

Paul Gow 76-69 - 145 +3

Ted Purdy 72-73 - 145 +3

Sean O'Hair 76-69 - 145 +3

Boo Weekley 75-70 - 145 +3

Craig Kanada 72-73 - 145 +3

Greg Kraft 74-72 - 146 +4

Bob Estes 72-74 - 146 +4

Mathew Goggin 73-73 - 146 +4

Matt Kuchar 68-78 - 146 +4

Justin Leonard 73-73 - 146 +4

Corey Pavin 73-73 - 146 +4

Todd Hamilton 72-74 - 146 +4

Tom Johnson 75-71 - 146 +4

Steve Elkington 71-75 - 146 +4

Ryuji Imada 72-74 - 146 +4

Bill Haas 74-72 - 146 +4

Jason Dufner 75-71 - 146 +4

Steve Stricker 73-74 - 147 +5

Brett Wetterich 72-75 - 147 +5

Joe Durant 76-71 - 147 +5

Parker McLachlin 74-73 - 147 +5

Ryan Howison 73-74 - 147 +5

Kevin Na 74-73 - 147 +5

Jeff Maggert 75-72 - 147 +5

Charles Warren 72-75 - 147 +5

James Driscoll 73-74 - 147 +5

Duffy Waldorf 73-75 - 148 +6

Robert Gamez 74-74 - 148 +6

Kent Jones 72-76 - 148 +6

Bob Tway 76-72 - 148 +6

Lee Janzen 76-72 - 148 +6

Carl Pettersson 75-74 - 149 +7

Chad Campbell 75-74 - 149 +7

Stuart Appleby 76-73 - 149 +7

Jason Gore 76-73 - 149 +7

Brandt Jobe 74-76 - 150 +8

Wes Short 76-74 - 150 +8

Jeff Sluman 72-78 - 150 +8

Paul Azinger 74-76 - 150 +8

Brendon de Jonge 73-77 - 150 +8

Tim Petrovic 76-74 - 150 +8

Robert Garrigus 71-80 - 151 +9

John Huston 77-74 - 151 +9

Harrison Frazar 75-76 - 151 +9

Craig Perks 77-75 - 152 +10

John Merrick 77-75 - 152 +10

Daisuke Maruyama 74-78 - 152 +10

Tripp Isenhour 76-76 - 152 +10

John Mallinger 75-77 - 152 +10

Kevin Stadler 77-75 - 152 +10

Stephen Marino 77-75 - 152 +10

Mark Rummings 81-71 - 152 +10

Bernhard Langer 77-76 - 153 +11

David Gossett 80-80 - 160 +18

Andrew Johnson 84-77 - 161 +19

Larry Rinker 81-83 - 164 +22

Mike Regner 81-84 - 165 +23

Tee times????

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 00:35:24]