Coming off a
two-victory season and heading to the Ryder Cup for the first time in 12 years,
Hal Sutton is past the point of dwelling on a slump so severe it almost drove
him out of golf.
Sutton birdied the last two holes today for a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke
lead in the Bell Canadian Open over Paul Azinger, another former PGA Championship
winner still fighting to prove he can be a champion once again.
Two weeks after he withdrew from a tournament out of frustration for the first
time in his 17-year career, Azinger had a bogey-free 66 in cool, pesky winds at
Glen Abbey Golf Club and was at 137, just one stroke behind Sutton.
It was only the third time
Azinger shot in the 60s in 42 rounds at the Abbey.
"I
didn't expect that would happen today, but I'm glad I did it," he said.
Also at 137 were two players
coming off a letdown from not making the Ryder Cup team. Lee Janzen, who hasn't
won since his second U.S. Open title a year ago, offset five bogeys with six birdies
for a 71, and Steve Stricker had a 70.
The group at 138 included Mark Calcavecchia (68) and David Sutherland, who bogeyed
the last two holes but still had a 7-under 65, a remarkable round given the blustery
conditions in the air and the trampled conditions on some of the greens.
Sutton is one of nine Americans
on the Ryder Cup team who haven't won this year, although he's far from concerned.
The 41-year-old once regarded as the next Jack Nicklaus got over his demons long
ago, capping a terrific season last year by winning The
Tour Championship.
Azinger isn't there yet.
Diagnosed with lymphoma three months after winning the 1993 PGA Championship,
doctors deemed the cancer cured last year in his five-year checkup. The next goal
is to win on the PGA Tour, something he used to do regularly.
"It's
worse than starting over because I had something to measure myself by, which can
add to the frustration," Azinger said, alluding to his major championship, 13
victories around the world and a streak of seven straight years with at least
one PGA Tour victory.
That frustration may have reached a peak two weeks ago when he withdrew midway
through the second round of the Reno-Tahoe Open, in part because his back was
bugging him but mostly because he was tired of playing poorly.
"I
re-evaluated what I was doing and whether I could go about it a different way,"
he said. "You enjoy it more when you play well -- I know that."
He also knows it's only Friday, and the goal is to play best on the weekend. But
this is certainly a good start.
He kept the ball in play, which is crucial on a Glen Abbey course where the rough
is high and thick from rain earlier in the week. He belted his irons, key to negotiating
the wind, and wasn't bothered by the few putts that burned the lip.
Sutton made five of his six birdies putts from inside six feet. The exception
was an unexpected surprise, a 60-footer on the 17th that trickled down to the
hole and dropped and sent him to the top of the leaderboard.
He has come close twice this year, getting beat out in Houston and Memphis.
"I need to knuckle down,
don't I?" said Sutton, who has 23 players within five strokes of him going into
the weekend.
Mike
Weir is about to give up, at least at the Abbey, and especially in his national
open. Only five days ago he won in Vancouver, his first PGA Tour victory and the
first by a Canadian in Canada in 45 years.
He was treated to a hero's reception all week, but had a 74 today and has yet
to make the cut in the Canadian Open, a streak of nine years. Also missing the
cut was defending champion Billy Andrade.
The low Canadian was Craig Matthew at 143. Of course, Canada can also hang its
hopes on Stricker, who once played the Canadian tour and still sees plenty of
friendly faces in the gallery.
One of the most pleasant players in golf, Stricker was a mess after Medinah when
he missed the cut and lost all hope of making his first Ryder Cup team.
"I was down in the dumps,"
he said. "That hit me pretty hard. I didn't feel like working on my game, and
told a couple of reporters I didn't feel like playing the rest of the year."
He skipped the Wisconsin
State Open and caddied for his brother-in-law, Mario Tizini, who finished third.
"That gave me a different
perspective," Stricker said.
DIVOTS:
Chip Beck is on a roll. The always optimistic Beck, who once missed 46 consecutive
cuts, tied for 31st in Vancouver last week and is only four strokes out of the
lead in the Canadian Open. "I can't remember the last time I made back-to-back
cuts," he said. No wonder. It last happened on July 14, 1996 in the Michelob Championship.
... Gabriel Hjertstedt was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard Thursday.
The Swede inadvertently moved his ball on the 11th green and failed to replace
it, a two-stroke penalty. He signed for a 6, but should have taken a 7. Brent
Geiberger also signed an incorrect scorecard on Friday, turned himself in and
was disqualified. ... What do Mark Calcavecchia and Juli Inkster have in common?
Other than their age (39), they use different grips depending on the length of
the putt. Calcavecchia has begun using a crosshanded grip for short- to medium-length
putts, and a conventional grip for the longer putts. Now all he needs to do is
win two majors in a season, as Inkster has done.
