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 Saturday,
Aug 12 Headline News
Saturday
Round 3 Pairings
Schedule of Events
Sheehan, Leggatt Play Together,
Stay Together
From The Desk of Buddy Martin
Leaderboard
Round 3 Pairing
Update
Friday's round 2 play has been suspended due to darkness and will
resume at 7:30 AM Saturday.
Seventy-two of the 140 golfers will have to finish second
round play Saturday before the field can be cut to low 70 and ties.
The third round will then commence with players grouped in threesomes.
Sheehan, Leggatt
Play Together, Stay Together
 By JOHN FINERAN
INTERNATIONAL Daily News
CASTLE ROCK, CO — Patrick Sheehan didn’t have
to look far for inspiration during the rain-delayed second round
of the The INTERNATIONAL at Castle Pines Golf Club.
All the Rhode Island native had to do was look at one of his playing partners,
fellow ex-hockey player Ian Leggatt of Canada, and follow his lead. And vice
versa.
It often happens in golf that players in the same group feed off each other’s
momentum, and that was the case Friday morning as Sheehan birdied his final three
holes (Nos. 7, 8 and 9) for 8 points and a two-day total of 18, one point ahead
of Leggatt, who used a pair of +5 eagles to score 13 points.
Lurking just behind them is Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who scored 10 points
in the morning for a total of 16.
The entire Friday afternoon portion of the field returned this morning at 7:30
to complete the second round, which was delayed more than 31/2 hours by a violent
thunderstorm that dumped more than a half inch of rain on the lush grounds.
Among the golfers returning to complete the round are former champion Tom Pernice
Jr. and Stewart Cink. They were at +15 and had eight and seven holes, respectively,
to finish when dusk arrived among the majestic Ponderosa pine trees, suspending
play at 7:49 MDT.
Sheehan, who turned 37 Wednesday, and the 40-year-old Leggatt, who have been
struggling this season for various reasons, not only fed off each other but also
former U.S. Ryder Cup player Chris Riley, who scored 6 points for a total of
12. The Sheehan-Leggatt-Riley threesome had 47 points for two trips around the
par-72, 7,619-yard Jack Nicklaus masterpiece in the Rocky Mountain foothills.
“It was a good group for me because everybody talks to each other and you’re
telling jokes,” said Sheehan, who has earned $263,058 (158th on the money
list) in 23 events, primarily because of a bulky putter. “A guy makes a
couple birdies and you just try to follow him.”
 Leggatt, whose struggles can be attributed to a series of injuries, including
carpal tunnel syndrome surgery, agreed.
“All three of us were hitting it quite nicely,” said Leggatt, who
has made just $89,866 (211th) in 19 events. “It just so happened Patrick
and I did fairly well on the back nine starting out.”
Actually, Leggatt’s day started with a double bogey on the 485-yard 10th
hole, one of the hardest on the PGA Tour.
“But the way this format goes, you just never know what could happen out
there,” added Leggatt, who totaled 14 points on Castle Pines’ four
par-5 holes — Nos. 1, 8, 14 and 17. He began his comeback with a birdie
at the 623-yard 14th hole, birdied the 209-yard 16th and then knocked a 7-iron
to 20 feet for his first eagle putt at 17.
Leggatt birdied the first and then knocked a 6-iron at the 570-yard eighth hole
from 220 yards to 25 feet and made the putt.
Sheehan started with a birdie at 10 and answered a bogey at 16 with a birdie
on the 492-yard, par-5 17th hole. After a bogey on the second hole, Sheehan finished
with birdies at 7, 8 and 9.
“I made a bomb today (a 30-footer at No. 10) and then made a lot of pars,” Sheehan
said. “The last three holes I just hit it close enough and made the putts.” The
longest of his three birdie putts was his last stroke of the day, a 10-footer
at No. 9.
“I just haven’t been able to put four good rounds together,” Sheehan
said. “I’ve had a lot of tournaments where I’ve had two good
rounds and two iffy rounds. It basically comes down to putting. The first couple
of years, I was ranked in the Top 30 or 40. In the last year and a half, I’ve
been in the 130 range. It’s a fine line between making a million bucks
and make $300,000, and usually that’s putting.”
Putting problems have haunted the talented Garcia, especially in the majors.
But he’s found his stroke on Castle Pines’ immaculate greens.
“My putting has improved a lot,” said the 26-year-old Garcia, who
has won more than $1 million this year despite being winless. “And anytime
you’re hitting a sand wedge from 181 yards on a par-3 (seventh), you know
something’s not right.”
At +14 are European Ryder Cupper David Howell (+5 Friday), Harrison Frazar (+7)
and Jeff Gove (+5 with 10 holes remaining).
Defending champion Retief Goosen is in a group at +12 with 9 points and six holes
to play. Former champ Ernie Els is still on the course at +11, 2004 champion
Rod Pampling is finished with +10 and former champions Greg Norman and David
Toms are at +8 with holes to play this morning. Two-time winner Davis Love III
is finished at +7. Former champs Jose Maria Olazabal, Clarence Rose, Rich Beem
and Phil Mickelson are at the projected cutline of +5.
From
The Desk of Buddy Martin
 The re-emergence of Garcia’s
game
It has been a long and winding road for Sergio Garcia, but he
is finally emerging out of the shadows to reclaim the game that
once was so stellar that he almost challenged the crown price of
golf as an equal.
Tiger Woods he is not. But every so gradual, the pieces are coming
together as the putts start falling and the drives bounce truer,
which is what happened when the 26-year-old Spaniard teed it up
Friday in the second round and posted 10 more points for a total
of 16.
Encouraging though it may be, Sergio isn’t ready to say he’s
all the way back.
“Slowly I’m getting my confidence back,” Garcia said
in the Media Center. “That always helps. I’m driving the ball not
as good as I usually driving it, but I’m definitely driving the ball
95 percent better that I was two months ago.”
He says he can still “get better.” That should sound
a warning to those in the PGA field next week at Medinah.
A Hungry DL3
After a -4 opening round, Davis Love III’s chances of making
the Ryder Cup, without being picked, looked about as good as the
Colorado Rockies making it to the World Series. But he went out
Friday, determined to make the cut, and righted his course with
a round of +11 for a net +7 and a weekend spot. “Today I
showed how badly I wanted it,” said Love, currently No. 15
on Captain Tom Lehman’s list. “I had a good round when
I had to have one.”
The Short Game
As noted on the USA Network, David Duval is now a member at Castle
Pines. Perhaps he will start getting the “membership bounces” … Jonathan
Kaye says he’s not a good putter and that his stats are “horrible” – stating
that he is probably ranked 196th on Tour, “but I don’t
even think there are 196 people on the Tour” … What
Daniel Chopra (+8) says he needs after eight rounds at Castle
Pines is some of those 5-point eagles, something he’s never
had one of in three trips to Colorado.
Today’s (And Yesterday’s)
Quote
“The greens were a bit beat up and
not particularly nice to putt on.” – David
Howell, after his +9 round Thursday afternoon.
“They
were perfect this morning … In the afternoon they do spike up and they’re
not quite so pretty late in the day. But they’re fantastic greens in
general.” – Howell after his +5 round Friday morning..
And Good Morning …
... To Kris Kubalack
of California, who called the Media Center to ask the Sunday date
of the 2003 INTERNATIONAL won by Davis Love III. Asked by Media
Director Jonna Busack if he was on deadline for the information,
the former Denver resident replied, “No, I just
want to figure out my dog’s birthday.” Jonna researched
it and found out that Sunday date was Aug. 10. So belated happy birthday
to Gordy, who was found by Kris while wandering City Park.
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