As Fred Funk
made his way into the interview room today, Brad Faxon smiled and squirted water
at him. Funk dodged the spray, but trying to cool him off wasn't such a bad idea.
Funk had just finished
shooting a sizzling 11-under-par 61 to surge to a five-stroke lead over Faxon
and Rory Sabbatini after two rounds at the B.C. Open.
Funk, who began the day four shots behind Stephen Ames, carded five birdies on
the back nine to start the day and had six more on the front side, including the
last three to tie the course record and give him a two-round total of 131.
Funk's focus was so
precise during the best round in his 15 years on the PGA Tour that he had seven
straight 3s during one stretch.
"It
was a strange day as far as hitting it close so many times," said Funk, who started
the day by two-putting from 15 feet on No. 10. "I was inside two paces of the
hole an awful lot of times. I was conscious of it."
Funk's round, played under blue skies and temperatures in the high 60s, tied the
previous course record set by Hal Sutton in 1995, when the En-Joie Golf Club course
was a par 71. It has since been redone and par is now 72.
Funk, who beat Peter Jordan for the B.C. Open title in a playoff in 1996, said
he tried to get as many birdies as he could to separate himself from the rest
of the field. Yet, despite his impressive round, Funk knows Sunday will present
a stiff challenge because the 66 golfers who made the cut will play 36 holes.
"I know (Sunday) anything
can happen," Funk said. "If I can make 11 birdies in the two rounds, that should
be good enough. But it's going to be a long day, so I've got to pace myself.
"The thing with 36 holes
is that if you're playing good you can keep it going, or at least you can think
you're going to be able to keep it going," Funk said. "You don't have to sleep
on it. It's just a big shootout. If a guy shoots real low in the morning, he can
carry that into the afternoon."
Tournament officials made the decision to play two rounds Sunday after an early
morning fog held up the start of today's play for 45 minutes, wiping out plans
to start the third round in late afternoon. However, with sunset not long after
7 p.m. EDT and the days getting shorter, the chance that both rounds would not
be completed was real.
Inclement weather from Hurricane Floyd forced postponement of the first round
on Thursday, throwing the tournament into a mass of confusion. Some golfers played
only 13 holes Friday, while others got in as many as 30 before the suspension
of play at 7:05 p.m. EDT
Among those who won't be playing on Sunday are Steve Pate and Tom Lehman, members
of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Both missed the cut. They had hoped to use the B.C.
Open as a final tuneup before play begins Friday at Brookline, Mass.
Phil Mickelson, another U.S. Ryder Cup team member, shot a first-round 68, but
ballooned to a 76 and finished the two rounds at 144 to make the cut by one. Pate
finished at 145, while. Lehman finished at 148.
Lehman said the excitement of what lies ahead was simply too much for him to ignore.
"I haven't been able to
focus real well on this week," said Lehman, who had three bogeys and only two
birdies on the day for a 73. "I've been awfully excited about next week for a
long time. As much as you try not to look past something, it's hard not to for
me. It was hard to play today."
Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the only member of Europe's Ryder Cup team playing
here, made the cut. He shot a 69 today for a two-round total of 3-under 141.
