THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607130303
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 79 lines
The Michelob Championship at Kingsmill dodged Hurricane Bertha's effects for most of Friday and the field dodged a bullet when Scott Hoch, on the verge of running away with the lead, stumbled near the finish.
Hoch, playing in the morning, shot 3-under-par 68 to remain at the top of the leaderboard at 10-under 132.
But his two-shot lead over Tom Purtzer, Fred Funk, Tommy Armour III and Bart Bryant would have been more had he not bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes.
Seventy-eight players made the cut at even-par 142, including Kingsmill touring pro Curtis Strange, who skied to a 6-over 77 and is at even par after being one shot off the first-round lead, and Virginia Beach's Carl Paulson, who had the day's best round of 8-under 63 to charge onto the leaderboard at 6-under.
Harsh rain began to pelt Kingsmill at 5:30 p.m. with about two dozen players still on the course. They finished, but they looked like a TV crew reporting from Wilmington, N.C., as they walked off the final hole. And workers used squeegees to clear standing water on the greens at the end.
To give the Kingsmill grounds crew as much time as possible to prepare the course if and when the downpour ends, players will go off both tees in threesomes today beginning at 12:32 p.m. The final group of Hoch, Armour and Purtzer tees off at 2:20.
Hoch, who teed off at 7:51, saw little of those wet conditions and said he hit the ball ``much better'' - he hit 16 greens in regulation - but the results weren't there following an opening-round 64.
``I got the worst out of it after getting the most out of (Thursday's round),'' he said. ``But I'm hitting the ball good and would rather be doing that than scrambling all the time. When you're scrambling to score, you know it's about to end soon.''
Hoch, who eagled the par-5 seventh to get to 9-under, scored three consecutive birdies starting at the 10th and reached 12-under at the 12th, where he laced a 7-iron to within a foot of the hole.
He could have increased what was at the time a five-shot lead, but he missed 8-foot birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes.
At the 16th, Hoch missed the fairway with his drive, missed the green with his second shot and had to hack out of thick rough with his recovery. ``I had to take nearly a full swing from three yards off the green,'' Hoch said. ``I got it to 15 feet but missed.''
Hoch then three-putted the 17th hole from 35 feet.
``At one point this morning, I was six behind Scott,'' said Purtzer, who also shot 68. ``I was thinking `Man, this is not what I wanted to happen.' Fortunately for me, unfortunately for Scott, he came back to the field.''
And then some in the field made charges at Hoch.
The most challenging assault came from Funk, who got to 9-under with two holes to play. Funk missed a 12-foot birdie putt at the eighth hole, his 17th, then bogeyed his final hole to fall back.
``Disappointing bogey,'' said Funk, who finished with a 69 after his 65 Thursday had tied him with Strange. ``I knew if I was 9-under that I'd be playing in the final group (today) and that was something I was looking forward to. Then I missed the putt and whiffed on a 6-iron to the ninth green.'' The approach shot found a greenside bunker and although Funk blasted to within 6 feet, he couldn't convert the putt.
After opening his round with nine pars, Funk sank a 12-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the first hole. A 3-iron to 6 feet at the par-3 second set up another birdie.
Funk birdied the seventh when he chipped in from heavy grass right of the green. He had pushed a 3-iron approach, then flubbed his first chip shot before the chip-in.
``I'm just amazed we got two rounds in,'' Funk said. ``I don't know what it means for tonight or tomorrow.
``I thought on our fifth hole that we were going to get it. It rained hard for five minutes, then it was gone. But it always looked pretty threatening.''
The golfers might find a completely different course at Kingsmill today - if Bertha doesn't rain out the play completely. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
Scott Hoch rips his third shot out of thick greenside rough at
Kingsmill's 16th hole. He bogeyed it and the 17th to come back to
the field a bit. by CNB