Golf roundup
Choi maintains slim lead in Compaq Classic NEW ORLEANS (AP) – K.J. Choi, trying to become the first South Korean winner on the PGA Tour, finished the third round of the Compaq Classic right were he started – at the top of the leaderboard.
“He says he will pray, he will eat well, he will sing some songs and he will have a good sleep,” Choi’s translator said.
Choi had three birdies and two bogeys in a 1-under 71 Saturday that left him at 12-under 204, a stroke ahead of John Rollins (68) and tour hopeful Bryce Molder (69).
“It was tough,” Choi said, wiping his face after the round.
Choi birdied the fourth hole, but dropped a stroke with a bogey on No. 9. He birdied Nos. 12 and 14 before closing with a bogey.
“In the beginning he tried very hard to maintain his lead and his composure from yesterday,” Choi’s translator said. “But he noticed that the greens were a little harder for him to read, but as the day progressed, he kind of got the feel for the course.”
First-round leader Dan Forsman had a 72, leaving him two shots off the pace at 10-under 206. Billy Andrade (68) was 9 under, and Chris DiMarco (70) topped a five-player group at 8 under.
Defending champion David Toms (71) was 7 under, and Phil Mickelson (71) was 6 under.
Molder, a four-time All-American at Georgia Tech who set the NCAA record for career scoring average (70.69), is trying to play his way onto the PGA Tour through sponsor exemptions. The 23-year-old player used his third exemption of the year to play here.
Molder, who missed the cut in his two previous tour events this season, took a one-stroke lead with a birdie on 11. After Choi birdied No. 12 to tie for the lead, Molder moved back in front with a birdie on No. 15. But Molder bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17.
“I’m new to it, but it’s still just golf,” Molder said. “When I’m playing well my game can stack up with anybody’s.”
Rollins started the day four strokes off the pace and moved up with five birdies against one bogey for a 68.
“I’m really a survivor,” Rollins said. “It was very hot, humid, the greens were firm and fast, so it’s hard to get the ball close to the hole.”
Rollins, whose best finish is a tie for fifth at the BellSouth Classic, has made 10 of 13 cuts since moving up to the PGA Tour from the Buy.Com Tour this season.
He credited a phone call to his teacher with helping him this week. He was losing shots to the right early in the week. His teacher told him he was too far back from the ball.
“I came out Wednesday and worked on that and it worked out really well,” Rollins said. “My golf swing felt great.”
Rollins said his victories on the Buy.Com Tour would help him on Sunday.
“I think it really teaches you how to win, teaches you how to course manage yourself around the golf course,” Rollins said. “Hopefully, if I’m in the position, I can draw off that experience and come away victorious.”‘
Molder, who finished third at the Reno-Taho Open last year and tied for 30th in the U.S. Open as an amateur, said he might be a bit nervous on the first tee Sunday, but it wouldn’t last long. Even the $810,000 winners purse didn’t phase him.
“I kind of look at money right now as points for me,” Molder said. “I need to get as many points as I can to get a tour card. Obviously, I could get a whole lot of points tomorrow and just bypass that stuff which would be great.”
Rain washes out Saturday’s LPGA play
STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. – Last year, they enjoyed three sunny days of golf at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.
Things have returned to normal in 2002.
On Saturday, the fourth rain delay in two days at Eagles Landing Country Club prompted LPGA Tour officials to shorten the event from 54 to 36 holes.
“I’m so frustrated,” tournament host Nancy Lopez said. “This is awful. And just think, we’ve been in a drought.”
The Atlanta-area event has been plagued by stormy weather throughout its 11-year existence. This is the sixth year that rain has stopped play, while the final round in 1999 was contested in a steady drizzle.
“It’s unbelievable,” Laura Davies said. “If there’s one tournament that deserves a really great week, it’s this one. The course is great. … The purse has gone through the roof. It’s a great field. But we’re not able to show what we can do.”
Kelly Robbins, who hasn’t played since Friday afternoon, will return to the course Sunday trying to protect a two-stroke lead.
She opened with an 8-under 64, then sat around Saturday hoping to get on the course. The rain wouldn’t let her.
“We like Atlanta and love playing here,” Robbins said. “But it’s a shame we can’t play because of the havoc created by the weather.”
