“This is only a golf course. This is not Cog Hill. This is only a golf course. This is not Cog Hill.”
Basically, that was the quiet, ghost-busting, confidence-boosting mantra Jay Haas had chanted to himself Thursday.
But Friday, as he surged to a 4-under-par 68 at Dubsdread, after his opening 69, and jumped two shots ahead of the field through 36 holes of the Western Open, Haas was afraid no more.
“I’m starting to like it (Dubsdread),” he said with a smile. “Tomorrow I’m just going to pretend it’s another day of golf. I like my position. I’m just going to try to hang in there.”
After not making a Western Open cut since 1980, after winning just $4,325 in 11 previous Western appearances, after missing the cut in his first two Westerns at Dubsdread in 1991 and 1992, the Belleville, Ill., native said he was skittish about returning here after a two-year absence. But Friday, the nine-time Tour winner and former Ryder Cup team member made friends with his fear (“Nice, Cog; nice, Cog”), moving to 7-under-par 137, two strokes up on first-round leader Tom Watson and Steve Lowery.
Watson (71) and Lowery (70) shot themselves into the early second-round lead at 5 under and then waited for somebody to charge. Brett Ogle shot 71 to move into fourth at 4-under 140. Paul Azinger’s 5-under 67 got him to 3-under 141 with Justin Leonard (71), John Huston (68) and Jim Carter (68). Fred Couples (71) and Scott Simpson are at 143; Lake Forest’s Chip Beck and Mark Calcavecchia are in a group of 16 at 144. Two-time defending champion Nick Price shot 71 and is at 146. U.S. Open champ Corey Pavin just made the cut at 143. Missing the cut: Ernie Els (148), Lee Janzen (148), Curtis Strange (149), Mark McCumber (149), Jim Gallagher Jr. (150) and Ben Crenshaw (156).
Friday, Haas hung a bouquet on the back nine. He birdied three of the last five holes for the second straight day. He followed a crowd-pleasing 15-foot birdie putt at 17 with a 35-foot sidehill putt at 18 that broke 10 feet and dropped into the cup.
Also, for the second day in a row, Haas turned his round around with a great shot at the brutal 416-yard par 4 fourth hole, where he ran his approach through a bunker and then chipped in from 35 feet for a birdie that got him to even par for the day. When he birdied the par 3 sixth from eight feet, playing partner Brett Ogle said, “Nice eagle.”
“The hole was playing 221 into the (north) wind,” said Haas, “and the pin was up on the ledge.”
Meanwhile, Watson’s second round went something like the Sands of Iwo Jima, or something like that.
“I tell ya, we hit in every bunker, didn’t we?” said Watson. “Let’s see, we hit bunkers at 10. Didn’t at 11; 12 we did; 13 we did; 14 we did; 15 we did; 16 we did; 17 we didn’t; 18 we did; No. 1 we did; 3 we did; 4 we did; 5 we did; 6 we did; 7 we did; 8 we did; Did 9. Yeah, I put it in the bunkers.”
Somehow, Watson kept all that sand out of his eyes. After a shaky start in which he bogeyed three of his first four holes, he made up-and-down saves from the beaches, then rolled in some long putts by mimicking, like Thursday, one of the greatest putters of all time, playing partner Crenshaw.
“I watched him; copied his motion and rhythm again,” said Watson. “If he misses the cut (he did), maybe I can pay him a couple hundred bucks to follow me around tomorrow.”
Watson righted himself with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par 3 14th.
At the turn, the Watson who had charged on the back nine Thursday, charged on the front Friday, birdieing No. 4 from eight feet, No. 6 from 50 and No. 7 from eight feet.
Lowery, still looking for only his second win in a lucrative ($1,205,000) eight-year career, had another roller-coaster round, going from 3 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 4 and finally to 5 under. A 40-foot putt for birdie at No. 3 and a 50-foot putt at 18 were key.
“The bogeys I made today were from trying to be aggressive,” said Lowery. “I was right in there hunting for birdies–even though I’d three-putt or whatever. I hope to play aggressive on the weekend. I tend to play real aggressive early and I have to keep pushing myself to keep doing it on the weekend. I play to win every week. I’ve won once and I’ve been playing to win my whole life.”
Azinger’s 67 didn’t beat Alan Pate’s 66 for low round of the day but after an opening 74 it got him his best round in a long time.
“The big thing has been the putter,” he said. “For a good, solid eight weeks (after the West Coast swing) I was having the borderline yips. Now my putting has come completely back. At one point there I had 14 straight rounds with at least one three-putt. That’s not me.”
Azinger, still battling to find the form he had before his bout with lymphoma, said he knows how Bob Tway feels.
“I think Bob has the quote of the year,” said Azinger. “When he won Hilton Head (after a five-year victory drought), he said it was probably more meaningful than winning the PGA because when he won the PGA the game was easy. Pretty profound. I feel that way now.
“For me the game now isn’t real easy, but it’s getting easier. Every shot is work. But this was as solid a round as I’ve played all year.”
