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Tournament Players Championship : Lietzke Survives Goof, Leads by 2

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Times Staff Writer

Bruce Lietzke is an easygoing person, who doesn’t regard himself as a macho man.

Yet Lietzke admitted Friday that he turned macho on the 16th hole of the Tournament Players Championship at Sawgrass.

He was battling David Frost for the lead in the tournament at that point and had to decide what type of second shot he would hit on the par-five, 497-yard hole.

“There was an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other,” said Lietzke, who dismissed the angel and went for the green with a three-iron.

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The shot went into the water, but Lietzke still managed to save par. After taking his drop, he hit a pitching wedge within 10 feet of the hole and made the putt.

It was a pivotal hole for Lietzke, who finished with a 69 and a two-day total of 135, nine under par. He had a two-stroke lead over Frost, who bogeyed two of his final three holes.

Fred Couples was at 138, and eight pros were grouped at 139--Fulton Allem, Chip Beck, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Koch, Tom Kite, Paul Azinger, Mark McCumber and Dan Pohl.

Lietzke said he had some doubts about his club selection on No. 16 because there was a slight wind blowing from left to right and he’s a left-to-right player.

“My only other alternative was to hit a pitching wedge lay-up shot and my pride wouldn’t let me do that, so I played the macho way and socked it into the water,” he said.

“It was probably a poor decision. But in the back of mind I knew my ball would be fading. And, if I hit into the water, I’d be able to drop the ball pretty close to the green. I could still salvage a par if I followed up that bad shot with two good ones. Fortunately, I did it.”

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Lietzke said he would have felt bad about himself if he had pulled out a pitching wedge to safely lay up.

“It’s more of a personal thing,” he said. “It’s almost like you’re backing down. You’re trying to prove to yourself that you can hit a shot that you probably won’t pull off.

“Eighty or 90% of the time, I would try that (three-iron) shot instead of the conservative way of doing it. And I think most guys are like that these days.

“You’ve got a three-iron in your hand and I kind of pride myself in my long irons. That big, old par-five green is sitting up there. You start licking your chops. And I’m thinking what an eagle would do for me (to) separate me from the pack a little bit.

“I don’t consider myself an egotistical person, but you are always trying to prove things to yourself.”

Lietzke, who had a 66 Thursday, said that the course played about two shots harder Friday because of sudden gusts of winds and firmer greens.

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Lietzke, 37, who lives in Dallas, had four birdies and only one bogey.

“You had to allow for about a seven- to eight-yard bounce to your shots,” Lietzke said. “That’s how firm the greens were.”

Frost, who started on the 10th tee and was tied with Lietzke after 15 holes, ran into trouble on the seventh hole. He three-putted from 40 feet for a bogey and then had another bogey on the par-five, 582-yard ninth.

“I hit a couple of bad shots coming in, so I immediately went to the practice tee,” Frost said. “I like the course, but it doesn’t reward the good shot. You can’t attack it all the time.”

Keith Clearwater, the first-round leader with a 65, faded quickly. He had a 76, a score that was matched by Curtis Strange, the leading money-winner last year.

Strange made the cut, though, along with 73 other players. It was at 146 and such prominent players as Mark Calcavecchia, Hale Irwin, Mark O’Meara, Raymond Floyd and Jeff Sluman didn’t make it. Neither did Sam Randolph, the former USC star, who had a two-day total of 151.

Steve Pate, the former Bruin, also had some problems. He was tied for second with Lietzke and Frost Thursday after shooting a 66. But he soared to a 78--and a 144--Friday.

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Greg Norman had the best round of the day with a 67. His round put him six strokes behind Lietzke.

Morning fog delayed the start of the tournament for 45 minutes and Lietzke, playing in the afternoon, said there was some concern that he would be able to finish before it got dark.

“At 6 a.m., I wasn’t even sure we could play,” he said.

The winner here gets a 10-year exemption on the tour, not to mention a first place check of $243,000.

But Lietzke said the exemption is not a high priority for him.

“If I get it, I might give it back,” he said jokingly. “I have been looking for a way to retire. However, a few years ago I said I wouldn’t be playing by 1990 and that prediction doesn’t hold much water now.”

Lietzke, who has 11 tour victories, is selective in the tournaments he plays.

“I play a lot from January to May, but I like to have some time off during the summer,” he said.

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