Green leads with new tournament record

Hubert Green refused to worry about the round that could have been.

He knows that if two putts didn't go in-and-out, he would have had his best round since he turned pro in 1970.

Green is more than content to have tied the course record with a 9-under 63 Friday, taking a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Senior Players Championship at the TPC of Michigan.

``I'll never say the round could have been lower, you'll never hear that come out of my mouth,'' said Green, who had nine birdies and will begin Saturday's third round at 10-under. ``Don't get too piggish out here. The golfing gods have the last say and they have two more rounds here before they are through with me.''

Hale Irwin is glad the fourth and final major on the Senior PGA Tour is four rounds, not a three-round tournament like every non-major event.

Irwin, who began the day with a two-stroke lead after setting nine-hole and first-round records, shot a 1-over 73 and fell into a three-way tie for second with Howard Twitty and Mike McCullough, who both shot 68.

``The good part is, I'm three shots back,'' Irwin said, ``you'd like to be three shots up, but at the same time, I have two days to make up that deficit. And I know I can play the course well. I feel like today was a bit of an aberration because I didn't play that badly.''

Irwin, who won here in 1999, was disappointed he didn't birdie No. 18, which would have put him in a group with Green and Twitty on Saturday.

``You do like to play with the leader,'' Irwin said. ``You can see what he's doing, you don't have to look over your shoulder.''

Jay Sigel, Stewart Ginn, Mark McCumber and Tom Jenkins, who won the Canadian Senior Open last week, were four strokes behind Green.

McCumber, who got into the tournament when Jack Nicklaus withdrew with muscle spasms on Wednesday, bogeyed three of the last four holes. He made a 20-foot putt at 16 to save par and to prevent a total collapse.

``I'm not happy about the way I played the last four holes,'' McCumber said. ``But the good thing is that I'm still in the tournament. My goal is to be in contention when we play the back nine Sunday.''

Twitty and McCullough are the two golfers in the field of 78 to have two rounds in the 60s. Twitty has struggled all year on the course, but those struggles pale compared to the ones he's had to deal with since his 25-year-old son drowned in March.

It's a bit of a surprise to see Green atop the leaderboard heading into the weekend.

Green has just two top-10 finishes this year and has been tied for 37th, 41st and 52nd in three of the his last four tournaments. He has three victories on the Senior PGA Tour, his last two coming in 2000, and didn't finish better than a tie for fifth last year.

Green won 19 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1977 U.S. Open and the 1985 PGA Championship. He's motivated to add a senior major to his resume.

``My friend Fuzzy (Zoeller) has one, and he's a rookie for crying out loud,'' Green said.

Green followed up a solid opening round with a spectacular one.

He shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday, one of 24 players to break par, and seemed to carry some momentum from the end of the first round into the second.

Green birdied Nos. 17 and 18 on Thursday, then birdied the first three holes on Friday and seven of the first 13. He finished strong again -- and earned a little cushion -- with birdies on the final two holes.

Green hit 16 greens in regulation and admitted he was lucky on a couple holes.

At 14, his drive landed in the water, but he recovered by hitting a 5-wood onto the green and saving par with a 4-footer. He missed the fairway and the green at 18, but holed a chip shot from about 60 feet.

``I got very lucky,'' Green said.

Jim Colbert set the course record in the second round in 1995 before finishing in a tie for third that year behind J.C. Snead.

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