A battle for survival at Oak Hill

Posted 5:49PM on Friday 15th August 2003 ( 21 years ago )

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK - This PGA Championship is no pushover. Phil Mickelson went from cruising toward a big lead in pursuit of his first major, to making two double bogeys in three holes. Tiger Woods remained stuck in neutral, although that allowed him to cut into his eight stroke deficit. As Friday's second round headed for a conclusion, the final major of the year quickly turned into a test of survival at increasingly difficult Oak Hill. Mickelson was among seven players who had at least a share of the lead at one point on another steamy, sunny afternoon in Rochester that baked out an already tough course. Masters champion Mike Weir took the latest lead with a birdie at No. 2, his 11th hole, to get to 2 under par. About that time, Tim Herron drove into the rough on No. 5 to drop to 1 under, while Mickelson made another journey into trouble on the 14th. Billy Andrade had this much going for him: He was done. Andrade had a 72 in the morning, surviving a tumultuous stretch of four bogeys in five holes, but the only player in the clubhouse under par, at 1-under 139. He was five shots worse than Thursday, but just as satisfied. Andrade was three back when tapped in for par on his final hole. By the time he finished his lunch, he was among the leaders. ``I think 72. ... I don't know what you're going to rate whatever par is today, but the golf course is getting harder and harder,'' Andrade said. ``I'm pretty excited about the 72.'' Anybody close to par after two rounds at Oak Hill was happy, including Lee Janzen (74) at 2-over 142. ``Generally, the PGA doesn't have as much rough as the U.S. Open,'' said Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open winner. ``Generally, it takes maybe 10 to 12 under par to win.'' Not at this PGA Championship. The cut was projected to be 8 over, which would be the highest at the PGA since it was 9 over at Firestone in 1980. All that did was help Woods. He was even par for his round 4 over for the tournament but still lurking, just six strokes behind with the leaders backpedaling. Woods wasn't hitting the ball that well, but saved himself with crucial par putts after hitting into the ankle-deep grass. While Oak Hill lived up to its reputation, so did Mickelson. The best player to have never won a major, Mickelson played a daring shot with his driver out of the rough to set up birdie and take a four-shot lead early in his second round of the PGA Championship. Three holes later, Lefty gave it all back. Mickelson hit from the ankle-deep rough into the water on No. 5 and took double bogey. He drove into the water on the seventh hole, couldn't reach the green from the rough and took another double bogey. He steadied himself with great par saves on the eighth and ninth holes, but hit into the trees and into a bunker on No. 14, took another bogey and dropped to even par with the toughest stretch still to play. Mickelson wasn't the only guy who struggled. Rod Pampling, tied with Mickelson at 66 after the first round, made two double bogeys in his first five holes. He steadied himself and was even par with one hole to play. Others at 1 under Friday were Shaun Micheel and Kevin Sutherland, but they were starting to lose ground. Hank Kuehne, who won the U.S. Amateur at Oak Hill five years ago, started the day at even par and likely was headed home after an 81. Mark O'Meara followed up his 73, a decent start at Oak Hill, with an 82. David Duval left early, too. His string of troubles continued when Duval withdrew after hitting his tee shot on the fifth hole. Duval blamed a bad back after making a double bogey, triple bogey and a bogey on his first four holes. He shot 80 in the first round. ``I felt all right when I woke up,'' Duval said. ``We have to give it a few days and see how it feels.'' For Aaron Baddeley, it was a matter of showing up too late. The 22-year-old Aussie was 40 seconds late for his 7:30 a.m. tee time and penalized two strokes. Baddeley started the second round only three strokes behind, but his double bogey on the 10th hole a par plus the penalty sent him spiraling down the leaderboard. He wound up with a 77, and later said he thought his tee time was 7:35 a.m. ``I was a little annoyed walking down the first,'' Baddeley said. ``The past is past, and you can't change that. I just got the wrong tee time.'' Jose Coceres of Argentina had the best score among early starters, a 2-under 68 that left him at 141. He was tied with Ernie Els (70), Chad Campbell (72) and Tom Pernice (71). Els got into contention with three straight birdies, including an approach that stopped 2 feet from the hole on the 16th. He made several good par saves and a birdie on No. 8 left him poised to join Andrade under par. Instead, Els missed the ninth fairway and eventually a 2-foot putt, taking double bogey on his final hole to drop down to 1-over 141. ``I really wanted to get to red numbers by the end of the day, and I almost did that,'' Els said. ``I have two rounds to go, and I'm here for the weekend. I have a chance.'' Join the crowd. Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen shot 74 and was at 142, along with Vijay Singh (73) and Fred Funk (73). It was a daunting sight, balls hopping through the fairway and disappearing into the green hay, then players slashing with all their might to get the ball back into play. ``If we had a steady diet of this stuff, you'd see a bunch of guys in the hospital, or the back doctor, or with broken wrists,'' Mark Calcavecchia said after a 71, which left him in the group at 4-over 144.

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