Classic Going Down to the Wire

Working on a runaway Saturday at the Toshiba Senior Classic, John Jacobs stumbled and lost all but one stroke of his lead going into today’s final round at Newport Beach Country Club.

Jacobs was poised to add to a four-stroke lead, but made a double bogey on the par-three 17th. He also made pars on the relatively easy par-five 15th and 18th holes and finished with his second consecutive four-under-par 67.

“I gave away four strokes at the end pretty quick,” Jacobs said. “It makes for better viewing tomorrow. But I really could have got away from the field a little bit if I had finished at all.

“In fact I think you could say it’s one of the worst finishes a guy could have.”

Jacobs leads Al Geiberger (66), Gary McCord (68) and Dana Quigley (67) by only one stroke. Allen Doyle is another stroke back at six under and four others, including defending champion Hale Irwin, are at five under. Irwin, remember, shot a course-record nine-under 62 to win this tournament last year.

“No amount of lead is safe on this course,” said Jacobs, who won the season-opening MasterCard Championship. “With two par fives to finish, anything can happen.”

Jacobs seemed on the way to giving himself significant breathing room when from the rough on the par-four 11th, he pitched in from 60 yards for an eagle. He followed that with birdies on the next two holes to get to 10-under for the tournament.

McCord, a longtime friend who was playing in the same group, couldn’t keep pace, even though he birdied 11 and 12.

“That’s when I started yelling at him,” McCord said, “ ‘Keep this a game of skill, would you please, Johnny. Keep this a game of skill.’ He started laughing.”

McCord has made a career out of keeping the laughs coming, but this week he’s playing serious golf. His 68 included a chip-in from 10 feet off the green for eagle on the par-five third hole. He had two bogeys and finished with a birdie on 18.

McCord, who was winless in a 25-year career on the PGA Tour, said it’s great to be in the hunt for a title.

“Maybe we’ll get everybody to watch. We’ll put the tease on,” said McCord, shifting into a exaggerated voice-over baritone. “He’s gone 475 tournaments straight without a win. Don’t forget to tune in just in case he wins.”

Quigley, who won two events and $1.4 million last season, got into position with a strong finish. He eagled the 15th with a four-foot putt and birdied the 18th with a five-footer. He will be playing in the final threesome today with Jacobs and Geiberger.

Geiberger, 61, won the MasterCard Champions event for players 60 and older, defeating Butch Baird by four strokes to win $20,000. Geiberger put himself into position to win his first tour title since 1996 with his best round of the year. His 66 also tied him with Dave Stockton for the lowest round of the tournament. Geiberger made seven birdies and two bogeys.

He made birdies on his first three holes and also on both the finishing par fives to beat his best round of 1999 by three strokes and match his best round in two years. Geiberger’s strong play might have had something to do with who is carrying his bag, his son John.

John caddied for his father off and on for about six years but hasn’t done it much since he became golf coach at Pepperdine.

With John taking a long weekend away from Malibu, Geiberger said he was feeling quite comfortable. “I don’t have to second-guess him,” Geiberger said. “We both hit the ball the same. We’re both short.”

Jacobs, on the other hand, is the senior tour driving leader and earlier in his career won more than 100 long-driving titles. Hitting it far isn’t always an advantage on the tree-lined fairways at Newport Beach Country Club. But he didn’t sound worried about the pressure of a Sunday in the hunt.

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Today’s Tee Times

Final round of the Senior Classic at the Newport Beach Country Club:

7:35 a.m.--Lee Elder, Norm Davis

7:45--Jim Ferree, Harold Henning, Dick Hendrickson

7:55--Barney Thompson, Don January, Dave Hill

8:05--Orville Moody, Don Bies, Leonard Thompson

8:15--Steve Veriato, Jerry McGee, Rick Acton

8:25--Larry Mowry, David Graham, Calvin Peete

8:35--Bob Wynn, Gene Littler, Tom Shaw

8:45--Frank Conner, Walt Morgan, Dale Douglass

8:55--Larry Laoretti, Ray Carrasco, Gibby Gilbert

9:05--Fred Gibson, Alberto Giannone, Jimmy Powell

9:15--John D. Morgan, Gay Brewer, Bill Hall

9:25--Bob Eastwood, Miller Barber, J.C. Snead

9:35--Babe Hiskey, Jim Thorpe, Bob Murphy

9:45--Bob Dickson, Walter Zembriski, Joe Inman

9:55--Bobby Nichols, Hugh Baiocchi, Rocky Thompson

10:05--Howard Twitty, Dave Eichelberger, DeWitt Weaver

10:15--Larry Ziegler, John Bland, Terry Dill

10:25--Gary Player, Jim Albus, Lee Trevino

10:35--Chi Chi Rodriquez, Mike McCullough, John Mahaffey

10:45--Bruce Summerhays, Dave Stockton, Charles Coody

10:55--Gil Morgan, Hubert Green, Butch Baird

11:05--David Lundstrom, Tom McGinnis, Bob Duval

11:15--George Archer, Jay Sigel, Graham Marsh

11:25--Hale Irwin, Tom Wargo, Tom Jenkins

11:35--Gary McCord, Allen Doyle, Walter Hall

11:45--John Jacobs, Al Geiberger, Dana Quigley