Kelly Finds His Way Out of Woods

A cloud of smoke swept across Torrey Pines, and while he waited on the tee, Tiger Woods blinked as he looked up and squeezed eye drops.

Just where was that smoke coming from Saturday at the Buick Invitational? Was it from out of the top of Woods’ head after his double bogey at his 16th hole? Was it Mark O’Meara trying to torch his birth certificate? How about from the clubs of Mr. Cheesehead, Jerry Kelly, who burned up the course with a 66? Or could it have been J.L. Lewis trying mightily to stick to his homey philosophy, whatever the heck it is?

Actually, the smoke came from a brushfire across the way. And when it cleared, more than a few people had to rub their eyes like Tiger, probably because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Only six players shot in the 60s on a semi-breezy, cloudless day along the Pacific Ocean on the beefed-up South Course that was equal parts headache and heartache.

Kelly, Lewis and O’Meara are tied for the 54-hole lead at 10-under 206 at Torrey, where somebody’s going to win today, although it’s probably not going to be Woods ... unless he starts smoking, and quickly.

After he turned in a 69, Woods is six shots off the lead and knows his chances are only slightly better than Kelly ever saying anything bad about his beloved Green Bay Packers.

“I need to get off to a start like Mark O did on Thursday,” Woods said of O’Meara, who had a 31 on the front nine the first day. “I need to do that. Then at least I’ll give myself a chance on the back. And try to get it going.”

No doubt it’s a good plan, but there are 19 players in front of Woods and none of them look like they’re too eager to move out of his way. John Daly, who shot a 68, is only a shot behind the leaders, deadlocked in a five-way with K.J. Choi, Rory Sabbatini, Jay Williamson and Kent Jones.

After he signed his scorecard, Daly was asked if he was hungry, as in hungry to win, not to have a box of cookies.

Well, said Daly, yes, he really was hungry.

“I’m hungry, I’m just not going to force it,” Daly said. “Hopefully it will happen. The way I’m thinking and the way I’m able to focus on my game, I think it will get me through it.”

The degree of Kelly’s hunger is unknown, but he already has won this year at the Sony Open. He has a new three wood and a new confidence, both of which should come in handy.

The wind did not blow off the ocean, but were Santa Anas instead, Kelly noticed.

“It’s a mind game out there, the more the wind blows the more it is a game,” he said.

Kelly had seven birdies and one bogey and he closed with a birdie at the 551-yard 18th, where he laid up to five feet and made the putt.

O’Meara hasn’t had a great recent history, missing cuts at Phoenix and at Pebble Beach, but he certainly hasn’t acted like a 45-year-old guy who hasn’t won in four years. He had a 67 on the first day and his 70 on Saturday was precise and effective. He kept the ball on the fairway, gave credit to his new Titleist driver, and gave thanks that his neck that affected him recently isn’t sore anymore.

“I was a little nervous out there, but that’s a good feeling to have,” O’Meara said. “I have to look back ... I’ve been doing this a long time now. Hopefully, I’ll do well. If I don’t it’ll be all right.

“A lot of things can happen.”

That’s exactly what Lewis is hoping for. The 41-year-old from Horseshoe Bay, Texas, was a second-round co-leader of the U.S. Open, where he eventually tied for 30th. He bogeyed two of the four par fives Saturday on his way to a 71, but had an explanation handy.

“Birdies,” said Lewis, “are hard to find.”

So, too, are philosophies, apparently. Lewis would acknowledge no goals, except one: “To play each shot to the best of my ability.

“As for winning or losing, there’s no point in putting emphasis on them.”

Leave that to Woods. He had worked his score to five under par, although he was again having trouble keeping the ball on the fairway. At the par-four seventh, his 16th hole, Woods knocked his drive far right into a bush. He had an unplayable lie and was forced to take a drop. Woods managed to sky the ball over a tree and onto the green, some 35 feet from the hole.

Putting for his par, Woods rolled it about four feet past the hole, then missed the one coming back for a double bogey, his third double in three days. When Woods missed a two-foot birdie putt at the next hole, the par-three eighth, the only thing that would make him feel any better was a birdie at the 590-yard ninth. And despite another drive in the right rough, Woods got it, closing with a birdie.

“I threw away some good strokes today,” Woods said. “I just didn’t get a whole lot out of my round.”

Like everyone else, he’s got one more chance.