GOLF / PGA SENIORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP : Mowry’s Comeback Gets a Big Lift

Friday, when the wind and the treacherous back nine tortured the best senior golfers in the world, Larry Mowry resumed his comeback.

Mowry, practically missing from the Senior PGA Tour in recent years, leaped out of relative obscurity, posting a 68, the best score in the second round of the PGA Seniors’ Championship.

The four-under round gave Mowry a 36-hole total of 138, tying him with favored Raymond Floyd for the lead at six under. Floyd shot a 69.

Lee Trevino (69), Dave Stockton (69) and Jim Colbert (71) were at 139 after surviving a wild afternoon.

The 3,457-yard, par-36 second nine frustrated most of the 50-and-older group, especially Stockton. The 1993 player of the year was making a mockery of the back nine and had a two-stroke lead after birdies on four of the first five holes after making the turn.

But the water, which had already swallowed about 40 balls during the round, finally got Stockton. On the 412-yard, par-four 16th, he put consecutive approach shots into the drink and had a quadruple-bogey eight to drop to four under.

Even so, Stockton remained a jovial.

“I had an eagle and seven birdies, but all you circled was the eight,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not at all upset because my putting is finally coming around.

“I was getting the feeling that I could do anything when I took out the five-iron for a 170-yard shot. Both shots sailed out to the right. The first was a shock, because I never do that. Then I pulled out a four-iron, but missed a 15-foot putt for the eight.”

That opened the door for Mowry, and he walked right in. And if he stays on his game, he could prove to be a good front-runner.

When Mowry joined the pro tour 35 years ago, he was a young man with talent. He was also a young man with a drinking habit.

Twenty years later, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous. It was too late to help him on the regular tour, but when he turned 50 in 1986, he became an instant success on the senior tour.

After earning more than $1 million in four years--even before there was big money on the tour--he woke up one morning feeling the same as he had in his drinking days.

“I was flopping around like I did when I was drinking,” he said.

This time it was different. He had not had a drink for more than 10 years.

Mowry learned he had vertigo, an inner-ear problem that caused him to lose his balance and depth perception. It was three years before it was discovered that allergies caused the problem. Last year Mowry, who won this tournament in 1989, began his comeback. It was temporarily interrupted by a hernia operation last fall.

“I didn’t start out well this year, but I’m feeling great,” he said. “To play this well on this tough course is a giant step forward.”

Mowry missed birdie putts of eight, 15 and 12 feet on the front nine, and his 25-footer on No. 8 hung on the lip. So he finished with a three-under 33. On the rugged back nine, he had birdies on 11 and 16, the two toughest holes.