Trevino, Still in the 60s, Takes PGA Lead

When Lee Trevino won the PGA Championship last year at Shoal Creek, he shot four straight rounds in the 60s--the first time any PGA winner had ever accomplished that feat.

This year, he has started off 66-68 at Cherry Hills.

“Wouldn’t that be something if I shot two more rounds in the 60s,” said the 45-year-old Trevino after Friday’s play in the 67th PGA. “That would make eight straight rounds in the 60s. If I did that, they ought to give me the PGA. Or at least make me the president.”

Trevino, at eight-under-par 134 after 36 holes, is one shot ahead of long-hitting Fred Couples, who added a 65 to his opening-round 70 for a 135.

Doug Tewell, the surprise first-round leader, scrambled to a one-over-par 72 and is tied with comeback-player-of-the-year candidate Hubie Green at 136. Green shot a 69.

The 36-hole cut of 147, five over par, wasn’t as sinister as the cut in the U.S. Open, but it did eliminate such favorites as Curtis Strange, the tour’s leading money-winner, who skied to 77-76--153, and the U. S. Open champion, Andy North, who won the 1978 Open here at Cherry Hills. North finished 72-76--148.

Jack Nicklaus, looking for a sixth PGA title after his opening-round 66, slipped to a 75 but is safely in at 141.

Tom Watson, not a candidate for comeback of the year after being Player of the Year in 1984, but still looking for his first win of 1985, shot 70 and is tied at 137 with Peter Jacobsen (66-71).

Most players said the course played about two shots more difficult than Thursday, when Tewell set a course-record 64 and there were 31 rounds better than par 35-36--71. An overnight rain that softened fairways and shortened tee shots, more difficult pin placements and a cool afternoon breeze were the reasons for the higher scores.

Watson, who needs a PGA win to have won the four majors, the other three being the U.S. Open, the British Open and the Masters, predicted that Trevino will be a hard man to catch in the next two days.

“Any time Lee gets the lead he’s tough,” Watson said. “He is one of the straightest hitters, he can pipeline these narrow fairways and he’s putting well.”

Trevino pinpointed his putter--the one he picked up for $50 in a pro shop in the Netherlands during the Dutch Open two years ago--as his main weapon.

“I’m not hitting the ball nearly as well as I did last year at Shoal Creek,” Trevino said, “but I’m putting extremely well.”

Trevino used 26 putts for his 66 Thursday and 29 putts for his 68 Friday.

“Putting is the only reason I’m where I am (leading the tournament),” he said. “I’m putting better than anyone else, that’s all. I haven’t had a three-putt yet. That’s one great putter I found in Holland.”

The putter almost didn’t make it to Cherry Hills. When Trevino’s caddy, Herman Mitchell, unloaded the clubs for his boss’ first practice round last weekend, the putter was missing. Mitchell called Dallas and had the magic instrument rushed here. It arrived just before Trevino teed off in the opening round.

Trevino was also hitting his irons close to the pin; only one of his four birdie putts was longer than 15 feet.

Lanny Wadkins, a two-time PGA champion, is five shots back of Trevino at 139, and for 11 holes he generated most of the second round excitement. Wadkins have five birdies and an eagle in 11 holes and was tied with Tewell for the lead when, suddenly, he went down as fast as he had risen.

Wadkins took three putts for a bogey on the 12th hole and then got a bad case of the yanks. He had a short wedge to the 13th green to set up another birdie attempt, only to yank the shot into a bunker. On the final five holes, he pulled every shot to the left, once hitting into a line of trees where he had to chip out.

The result was four bogeys in five holes and pars on two holes that could have been birdies for a strange 31-38 scorecard.

Couples, coming back to the tour after taking six weeks off following the U.S. Open, made six birdies to march up the leader board without a single bogey.

“I made an eagle on 17 yesterday and that gave me something to start on today,” Couples said. “This was a surprise for me because I don’t usually start off this well after a long layoff.”

Couples played last week in the Seattle-Everett Open, a 54-hole Tournament Players Series event at the Everett Country Club.

“It was a very short course so I had to hit a lot of irons off the tees,” he said. “I guess it sort of prepared me for Cherry Hills. I only used the driver on four holes today.”

Couples, who lives in La Quinta, Calif., said the longer he laid off, the more difficult it was to return to the tour.

“I was exhausted after the Open so I went home to relax,” he said. “I’d planned to take a few weeks off but it seems like if I take another, then I want another and another. It stretched out to six weeks. When I’m home like that, I don’t think about golf, play golf, read about it or watch it on TV. I try to forget about it. Then, when I come back, I’m refreshed and in a good frame of mind.”

Couples started his birdie binge by almost reaching the 328-yard third hole with his drive. He was five yards short of the green and chipped up for an eight-foot birdie putt.

“That kind of got me feeling good about my game,” he said. “I always feel when I start shooting low numbers, I can keep shooting them.”

The most impressive of his five other birdies came after a fairway bunker shot on No. 10, a 437-yard par 4. He put his tee shot in the trap and hit a 6-iron one foot from the hole for a tap-in birdie.

Green, the 1977 U.S. Open champion who has only one win since 1981, is the only player other than Trevino to have two rounds in the 60s.

“Shooting good scores is great, but I don’t care what I do right now because I know I’m hitting it a lot better,” Green said. “My game died two years ago, and it’s no fun dying. There were times I thought about quitting, but I always felt I could still play golf.”

Green had one string of four birdies in a row and during the up-and-down round had six birdies and four bogeys.

“Four (birdies) in a row didn’t excite me too much,” he said. “Last week in the Western Open I had seven in a row on Sunday.”

Tewell, who admitted to being “jittery and feeling the pressure” as the first-round leader, criticized Friday’s slow play.

“Five hours is pretty slow for the best golfers in the world,” he said. “We had to wait every shot on every hole, and that gets very irritating. When it started to get cool, the long waits made it difficult to keep loose. I honestly feel the slow pace of play on the back nine cost me a stroke or two because my back got a little tight and affected my swing.”

Tewell has a history of back injuries. They almost took him off the tour on several occasions.

When Arnold Palmer bogeyed the 18th hole, he thought he had missed the cut, but it gave him a 147--right at the cutoff.

It was here at Cherry Hills in 1960 that Palmer won his only U.S. Open with a charge of 65 in the final round.

“Another 65 might not do it this year, but wouldn’t it be a hell of a lot of fun?” Palmer said when he heard he’d be around for 36 more holes.