Robbins has never won the tournament, but has finished second twice and sixth three other times.
“There is nothing we can do about the weather,” she said. “It’s a shame, because we could have showcased a lot of good golf. We still will, but now it’s just a little less.”
Robbins was among 24 players who didn’t get on the water-logged course. They were the lucky ones.
“It’s part of golf, I guess, but it’s very frustrating,” said Pearl Sinn, who struggled to a 79 in an opening round that stretched over two days. “I’ve been out here eight or nine hours and I’ve played 11 holes. I guess you would call that slow play.”
Robbins made it through a 1-hour, 20-minute delay Friday morning. But 72 players – half the field – weren’t able to finish when a howling thunderstorm halted play in the afternoon.
Defending champion Annika Sorenstam, the most dominating player on the LPGA Tour, was among those affected by the stormy weather, which inundated the course with 13/4 inches of rain the first day alone.
She and the others returned to the course early Saturday – in cool, drizzly conditions – to finish the round.
But play lasted only 21/2 hours before the rain intensified, causing the third stoppage of the tournament.
After waiting around for nearly 21/2 hours, the golfers went sent back to the course again. This attempt was downright fruitless, lasting just 52 minutes before the showers returned.
At this point, the course was a mess. Small rivers snaked through the fairways. The bunkers resembled small ponds. The driving range was better suited for a tractor pull.
Nelson, Irwin top Bruno’s leaderboard
HOOVER, Ala. – Alabama native Larry Nelson shot two 6-under-par 66s to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Hale Irwin in the rain-soaked Bruno’s Memorial Classic.
Irwin birdied the final four holes and tied a tournament record with his second-round 63. He played 24 holes Saturday.
“It’s exciting for me, not just for this tournament, not just for (Sunday), but there’s a lot of the year left,” said Nelson, coming off a 51st-place finish last week in the Countrywide Tradition. “I haven’t hit the ball good two straight days this year and I have definitely hit the ball well for two days this week.”
The first round was suspended because of thunderstorms Friday after starting two hours late, and play was delayed 21/2 hours by rain early Saturday. The second round on the Greystone Golf and Country Club’s Founder’s Course started shortly after the first was completed.
A pair of unlikely contenders were tied at 10 under while four players were four shots back.
Sammy Rachels birdied six of his final seven holes for a second-round 64. At 62, George Archer looked anything but his age with a pair of 67s and no bogeys in the first two rounds.
“I’m a good mudder,” Archer said.
“I hit some real good shots out there.”
Bruce Fleisher, the first-round leader, added seven strokes to his earlier 64 and is tied with Dana Quigley (66-69) at 9 under, three strokes back.
Nelson won five tournaments last year but had been nursing shoulder and hip problems since last June.
He finally got a cortisone shot a few weeks ago and it’s helped his game.
Both Nelson, the 1999 champion, and Irwin are vying to become the first two-time champion in the 11-year history of the event.
Irwin began the second round at 2 under and three-putted the first hole for bogey. Seeking his third win of the year, he lightened his putting grip and followed with four birdies on the front nine and a torrid back stretch.
“Birdieing the last four holes is a terrific way to finish your day,” Irwin said.
He shot a first-round 70 with 16 pars and two birdies.
“It was not a very good display of golf,” Irwin said.
“There was some pressure to get back into the tournament in the second round.”
DIVOTS: The soggy conditions prompted Nelson and others to adopt the old-fashioned knickers look. Nelson tucked his blue trousers into matching, albeit wet socks a few holes into the second round. “Actually, it’s a pretty good look,” Nelson said. “My wife kind of likes it.” … Archer captured the SuperSeniors competition, but 66-year-old Bob Charles came closer to shooting his age with a 69. It was Archer’s second SuperSeniors win this year and seventh overall.
French Open
VERSAILLES, France – England’s Malcolm Mackenzie, winless in 509 PGA European Tour starts, shot a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the French Open.
Mackenzie had a 14-under 202 total on Le Golf National’s Albatross Course. Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain and South Africa’s Trevor Immelman were tied for second. Olazabal shot a 67, including an ace on the 208-yard second hole. Immelman had a 71.