| Janzen's
late collapse leaves Woods ahead by 1
Lee Janzen looked
at where his ball sat under the lip of a trap at the 18th green. "I
basically had nothing," Janzen said.
As a result, Tiger Woods had something -- a one-shot lead through today's second
round of the Memorial Tournament.
A birdie at the par-5 15th put Janzen, who had started the day with a two-stroke
lead, ahead of Woods by a shot heading into the final hole.
But swirling wind rerouted Janzen's 6-iron approach from the middle of the fairway.
"I thought it was
going to land on the green, but it hit the slope of the bunker, the grass and
then kicked left and went all the way to the other side of the lip," Janzen said.
After trying several
stances just to make contact with the ball, Janzen took a swing and was only able
to advanced the ball six feet. It stayed in the trap.
From there he blasted out -- barely clearing the edge of the trap -- and two-putted
from 15 feet. The double bogey-6 capped a 2-under 70 that left him at 9-under
135. Woods, who
shot a 66 to finish at 10-under 134, nearly holed a 2-iron on the 11th hole and
settled for an eagle. "I
had 274 yards to the hole," Woods said. "I hit it 273 and a foot.''
Just moments before, Janzen had rolled a lofted fairway wood to within six inches
on the same hole for an even easier eagle tap-in.
Woods, playing in the group immediately behind Janzen, started the day three shots
back but strung together five consecutive birdies on the front side. After the
eagle, he parred out.
Janzen believes that he sees a different, more mature Woods these days.
"His first year on tour,
he had a parade with him everywhere he went," Janzen said. "He couldn't even spend
five minutes in the locker room without getting hounded by somebody."
Woods said he had grown
accustomed to the life of a touring pro. "You
don't expect to do all this right away, especially the things I had to deal with,"
he said. "It was a little tough at the get-go. But after that, I basically matured
and learned how to handle these situations. When I first came out, I was only
20. It wasn't exactly easy. But as I've gone along, I've learned from my mistakes
and learned from others as well."
Janzen added: "He has a relaxed confidence about him. He's just really enjoying
himself right now, which could be trouble for the rest of us."
Joining Janzen a shot back was reigning PGA champion Vijay Singh. He had five
birdies and five pars on the first 10 holes to edge into the lead, but fell back
on the same hole where Woods and Janzen came close to double eagles.
Singh's third shot came up short at the 11th, hitting the bank in front of the
green and spinning back into the creek. He took a drop, chipped on and two-putted
for a double bogey. "I
thought my 7-iron was going to fly. It was 165 yards to the front and it came
out really soft," Singh said. "It was a bad, bad double."
He later balanced that with an eagle at the 15th hole, hitting a 5-iron to six
feet, and ended with a 67.
Sergio Garcia, the 19-year-old Spaniard making his second professional start in
the United States, shot a 70 despite a double bogey on the par-3 16th. That prevented
him from possibly being paired with Woods. "When
I got to 8-under, I was hoping to make a couple of more birdies to see if we could
play tomorrow," the 19-year-old said. "Oh, well. We'll try to go on Sunday."
He was joined at 7-under
by Justin Leonard, who had a 69.
Jim Furyk, Mark Calcavecchia, Bill Glasson and Frank Lickliter -- who shot the
day's low round with a 65 -- were at 6-under. David
Duval played a span of six holes on the back nine in 6-under on the way to a 68
that left him at 4-under 140. "It
was nice to crawl a little bit back," said Duval, who had an opening 72. "I've
got a lot of ground to make up, but we know the weather's going to be good and
the course is going to play hard. So if you can post a great score you can make
up some ground."
Tournament founder and course designer Jack Nicklaus, functioning well in his
second tournament with a new ceramic hip, shot his second consecutive 74 and barely
made the cut. Defending champion Fred Couples shot a 74 and was at 145.
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