On a Stadium Course, which wind and heat threatened to push beyond the range of even great players, Hal Sutton shot a second successive 69 to take the halfway lead in the $6 million Players' Championship here yesterday. But the challenge proved too severe for Darren Clarke, who missed the cut by a stroke, after tumbling to a disappointing 79.
It was a day when the 42-year-old South African Fulton Allem, confounded the cognoscenti by shooting a sparkling, if entirely improbable 65. And all while, the short 17th continued to terrorise the game's elite, with a stroke average of 3.4 making it the third most difficult hole on the course.
Allem's exploits brought him from three over par in the early morning to a four-under-par 140 and right into contention. And we should have expected something like this, especially after Colin Montgomerie had carded a 69, despite a double-bogey at the 17th.
The problem, however, was that Allem seemed a decidedly unlikely delivery man for such a formidable package, especially in view of rounds of 83 and 82 for an aggregate of 306 here 12 months ago, after he had missed the cut for the previous four years. The extent of his achievement could be gleaned from the torment of David Duval, who carded two sixes - a triple-bogey and a double-bogey - on the way to a 73. "I had two terrible holes and I'm not particularly pleased right now," he said afterwards.
British Open champion Paul Lawrie was in a similar mood after a dispiriting 74 for 150. "Around here, you've got to be on the button all the time with your yardages," he said. "It's an incredible golf course, really."
Even Tiger Woods was at odds with his game in a somewhat scrappy back nine of 35 which contained three birdies and two bogeys. Then, by way of illustrating how raw talent can something overcome difficulties, he got an anticipated birdie at the long second, his 11th, to work his way up to a share of third place on three under par.
But the world number one was clearly upset by landing in an ugly divot on the fifth, which he eventually three-putted for a double-bogey six. Eventually it took a birdie on his last hole, the long ninth, to give him a second successive 71 for 142 and a share of fifth place. Meanwhile, Clarke showed only glimpses of the form which delivered a solid, opening round of 72 for a share of 16th place overnight. And as a reflection a newly-acquired equanimity, he was prepared to acknowledge that the real problem was his failure to extract the necessary return from the par fives.
"I was three over for them when I should have been two or three under," he said afterwards. "That was the crucial difference on a difficult course like this." Clarke added: "Naturally I'm disappointed, but I paid the full penalty for poor play." With a late start he had hoped for kinder conditions, but if anything, the wind was gusting more menacingly than earlier in the day. In the event, he inflicted severe damage on himself in a outward journey of 40, much of which had to do with blocked shots especially off the tee.
It meant the only decent putts he sank all day were eight-footers for bogeys at the fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, he was twice in water, off the tee at the fifth and off his second at the long 11th. That was where a double-bogey seven effectively scuppered his chances of survival.
He planned to head home to London today for a week's rest before returning to the US for the Masters. "At this stage, I expect to be back here on the Sunday before the tournament," he said.
Allem's performance gave a fascinating insight into one of a tournament golfer's most precious assets - intuition. As one of those who failed to finish his opening round on Thursday evening because of poor light, he had to play the 18th early yesterday morning. And he three-putted it.
"That really got under my skin, so I immediately decided to give it a rest and grab my older putter," he said. In fact it was quite a venerable blade - none other than the Ping Scottsdale for which he paid $2,500 on the eve of the World Series at Firestone seven years ago. That was when Allem did wondrous deeds with it for the greatest victory of his career and a top prize of $360,000. After starting on the 10th, he produced immaculate approach play for birdies at the 10th, 11th and 13th. Then the resurrected old blade did its magic, as a 35-footer found the target for another birdie on the 14th. Even with a bogey on the 18th, he covered the back nine in 32.
The highlight of the round came two holes later. At the long 532-yard second, his 11th, Allem hit a two-iron second shot to within five feet of the pin and sank the putt for an eagle three. And a five-footer was also all he needed for another birdie two holes later, such was the precision of his sandwedge approach.
Against that background, it was almost inevitable that Sutton's success should also have rested largely on his trusty blade. In fact his climb to the top of the leaderboard hinged on the play of four holes, the 18th, first, second, and third - the ninth to the 12th as he played them.
At the 18th, his drive was pulled into the large lake bordering the fairway to the left but he escaped with a bogey after sinking a 12-foot putt. He then sank two 18-footers for birdies at the first and second and an outrageous effort of 40 feet, overhit but bang on line, positively dived into the cup at the third.
