US TOUR: Luke Donald was unable to pick up where he left off when the second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am began yesterday.
It was asking a lot, of course, after a career-low opening 62 at Spyglass Hill had given the 28-year-old English star a one-stroke lead over Canadian Mike Weir.
Switching to Pebble Beach itself, Donald resumed with four pars, but then missed the green at the short fifth and failed to get up and down.
As he did Weir, runner-up to Phil Mickelson a year ago, birdied the second hole at Poppy Hills and, having covered the back nine first in one-under-par, that took him two ahead at 11-under-par.
Donald was less than two feet from the flag with his tee-shot to the short seventh, but the birdie there was followed by bogeys on the ninth and 10th.
First he went long with his approach; then he pulled an iron almost 50 yards wide and failed to get up and down again.
It sent him back to eight under, five behind Weir, who finished with a five-under-par 67 to open a four-shot lead over Jonathan Byrd, who shot 65, and Arron Oberholser.
It was also a mixed day for the Irish pair of Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell. While McGinley moved to five under for the tournament with a second round 68 at Poppy Hills, McDowell had dropped to level par 144 after at 74 at Pebble Beach.
McGinley fired five birdies in halves of 35 and 33, dropping just one shot at the fifth.
Jose Maria Olazabal opened with an eagle and then added three birdies at Poppy Hills to charge through the field from 82nd to 14th on six-under-par, the same mark as Mickelson.
WORLD MATCHPLAY: Sergio Garcia, Europe's only player in the world's top 10, is set to turn down his place in the Accenture World Matchplay Championship in San Diego in a fortnight, which could be good new for McDowell.
The leading 64 players in the rankings next Monday qualify for the event, but Garcia, who as things stand would have been the sixth seed, has indicated to organisers he does not intend to make the trip.
He is the only player so far who has served notice that he will probably not be there.
Up to February 20th replacements are called in for any players who withdraw. McDowell is currently 65th in the rankings, Jesper Parnevik 66th, Ian Poulter 67th and Nick Dougherty 69th.
TONY JOHNSTONE: European Tour veteran Tony Johnstone has spoken about contracting multiple sclerosis and his luck at being given drugs treatment to allow him to continue playing.
The 49-year-old Zimbabwean, winner of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth in 1992, and also well-known through his television commentary work, kept the diagnosis of the illness quiet last year because he still had to tell his widowed mother.
Now he is only too happy to talk. "I want to spread the word that there is hope for MS sufferers," he said, following a interview in Golf International magazine.
However, a London specialist he was referred to informed him of a trial of a new drug, Campath, being conducted in Cambridge.
"There were 120 people on the trial and I got the 120th spot," Johnstone added. "There are side-effects you can get, but I've been lucky and the decision to go ahead was easy. I had nothing to lose.
"The drugs kill off your immune system and it's like a reboot of your body. You've always got MS in your system once you've got it, but I'm grateful and hopeful that I can keep feeling like I do right now.
"I don't have the same energy - I'm probably running at 60 per cent - and in humid conditions I'm completely wrecked, but I'm planning a full schedule of European senior events when I turn 50 in May, and then, all being well, I'll try for a US card at the end of the season."
