Carey Stays On Course After Two Rounds In Rosauers

After Tom Carey’s wildly adventurous opening round of the Rosauers Open on Friday, it seemed unlikely that there were any places on the Indian Canyon layout he hadn’t explored.

He found some Saturday - the fairways.

Carey probably thought he was playing Finch Arboretum during his remarkably inventive 65 opener.

Saturday, though, he was almost unerringly straight off the tee and carded a 3-under-par 68 to take a three-stroke lead over Greg Whisman into today’s final round.

A $12,000 check goes to the winner of the event - the richest in the Pacific Northwest PGA Section.

Joe Carranza of Seattle’s Puetz Golf Center joins Carey and Whisman in the final group off the tee today at noon.

“I played the way you have to play the Canyon,” said Carey, of Heron Lakes in Portland, Ore. “You have to keep the ball in the sunshine.”

And if he can do that again, he should have it made in the shade today.

“Length is never an issue here,” he said. “I didn’t hit a driver all day long. I had so much confidence on the tee, I just put the ball down and ripped it.”

The 41-year-old Carey, formerly a high school all-American basketball player in Oregon, had no trouble with second-round jitters after opening up his lead.

“The way I came back today, my nerves were great,” Carey said. “I knew I had to come out and have control of my emotions and I was really good with that.”

Carey, who uses an unorthodox putting stroke in which his left hand seems to be upside-down, made the turn at even par, but went 3-under on the back nine.

He finished tied for 11th in the Rosauers last year, and said he’s going into the final 18 with “no expectations and no worries.

“I’m just going to golf my ball, go find it and golf it again,” Carey said.

Whisman, a Nike Tour competitor and the tournament’s defending champ, matched his opening-round 68.

“I can live with that, but I had to birdie the last two holes to get that,” Whisman said. “I kinda felt like I was falling asleep out there. Cart golf kinda does that to you, you sit a little bit and get a little lazy.”

Whisman uncharacteristically missed two greens with little half-wedge shots, a testament to the fact that “I just wasn’t really in sync.”

But his power and accuracy off the tee certainly make him a threat to Carey.

“I think somebody has to get it to double-digits (under par) to win this; that’s what I’m shooting for,” Whisman said. “I still think there’s a 7- or 8-under par round out there for somebody - maybe it’s me.”

Carranza and McMillan stand four strokes back at 137.

Expect the 33-year-old Carranza to put on a charge early, if he holds true to form. In the first two rounds, he played the front nine in 6-under par.

McMillan will do well if he can negotiate No. 10 better than he has in the past. Friday, he double-bogeyed it. Last year, on his way to a tie for second in the tournament, he lost a ball on the hole. The native of South Africa carded five birdies Saturday.

Mark Gardner, pro from The Creek at Qualchan, is the only other player to have registered back-to-back rounds in the 60s and is among three at 138.

Gardner has put up a pair of 69s. “It was pretty boring, I had to kick my gallery a few times to keep them awake,” he said.

Bellevue’s Gene Cook holds a slim lead in the amateur race at 141, a stroke ahead of locals Jared Jeffries and Kent Brown.

Ralph West of Progress Downs had the low round of the day, a 4-under 67, after opening with a 78.

Host pro Gary Lindeblad came in at 72 after a 69 opener and re-injured ribs on his right side that he had broken in the spring.

“I felt it give a little bit and it gradually got worse and worse,” said Lindeblad between phone calls to doctors trying to set up treatment. “I could hardly swing a club. That’s no excuse, though, I went brain dead out there a couple of times.”

Tournament proceeds benefit the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: LEADERBOARD Leader after Saturday’s second round at the Rosauers Open at Indian Canyon Golf Course: Tom Carey 65-68-133 Greg Whisman 68-68-136 Joe Carranza 68-69-137 Greg McMillan 68-69-137