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Verplank gains narrow
advantage
Winning the Tour Championship
would be a great way to cap off a remarkable return from injury.
Not just for Tiger Woods,
but for Scott Verplank.
Woods only has to deal with
an aching back, which he described Friday as a bruise that will be less painful
as the week goes on. Verplank has had to overcome three elbow surgeries that nearly
ended his career.
Four years after he had
to go through qualifying school just to keep his PGA Tour card, Verplank is having
his best season ever and moved into position to win his biggest event, the $5
million Tour Championship.
With six birdies and a momentum-saving
par from the bunker on No. 16, Verplank had a 6-under 65 on calm, sticky Champions
Golf Club and took a one-stroke lead over Bernhard Langer going into the weekend.
Mike Weir of Canada, one
of eight players in the elite field who hasn't won this year, had a 66 and was
another stroke back.
``I'm playing in a huge
tournament against the best players in the world,'' Verplank said. ``All that
doesn't mean that much to me until Sunday. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to win,
and if I do, I'll probably be excited about it. Up until that point, I'm just
looking forward to playing.''
Woods was glad to be playing,
too, especially after injuring his lower right back in the fitness trailer on
the eve of the season-ending tournament.
He at least was able to
bend over to tee his ball Friday -- although he lifted his left leg, making it
look like a curtsy -- and hit whatever shot was required.
Still, he was sore at the
end of the round, and not just because of his back.
An otherwise solid round
was spoiled when Woods three-putting from 40 feet on the 18th hole for his only
bogey of the round. He tossed his putter at the bag as he left the green and was
still steaming after signing for a 67.
``Just got a little sore
toward the end,'' Woods said in response to the condition of his back, although
he could have been referring to his emotional state, too.
``An ending like that ...
just not feeling very good because I played well all day. To make a silly mistake
at the end is not the way you want to cap off your round.''
Still, it was quite an improvement
from Thursday when Woods had to squat just to stick a tee in the ground and grimaced
after just about every shot.
He arrived at Champions
looking refreshed and in much better spirits, leaning against his locker to read
the paper. Asked for the state of his back, he replied, ``Good enough.''
Woods described the injury
as a bruise that's going to be sore for a while.
``All I can do is make sure
the range of motion is still there,'' he said. ``Over time, it will just heal
itself.''
His game recovered nicely,
too.
Woods didn't hit a fairway
until No. 6, didn't make a birdie until No. 7 -- that after backing off his putt
twice because of a fan standing behind a fence taking pictures.
Despite the bogey on the 18th, Woods was at 137 and still in good shape to make
a run at the season-ending title worth $900,000 to the winner.
Then again, so was about
half the field.
Langer, playing the Tour
Championship for the first time since it was created in 1987, had a 68 and was
at 133.
Mark Calcavecchia, contemplating
surgery because of a foot that has been bothering him since May, had the best
score of the day (64) and was at 135 with Justin Leonard (66).
Sergio Garcia, among six
players who had a share of the lead at point during the second round, recovered
from consecutive bogeys on the back nine for a 67 and was at 136. The 21-year-old
Spaniard joined the list of the wounded, complaining of a sore back.
``I just have a knot in
my back and it just hurts a little,'' he said. ``Maybe I slept in a bad position
or one of those silly things.''
Verplank won a U.S. Amateur
and NCAA title at Oklahoma State, and also won on the PGA Tour while still an
amateur. But the middle part of his career was a blur, thanks to the elbow surgery
and his battle with diabetes.
He is past the point of
looking back on how much more he could have achieved.
``I'm a lot better player,''
he said. ``I have a better outlook. I was a lot more of a grinder back then, and
I might have ground myself into the dirt.''
Verplank, a controversial
captain's pick to the Ryder Cup team, backed up his selection by winning the Canadian
Open at Royal Montreal, but never had time to celebrate. The terrorist attacks
happened two days later, and ``the world changed.''
``Maybe after this week
I'll sit back and think about some of the great things that have happened,'' he
said.
Ernie Els and David Duval
were in no mood for reflection.
Duval, who won at Champions
in 1997, was tied for the lead when he got to the par-5 13th. His tee shot hit
a tree, then deflected off a marshal and went into the hazard. He took a penalty
drop, hit another tree and went back into the hazard.
After getting up-and-down
from a bunker, he had a triple-bogey 8 and was at 138.
``That's tough to swallow,''
he said. ``I'm real disappointed in my score, but that's the rub of the green.
I very well could be closer to the lead.''
Els had a 68 and was equally
upset. He needs a victory at the Tour Championship to keep alive his streak of
at least one win in each of the last eight seasons.
``I hit the ball well, but
I can't make any putts,'' he fumed. ``I left about three or four out there, just
like I've done the last 12 months. I had a 69 and 68, and I feel like it should
have been two 66s.''
Friday was certainly the
day to post that kind of number, with 22 players in the 29-man field breaking
par.
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