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Sixty-six shooter Furyk staves off Tiger, keeps WGC-NEC lead
Updated: Friday August 24, 2001 7:41 PM
AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Jim Furyk hit a lot of wedges, made a bunch of birdies and is leading the NEC Invitational. Right behind is Tiger Woods, who hit just about everything else. A left-handed shot. Tree roots with his 9-iron. A tree with his left elbow. For good measure, he also hit a flagstick. The wild ride ended Friday at Firestone Country Club when Woods made a 15-foot birdie on the final hole for a 67 that left him tied with Phil Mickelson and only two shots behind Furyk going into the weekend. He's lucky he can even play. With a shot that was as entertaining as it was frightening, Woods hit into tree roots and his left arm smacked a tree on No. 13. He dropped the club at impact and winced, and a bogey only added to the pain. "The healthiest shot was to take two club lengths and drop," he said. "The best shot was to go for it, try to put the ball in the fairway, wedge it up there and make par." Furyk provided no such thrills, but was hardly complaining. On a Firestone course that favors big hitters, Furyk was solid on the back nine for a 4-under-par 66 and will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend. "Two shots is nothing," said Furyk, who was at 9-under 131. "Two shots can change on one hole. I'm going to continue to attack the golf course and play the same way I have the first two days." Two shots is an even slimmer margin considering Woods and Mickelson, the top two players in the world rankings and past champions at Firestone, are on his heels. Mickelson, coming off another heartbreaking finish in a major, had a bogey-free 66 and will play in the final twosome with Furyk on Saturday. The real threat could be Woods. He has won the past two NEC Invitationals, including a record-setting 259 last year for an 11-stroke victory. And it appeared he might make it another runaway Friday with birdies on five of the first 10 holes for a two-stroke lead. That's when the show began. It started with a drive left into the rough, next to a tree on some roots that were exposed. Woods went at it hard with a 9-iron and dropped the club at impact. "The plan all along was to hit it hard with the right hand and let go with the left hand," he said. "I think the tree root won." From the rough, he played his next shot over the green and made bogey. It was reminiscent of the 1999 Tour Championship in Houston, when Woods had a grapefruit-sized rock behind his ball in the right rough. He hit the rock to get at the ball and suffered a stinger that went away. He wound up winning by four strokes. "I've done this before," he said. "I've played out of bushes, off of rocks, of just about any kind of surface. You know what a lie will take out of you if you do try and go at it." This one caused a twinge in his left elbow, but he survived. He also wised up. Woods drove into the left rough on the 625-yard 16th, chopped out across the fairway into more rough and was partially blocked by trees with water guarding the green. He pitched out. "I could have gone for the pin, but today is only Friday. There was no need risking it," Woods said. Not that it mattered. His fourth shot hit the flag, and then he three-putted for a double-bogey. Still, the 67 was his sixth straight round at that score or better at Firestone. And it left him in good shape -- at least on the leaderboard -- going into the weekend. Not many were surprised. "Just like the sun rises in the morning and sets in the afternoon," Stuart Appleby said. "Nothing new for us. If you think it's new, you'd better go and get another job." Appleby pitched from the back fringe off a bank and down a ridge on the 18th, holing it for birdie and the best round of the day. He had a 64, putting him at 134 and giving him a tee time with Woods on Saturday. Appleby was also low Aussie. Greg Norman failed to build on his first-round 65, his best score and best start on the PGA Tour in four years. He had a 71, and was five strokes back. The Shark went for the green into on the par-5 2nd and pulled his approach to the left down a hill. His flop shot to the pin appeared to be right on line, but clipped a branch and rolled farther down the hill. He took bogey, and it never got much better. Padraig Harrington of Ireland and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland also were at 134. They already have locked up spots on the European Ryder Cup team, but Bernhard Langer took a big step toward securing his place with a 67 that left him at 136. Mickelson didn't stick around very long after his round. He made a commitment to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in the Akron Arrows' Class AA baseball game. Maybe he was just warming up last week at the PGA Championship when he played catch with his caddie in the parking lot before the third round. "I scored well today," Mickelson said. "This is a course where it's difficult for the leaders to pull away." Furyk did so gradually. He seized the lead with birdies on two of the first three holes, then played a solid back nine. There was nothing fancy, just a good day off the tee and timely wedges -- one into 10 feet on No. 10, another into a foot on No. 14 and his third birdie of the back nine on the par-5 16th with a wedge into 8 feet. "A lot of players, if they're playing well can win on any course," Furyk said. "I'm comfortable on this golf course."
No one is more comfortable than Woods. He felt a twinge in his
hand and left elbow, but said he took some painkillers that did the
trick. Asked if he was OK, he replied, "I kept playing, didn't
I?"
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