Three share lead at Memorial
Ben Curtis kept alive his chances for a Cinderella sequel.
Justin Rose used a phoned-in putting tip from his coach’s wife to master Muirfield’s unusually fast greens.
Calgary resident Stephen Ames continued to play as well as his beloved Flames in the Stanley Cup finals.
But Fred Couples was the feel-good story of the day – even though his back was not feeling particularly good – in the second round of the 29th Memorial Tournament at Dublin, Ohio. Couples survived a disastrous three-bogey start Friday to card his second consecutive 69 despite only five pars. His 6-under 138 left him in a four-way tie one stroke back of Curtis (69), Rose (67) and Ames (68) at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
“There were so many ups and downs and good shots and bad shots that after the first three holes I certainly didn’t think I’d be sitting in here,” Couples said in the interview room.
Curtis, the first-round co-leader with Ernie Els, completed 36 holes without a bogey, 46 in a row counting last week’s Volvo PGA in Surrey, England. The former Kent State All-American and defending British Open champion birdied Nos. 9, 15 and 18. He chipped in from over the green from 25 feet to save par at 16 and saw his tee shot at 18 hit a tree on the right side and kick left into the fairway.
“I got a few lucky breaks, but for the most part I played well,” Curtis said. “On 18 my caddie was like, ‘Hit 20 feet right of the hole’ and I just ignored him and went right at it. That’s just how I feel over the irons right now, I’m just very confident.”
One stroke back were Couples, Els (70) and K.J. Choi (67). Tournament founder Jack Nicklaus, at age 64, made the cut with a 1-over 73 for a 147 total. Three-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods also surged with a 68 for a 140, three strokes back.
“Anything in the 60s today is going to be a good score. The wind is all over the place,” Woods said.
Rachels leads Farmers Charity
Sammy Rachels birdied five of the last seven holes for an 8-under-par 64 and a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Farmers Charity Classic at Ada Township, Mich.
Rachels didn’t have a putt longer than 12 feet in the back-nine run and posted his best round of the season. He played just seven tournaments in 2003 after a motorcycle injury led to rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder last June.
Champions Tour rookie Sam Torrance was second after an opening 65 at the 7,080-yard Egypt Valley Country Club.
Fred Gibson, Stewart Ginn, Dave Eichelberger, Vicente Fernandez and Bob Gilder are two shots back at 6 under. Gilder had two eagles on the back nine, including holing a 7-iron shot from 161 yards at No. 18.
A total of 51 golfers in the 78-player field shot par or better in the opening round.
Torrance needed just 21 putts in his first competitive round at Egypt Valley. Playing in the first group, Torrance had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.
Hale Irwin, coming off a victory at last week’s Senior PGA Championship, had a 1-under 71.
Barrett takes first-day lead
Tina Barrett hit her approach at the pin and watched in disbelief as it stopped short and hung on the lip.
Then, after a long walk and a longer wait, it finally dropped. That eagle at No. 2 and a birdie on the final hole gave her a 6-under 66 at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic in Aurora, Ill., for a one-shot lead over a bunched field heading into the weekend.
“When we were walking up I thought, ‘I can’t believe this.’ They were saying to my caddie that he has to pull the pin. Then all of a sudden it fell in,” Barrett said. “It was pretty amazing.”
Barrett played a bogey-free round to lead five players grouped at 5 under: Nancy Scranton, Liselotte Neumann, Jessica Reese, Cristie Kerr and Catherine Cartwright.
There was one noticeable name absent atop the leaderboard: Annika Sorenstam.
The two-time defending champion, who opened with rounds of 62 and 63 the last two years and has never trailed after a round here, finished five strokes off the lead with a 1-under 71.