Tom Byrum hit
one drive today that smacked off a tree and bounced back into the center of the
fairway. Another bounced off the cart path and rolled to where he had a wedge
to the green, instead of a middle iron.
And on a day when the River Course at Kingsmill toyed with one challenger after
another, those lucky breaks helped Byrum shoot a 4-under 67 for a one-shot lead.
"It just tells you how
hard this course is playing," Byrum said after reaching the midpoint of the Michelob
Championship at 6-under 136 for two rounds. "The course has got some teeth right
now."
Nick
Faldo, Corey Pavin and others made moves on the lead and then faltered, but Byrum
overcame a double bogey on his seventh hole with four birdies coming in to be
the only player to reach 6-under or better and stay there.
"I'm
just happy to be here," he said. "The way my year's gone, I haven't been in this
position a lot. But I do feel pretty good about my game right now."
Playing in one of the last groups, Byrum seemed an unlikely contender after starting
the day at 2-under and making the turn there after the double at 16.
Even though the course seemed more receptive to scoring than it was Thursday,
the blustery winds and chilly conditions still kept scores up.
Except for Weir, who made the move of the day with a tournament-best 63 to go
from 3-over into contention. He trimmed five strokes from par over four holes
capped by an eagle at the par-5 15th, and finished the back with a 6-under 29.
"The difference between
yesterday and today was a little bit of rust," Weir said. "I had taken a couple
of weeks off and I hadn't done a whole lot."
Byrum hadn't either -- all year -- with just one top-10 finish in 24 events, 11
missed cuts and a standing of 147th on the PGA
Tour money list when he arrived here.
But on his last nine, he made four birdies and avoided the big stumble that plagued
so many others, including Faldo, the winner of six major championships.
"If you miss a shot you
can get in trouble in a hurry," Byrum said.
Faldo was at 4-under after 16 holes, but three-putted for a double bogey at No.
8. Begay, a first-round leader with Pavin and Robin Freeman, twice got to 7-under
but bogeyed his way back to 5-under 137. Pavin and Freeman both shot 74s.
"Obviously I would have
liked to have finished a little stronger," Begay said after a double-bogey on
the par-3 17th dropped him back into the pack.
Lee Rinker learned that on No. 9, his last hole of the day. He got to the tee
box at 5-under, pulled two balls left and out of bounds and scored an 8.
Gump followed an opening
69 with a 68 that also included a double bogey.
"It
was cold this morning, but I knew if I survived the first five or six holes it
was going to warm up and I'd get a chance to play golf," Gump said.
Chris Riley and Frank Lickliter were tied for fifth at 138, two shots back, with
1996 winner Scott Hoch another shot back. Two-time defending champion David Duval
had his second straight 70 and was one of nine in a tie at 140.
Eighty players made the cut at 3-over, the highest cut figure since 5-over made
it in 1983. Among those going home was Jesper Parnevik, the European Ryder Cup
star, who was a late entry and finished at 146 after a 72 today.
DIVOTS:
Lee Janzen was borderline to make the cut until he holed his final shot, a 204-yard
3-iron for an eagle on the par-4 9th that left him even at 142. ... Doug Barron
started today's round on No. 10 at 2 over and moved into contention with a 29
on the back. He finished the blitz with an eagle on the par-4 18th, which only
a day earlier played to a 4.9 stroke average and yielded only four birdies. ...
Curtis Strange, who lives at Kingsmill, followed an opening 82 with a 72. He missed
the cut for only the second time in 19 career appearances on his home course.
