Zoeller Leads by 3 Strokes in Down-and-Up Pro-Am

A controversy over a PGA ruling replaced the weather Saturday as the main topic of conversation at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

After the Pebble Beach, Cypress Point and Spyglass Hill courses were soaked by rain for two days, the PGA ruled that the players could lift, clean and replace their golf balls after every shot from the fairway during the second round. The round had been delayed a day by the dreadful weather.

Some of the professionals, including Fuzzy Zoeller, who leads after 36 holes with a nine-under-par 135, didn’t like the idea. Tom Watson, who is in second place, three strokes behind Zoeller, said it was the right decision.

Sandy Tatum, a former United States Golf Assn. president who is Watson’s amateur partner in the tournament, thought the players should have, in the lexicon of the game, played the ball down--meaning not lifting and cleaning it.

George Archer, a former Masters champion and a winner here once, said: “We played the ball under water Thursday, and today the courses were dry and we played it up. You tell me what’s going on.”

What went on for Archer was an improvement of 16 strokes over Thursday’s round. He shot a six-under-par 66 at Pebble Beach, matching Zoeller for the best score of the day.

Low scores abounded at all three courses Saturday. That’s what happens when you allow the best golfers in the world to get the ball in their hands, clean it and replace it.

“Anytime you get the ball in your hand, you have an advantage,” Zoeller said. “Often when you play it up, you can hit a wood instead of an iron. And when you have to hit it out of the slop, you’re guessing.”

Watson said: “There is a big advantage to playing it up. You know what the ball is going to do.”

The ruling certainly seemed to help Watson. He shot a five-under-par 67 at Spyglass Hill, the most difficult of the three courses and one that is usually about a par 74 for him.

“Most of the pros I talked to were not happy with the PGA’s decision to lift and clean,” Zoeller said. “Pebble Beach was in good shape for the amount of water it got, and why they let us tee it up I don’t know. It wasn’t necessary. I had one shot with a lot of mud on the ball.”

Bob Eastwood, who is one of six players at 140, said: “We should have played it up Thursday. I had my hand in the water all day anyway.” Eastwood was referring to casual water, from which a player is allowed a free drop.

Watson disagreed with Zoeller. “I think we should have played it up because they couldn’t get the mowers on the fairways at Spyglass,” he said.

None of the courses have been mowed since Wednesday. PGA tournament supervisor Mike Shea said: “The decision was made to lift and clean because, first of all, we had two inches of rain Thursday and Friday, and we didn’t know when we could get the mowers back on Spyglass.” But in Zoeller’s view, once the ball is played down, as it was in poor weather Thursday, “you should play it that way all week.”

The PGA, in its wisdom, will also permit the pros to play it up in the third and fourth rounds, even if the weather remains clement. It’s seemingly absurd reasoning: Once the pros get into the habit of lifting and cleaning a ball, they may mistakenly pick it up and be penalized if the rule is changed during a tournament. Shea did not say how the players would be able to adjust at San Diego next week after playing it up here for three days.

Watson did not agree with the decision. “It should be done on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Hackers everywhere call lifting and cleaning balls “winter rules.” There is no such game in any rule book, however.

So, the big advantage Zoeller had after shooting a good score Thursday--a three-under-par 69, at Spyglass Hill under dreadful conditions--were reduced, if not lost, by the ruling. Still, he said, “Anytime they let me tee it up, I will.” Today, Zoeller will play Cypress Point and Watson returns to one of his favorite courses, Pebble Beach.

Aside from all that, Frank Urban Zoeller was in rare form after his round. His first quip to the press was, “No, I am not going to run for mayor of Carmel,” a reference to actor Clint Eastwood’s decision last week to seek that office. And after telling reporters what he thought of the PGA’s ruling, Zoeller said: “Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I played damn good. The weather was perfect, the greens were holding and my putts were going in. I know I went out there and beat a good golf course.”

The key to this tournament, he said, “is to get a partner who gets you rolling. Mine (Mike Evans, a 4-handicapper) made a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 1, and I got rolling.”

Indeed, Zoeller made birdies at the second, third, fourth and sixth holes with putts of 15, 4, 8 and 6 feet. He saved pars at the 10th and 11th holes after hitting into bunkers, sank four-foot birdie putts at the 13th and 14th and made one from eight feet at No. 18.

He shot his only bogey at No. 17, making what he said was a mental error on the selection of a club. “I hit a 5-iron and I should have hit a 4-iron,” he said. He knocked his tee shot into a bunker and missed a 10-foot putt for a par.

Taking advantage of good, made-by-hand lies, Watson shot seven birdies at Spyglass Hill in the warm, sunny weather--and on a soft course. “My caddy said it was like walking through cow manure,” he said.

Watson spoiled his splendid round with bogeys at No. 3, where he missed the green with a 7-iron, 150-yard tee shot, and at No. 18, where he drove into some trees and hit one trying to extricate himself.

Watson said he was glad to get Spyglass Hill out of the way, which is the usual reaction from a pro who has just played that course. “It is not my favorite course,” Watson said.

Said Zoeller: “Spyglass is for a long hitter. It is a definite advantage getting it out of the way. You can shoot some pretty good numbers on the other courses.”

Professional Mike Hulbert shot a pretty good number on No. 10 at Cypress Point, making a rare double-eagle 2 on the 491-yard, par-5 hole. He drilled his second shot 220 yards with a 1-iron into the hole. Thirty-five holes-in-one were shot on the Tour in 1985--but no double eagles.

Mark Wiebe shot a 69 at Pebble Beach and trails Watson by one stroke at 139.

Jack Nicklaus, on the other hand, had a dreadful day, even while giving himself better lies. He shot 40-40 and languishes near the rear of the pack at 153. He did not make a single birdie.