BellSouth Classic
TPC at Sugarloaf
Duluth,Georgia
7th - 10th May 1998

Par 72 Prize Money $1.8 million

First Round Report

First Round Scores

Calcavecchia graps early lead

Associated Press

Duluth, Georgia, 7th May 1998 - Slimmed-down Mark Calcavecchia felt like he could play another 18 holes. Weary David Duval was just anxious to get to the clubhouse as he trudged around the back nine.

While they hardly felt the same at the end of the day, Calcavecchia and Duval displayed similar excellence during the first round of the BellSouth Classic on Thursday.

Calcavecchia shook off a three-hour rain delay in the morning and the reappearance of Tiger Woods to shoot a bogey-free 65, grabbing a one-shot lead over Steve Flesch and Estaban Toledo, with some players still on the course as darkness approached.

Lurking only two shots back was Duval, the hottest player on the PGA Tour with five victories in the last seven months and more than $1.2 million in earnings in 1998.

Duval, who won the Houston Open last weekend, made an eagle at No. 4 with a pitching wedge from 60 feet, then held on through the rest of the round to finish with a 5-under-par 67 on the Greg Norman-designed TPC at Sugarloaf course northeast of Atlanta.

"I got really tired at the end," said Duval, one of the best conditioned players on the tour. "I don't know why. I kind of hit the wall. I was just dragging."

After a three-week break from the tour, Calcavecchia looked as fresh at the end of the long day as he did at the beginning. He used the time off to work on conditioning and flexibility, losing about 10 pounds in the process.

"I feel good," said Calcavecchia, seeking his second victory of the year. "I noticed it yesterday in the pro-am, when we were out on the course for about six hours. Normally, I'd be about to fall over. But I wasn't tired at all."

Calcavecchia, the 1995 BellSouth winner, had the shot of the day, holing an 8-iron from 159 yards at the par-4 fifth hole for an eagle, then added a 40-foot putt for birdie at No. 10 after escaping the bunker. His iron play was spectacular, setting up birdie putts ranging from two to 12 feet on four other holes.

Woods, who had not played since the Masters, shot a 3-under 69, putting him only four shots off the pace even though he didn't take full advantage of the slow, soggy greens and the lack of wind in the afternoon.

"It was one of those rounds where you had a chance to go low," said Woods, who hasn't won on the tour since the Western Open last July. "I was nervous starting out today. I teed it up and said to myself, 'This one counts!'"

Woods made the turn at 3-under, but hit his tee shot at the 608-yard No. 10 into a bunker, then hooked his second shot into the tall grass that borders the left side of the fairway. He had to take a drop and a one-shot penalty, winding up with a bogey.

"I'm very pleased," said Woods, who won his first tournament after a similar layoff a year ago. "I putted well today and didn't make a whole lot of big mistakes."

Calcavecchia, Duval and Woods were all on the course when lightning and rain brought a halt to play for 3 1/2 hours in the morning. Calcavecchia passed the time by taking a nap, while Duval read a newspaper and chatted with Atlanta Braves pitcher Denny Neagle.

"These days are never fun," Duval said. "I just tried to do my best and not worry about it."

While Duval has led this tournament three times going to the final round, including the last two, he has yet to finish on top.

"When you've been close, you certainly would like to finish one of them off," he said. "But I don't really try to make any tournament different. I'm trying to win them all."

Sandwiched between Calcavecchia and Duval were two obscure golfers, Flesch and Toledo.

Just before starting his round, Flesch broke his driver on the practice range and had to run back to his car to grab a substitute. Still, he missed only one fairway all day, extending a streak of stellar play that has led to three top-15 finishes in his last four tournaments, including runner-up in the Freeport-McDermott Classic.

Toledo, who has never finished higher than 16th during on-and-off stints on the tour, worked for more than two hours on his putting both Monday and Tuesday, the reaped the benefits of his effort in the first round.

U.S. Amateur champion Matt Kuchar, the first amateur in 14 years to shoot par or better in the Masters, had another solid round in his third PGA event. The Georgia Tech sophomore, playing on a sponsor's exemption, fired a 2-under 70.