There’s Another Tiger Running Free at Riviera

Forget what you’ve read. Not only is Tiger playing in the Nissan Open, he’s leading the thing.

Just not the Tiger you might think.

Toru Taniguchi, nicknamed the Japanese Tiger by reporters in his homeland, shot a four-under-par 67 on Friday to claim a one-stroke lead over Jesper Parnevik, Brad Faxon, Scott McCarron and Len Mattiace, who charged up the leaderboard late in the day with birdies on his last four holes.

Taniguchi, aided by a translator, gave soft, one-word answers to reporters after his round. Later, when the subject of his nickname came up, he humbly waved his hand in front of his face, lowered his head and recoiled like a backspinning Titleist. Ah, humility.

Thing is, when he’s playing on the Japan Golf Tour, Taniguchi greets every birdie with a Tiger Woods fist pump, wears red shirts on must-win days, and beamed on the first tee last year when he was introduced as Toru “Tiger” Taniguchi.

At the Buick Open last week, he played in the group immediately in front of Woods, and, at that tournament last year, he was one group behind him. So Taniguchi has had a taste of the PGA Tour’s answer to Woodstock.

“As soon as Tiger finished the hole, all the gallery was gone,” Taniguchi said, almost looking incredulous. “I want to play a little better golf so I can get them to stay.”

Woods pulled out of the Nissan Open to recover from flu, but the tournament still drew a second-day crowd of 22,494, respectably large in tour terms. The weather was pristine, slightly warmer than Thursday, and several golfers said the greens were in tremendous shape.

The way Faxon plays Riviera, he might never want to leave. He shot a 63 here during the 1995 PGA Championship, including a 28 on the front with five birdies and an eagle. He finished fifth in that tournament, precisely what he needed to make the Ryder Cup team. So Riviera feels like an old friend.

“It’s nice because you kind of relive some of the shots you hit,” he said. “You feel like you know the course, the bounces, what’s going to happen.”

Faxon didn’t need any local knowledge on his two best shots of this tournament.

He holed out a wedge from 80 yards for an eagle Thursday, and Friday repeated the feat for birdie from 30 yards.

Just as comfortable at Riviera is McCarron, a 1988 UCLA graduate, who drove the green on the par-four, 315-yard 10th hole--almost everyone else played it safe with an iron--then sank a 36-foot putt for eagle. That was the start of a back nine that included two birdies and six pars. When he was a Bruin, he played Riviera roughly once a month, even though it was USC’s home course.

“I really feel this is a golf course [where] I can win it,” he said. “There are just some golf courses you feel comfortable with.”

Parnevik, the first-round leader, was more steady than spectacular. He followed a 65 with a 69, making birdie on his last hole to stay within striking range.

Bob Tway is two shots off the lead. Three shots back are David Peoples, Tommy Armour III, J.J. Henry and David Duval, fresh off a three-week snowboarding hiatus. Duval has won three times coming off similar breaks, and once won after a 10-week layoff.

Sergio Garcia, a fan favorite, was frustrated with his putting Thursday after shooting an opening-round 73 and retired to the practice green. Evidently, it paid off. He fired a 67 on Friday--putting him seven shots off the lead--and did so with fantastic putting and several impressive up-and-downs.

“I haven’t hit that many good putts in a long time,” he said. “Even the ones I didn’t make, they were great strokes. That gives me a lot of confidence. Yesterday it was horrible.”

Several eye-catching names failed to make the cut--which was even par--including Darren Clarke; Hal Sutton; Corey Pavin, who won here in 1994 and ‘95; Matt Gogel, who won at Pebble Beach this year; and J.L. Lewis, who finished second last weekend at La Jolla.

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