Jones Shoots a 64, Ties Calcavecchia for Lead at Pebble

Friday was a day to give thanks. Mark Calcavecchia thanked his putter. Steve Jones thanked the Lord. Tom Sieckmann thanked the golf course.

So at the midway point of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Calcavecchia and Jones gratefully accepted a share of the lead and Sieckmann was just glad to be close.

Jones shot an eight-under-par 64 at Cypress Point, the best round of his five-year pro career, to catch Calcavecchia for the 36-hole lead at 136, one stroke ahead of Sieckmann, a little-known player who missed the cut here last year.

The weather held up Friday, but so did only one of the first-day leaders. Calcavecchia followed his Thursday round of 67 with a 69 at Spyglass Hill to keep a share of the lead. The other two leaders didn’t have much luck.

Jim Booros shot a 77 and fell seven shots back at 144. Jim Gallagher, Jr., finished with a 73 and saw one drive smack a tree squarely in the trunk and bounce 65 yards straight back.

“That was a no-brainer,” Gallagher said.

Maybe so, but Gallagher should keep this in mind: He still isn’t out on a limb or out of this tournament.

Gallagher is tied with Tom Watson at 140, a stroke behind Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer. Craig Stadler is one stroke behind Sieckmann at 138 after he shot a 70 at Pebble Beach.

Jones, 29, is a deeply religious man from Phoenix who likes to credit his convictions for success on the golf course.

“The Lord is the most important thing in my life,” Jones said. “Now, let’s talk about golf.”

There hasn’t been much to say about it for Jones in this event. Jones has played here four times and previously had not made the cut. But he shot himself into contention with six birdies on the first 10 holes and then finished with his second eagle in two days, this one on the par-4, 346-yard 18th at Cypress.

From 131 yards out, Jones hit a 7-iron about 30 feet past the hole, and the ball spun back into the cup.

Calcavecchia toured Spyglass Hill in 69 strokes for his share of the lead. He had an eagle, three bogeys and four birdies, which meant that the only consistent thing in his round was the colorful language Calcavecchia used to describe it.

This should not be considered unusual. Someone with a name such as Calcavecchia ought to have a way with words. If he were on Wheel of Fortune instead of the PGA Tour, he might need to buy a vowel.

When Calcavecchia eagled the 600-yard No. 1 hole after a 40-foot chip shot hit the flag and dropped in, he called it “an easy EEG.”

That’s Calcavecchian for “eagle.” But it was also Calcavecchia who shot rounds of 70-70-70-69-70 at the Bob Hope and wasn’t happy about the 69.

“It kind of bummed me out a little,” he said. “I was going for five 70s in a row.”

Last week at Phoenix, Calcavecchia had eight 3-putts in two days, so he changed putters, which seems to be working out. He explained what he had been doing wrong.

“I was looking up, I was panicking, I was choking,” he said.

Calcavecchia is one of the longest hitters on the tour. When he drives well, he finds himself in a “driving slot.” He is also one of the most outspoken.

There is a mini-controversy bubbling in this tournament about a rule concerning balls in the fairway at Spyglass.

Players can lift, clean and replace the ball. They are allowed to do this, even though Spyglass has the best fairways of the three courses, because of what happened there in the rain two years ago when they weren’t in such good shape.

After the first round in 1986, the Spyglass fairways were so bad, those who played it the next day were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls. The players who didn’t have that advantage the first day complained.

It’s been clear and sunny so far, but the clean-and-place rule is still being used at Spyglass--just in case the weather changes and so there won’t be any controversy.

“That’s the worst ruling I’ve ever seen in the history of the PGA,” Calcavecchia said. “Those fairways are absolutely perfect. It’s totally ridiculous. But I guess it can get pretty sloppy over there. They were just being precautious about it.”

This much is known about Sieckmann (pronounced SEEK-mun). He lives in Omaha and, at 6 feet 5 inches, is one of the tour’s tallest players. The odds on him winning here are also pretty long.

Sieckmann didn’t make the cut here last year but that wasn’t too unusual because he missed the cut in 25 of the 35 tournaments he played.

“Obviously I’m in a good spot,” he said.

And so are Lyle and Langer. Lyle’s 65 at Cypress made up for the 74 he shot Thursday at Pebble Beach. Langer’s 67 at Pebble Beach put him in position to challenge.