Maggert, Duval get back on track
Associated Press
Thursday, September 28
PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Jeff Maggert and David Duval had ideal starts to the Buick Challenge on Thursday. One had his best round of the year, the other had no pain.
Maggert made an eagle on his 11th hole with a 3-iron from 212 yards that hit the pin, and he kept the ball out of the shaggy, unpredictable rough at Callaway Gardens for a 9-under 63 that gave him a three-stroke lead.
Duval had a 68, a surprisingly good score considering it was his first full round since the British Open. He has missed the last two months with a back injury, and was just as impressed with his score as his health.
"I felt great all day," said Duval, who made five par-saving putts from 4 to 10 feet. "It was kind of surprising that my short game actually saved me a few shots, especially when you haven't been able to do much of it -- or any of it."
Maggert's three-stroke lead matches the largest after 18 holes on the PGA Tour this year. Paul Azinger had a 66, along with Joey Sindelar and Charles Raulerson, who both could use a good week if they want to keep their tour cards for next year.
Stewart Cink and Scott Hoch were among those at 67. Davis Love III, who has not won in 2½ years, bogeyed the last hole for a 70.
Until Thursday, Maggert's lowest round of the year was a 5-under 67 at the Buick Open last month. Not that he has cared. The 36-year-old Texan has been too busy enjoying life at home with three kids, Little League games and the remote control.
"I haven't been real focused on golf," he said. "There's a lot more things that are enjoyable than chasing a ball around 30 weeks of the year and living in a hotel room. It's an easy choice. I'm motivated at certain times of the year. For four or five weeks, I can play at a level of Tiger Woods and be that motivated."
Maybe this is one of them.
He missed only two fairways, twice saved par from bunkers and cruised around the Mountain View course with seven birdies and his eagle. None of his birdie putts was longer than 15 feet, and Maggert played the par-5s in 5-under.
"Those are Tiger Woods-like numbers," said Maggert, who is 138th on tour in driving distance.
Sindelar did all his damage on the par-5s and par-3s, birdies on three of each for a bogey-free 66, a good start for a man who is 130th on the money list and has finished outside the top 125 only once in his 17 years on tour.
Raulerson is 159th on the money list, and needs about $230,000 to keep his card.
Sindelar opted to hit 1-iron off the tee, anything to stay out of rough so dense it makes it tough to get close to the hole, or even on the green.
"I'd rather make sure I have a 5-iron from the fairway. That beats an 8-iron out of the rough every day," Sindelar said. "It was a good, stress-free day."
The best news for Duval was that it was a pain-free day. The 68 wasn't bad, either.
Duval, the No. 1 player in the world until Woods blew by the world of golf in the last 13 months, first experienced pain in his back after the U.S. Open and made a brief run at Woods in the final round of the British Open.
He had not played a full round since, spending about six weeks lying on his back.
And at times, it showed.
On nearly a dozen occasions, Duval backed off his shot as he tried to get comfortable with finding the line and pulling off the shot. He went after only two flags, preferring to aim for the middle of the green.
He caught the lip of a fairway bunker on the first hole, the ball barely getting out and leading to an opening bogey. But he got up-and-down from the bunker three times -- twice for birdie on par-5s -- and made several big putts to keep his round alive.
"I wasn't in a hurry today," Duval said. "I was trying to really play smart."
Divots
Hoch has moved up to 32nd on the money list and might add a tournament with hopes of getting into the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. But he'll have to get the name of the course right. Hoch referred to it as "West Lake." When the mistake was pointed out, he laughed and said, "Maybe that's why I didn't do so well. I was playing the wrong course."
Christo Greyling, the 17-year-old from Orlando, Fla., who qualified for the tournament on Monday, hit only five fairways in a round of 79.
P.H. Horgan III had a 68 despite plenty of off-course distractions. He is closing on a house in Rhode Island on Friday, and his wife is three weeks away from having their first child.
Casey Martin, whose lawsuit against the PGA Tour to ride a cart will be heard by the Supreme Court, made four birdies on the last seven holes for a 71.
