Couples Tied for the Lead After Shooting 67 in Wind

Fred Couples extracted a 67 from gusty winds and tied Paul Azinger for the second round lead Friday in the Doral Open golf tournament.

“That’s about the best I could have got out of the round,” said Couples, who saved par and a share of the lead with an eight-foot par-putt on the final hole.

Couples, seeking a second consecutive PGA Tour victory, completed two rounds on Doral’s Blue Monster course in 134, 10 under par.

He was tied with Azinger, who converted a good finish and a better start into a 66, the best round of the day.

“Fast start, fast finish,” said Azinger, who opened his round eagle-birdie-birdie and closed it birdie-par-birdie.

Mark Calcavecchia, playing hours ahead of Couples and Azinger in the worst of the winds, with gusts to 30 mph -- shot a 67 that left him one stroke off the lead at 135.

“Considering the winds, I played about as well as I can,” said Calcavecchia, winner of the British Open and two American titles last year.

The same, however, hardly could be said of Tom Kite, the 1989 Player of the Year and one of golf’s most consistent players.

Kite blew to a fat 78, his first score that high since a similar score cost him the 1989 U.S. Open title. His 146 total was 2 over par and one more than required to qualify for the final two rounds Saturday and Sunday.

It marked the first time in 37 tournaments, going back to 1988, he had missed the cut.

Tom Purtzer was fourth, two back of Calcavecchia, at 137. He had a 70 in the difficult conditions.

John Cook and Phil Blackmar were next at 138. Each had a second-round 71.

First-round leader Jim Gallagher went to a 74 and was at 139.

Jack Nicklaus matched par 72 and reached the tournament halfway point at 140, six shots back.

Australian Greg Norman was 73-141. PGA champion Payne Stewart and Tom Watson had matching scores of 73-143.

Azinger, who has won once and has a second place finish in six previous tournaments this year, said his fast start “kind of caught me off guard.

“Going to the first tee I was a little insecure about the way I was hitting it.”

But he needed only a 5-iron second shot to reach the green on the par-5 first hole.