So much for all those British Open comparisons.
The windchill at Muirfield was 38 Saturday. Chicago’s Harborside International may have been a links course on architect Dick Nugent’s drawing board, but this weekend it might as well be in Boca Raton, Fla. Or on the equator. The heat index is supposed to be 110 Sunday, with a high temperature of 98 and a humidity level that will be ugly.
Not that Bob Gilder cares. Gilder was the hottest thing going in Saturday’s second round of the SBC Senior Open. En route to a 9-under-par, Port Course-record 63 and a 36-hole total of 11-under-par 133, Gilder ended his day with seven straight 3s.
“Yeah,” Gilder said with a smile, “I was looking at that. That looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”
The 25-foot uphill eagle putt he curled in on the 18th green to finish things off looked especially nice to Gilder. It gave him a one-stroke lead over Bobby Wadkins, who shot 65, and a three-shot edge on Dick Mast, John Mahaffey and Centralia native Tom Wargo. First-round leader Ted Goin struggled to a 73, falling six shots back. Hale Irwin settled for 71 and is at 138, five behind Gilder.
“Things just kind of built [Saturday],” said Gilder, crediting an adjustment in his setup position for his sizzling play. “You get a putt in and you have kind of a high and then you go on to the next hole with confidence. Overall today I was comfortable. Things just kind of fell into place. I’m very happy.”
Gilder was so tuned in to what he was doing he didn’t know he was leading until he was interviewed in the television tower after he was done. Gilder hit approach shots stiff all day, holing putts of 3 feet, 2 feet and 18 inches for birdies on the 12th, 16th and 17th holes as he shot 30 on the back nine.
A 63 is nothing new for Gilder, who had a knack for eye-popping scores in his 23 years on the PGA Tour, highlighted by a career-low 62 in the 1979 New Orleans Open. Gilder, who had a lean stretch when he won only $10,052 in 1999 and $70,236 in 2000 but bounced back to earn rookie-of-the-year honors on the Senior PGA Tour last year, matched the 63 he shot in Canada two weeks ago.
“Bob has been a good player a long time,” Wadkins said. “Nobody out here can shoot low scores like he can. If he has one of those [Sunday], it’ll be fun to watch. I might have to hit him in the kneecap, but it’ll be fun to watch.”
Wadkins, approaching his 51st birthday, broke through to win for the first time last year at the Long Island Classic. Wadkins played the PGA Tour for 24 years, a total of 712 tournaments, without a victory. But he said ending the drought gives him the confidence he’ll need to go head to head with Gilder.
“Ever since my victory I have played extremely well,” Wadkins said. “I’ve made $1.6 million, it hasn’t been half a year yet [in 2002] and I’ve already had three second places. If you’re playing well you want to be in the last group or two or three in front of them and let them know you’re playing well.”
Among the others who will be chasing Gilder, Mast is winless in 28 years as a touring pro, Wargo has four senior victories but none since 2000 and Mahaffey has only one victory in five years on the senior circuit.
“I hit a lot of good shots, mostly with my putter,” Mast said after collecting six straight birdies on Nos. 8 through 13. “I’ve shot some low rounds, but it has been way too long, mainly because of inconsistency.
“I used a new putter starting [Friday] and today I made a couple of lengthy putts [30-footers on No. 6 and No. 10]. I saw a guy at the Senior PGA and it was the first club I’ve paid for in a long time. I paid $150 for it and I got a good deal.”
Mahaffey, remembered for losing an 18-hole playoff to Lou Graham in the 1975 U.S. Open at Medinah, also made some putts. He needed only 24 in Saturday’s round of 65, six fewer than Friday.
“Two guys helped me–J.C. Snead with my swing and Dave Stockton with my putting,” Mahaffey said. “J.C. basically helped me with my turn. As for putting, Stockton has a book coming out so maybe you’d better read that. I don’t want to give too much away.”
