KAILUA-KONA — Tom Watson shot better than his age, Tom Lehman nailed three eagles and Vijay Singh recorded the best round so far at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Friday, but none of those feats were good enough to take the lead.
Duffy Waldorf made back-to-back par saves from the bunker to close out his second round and preserve a 7-under-par 65. Waldorf is 12-under for the tournament and in sole possession of the lead — albeit by a very small margin — and knows it will take an even better effort in the final round to hold off the pack.
“I’ve got to play better than I did today,” Waldorf said. “I think I’ve got a lot out of my rounds the last two days and I need to maybe hit a few more shots just in case there’s some trouble.”
Trouble hasn’t found Waldorf so far. He has played bogey free golf through 36 holes, although he didn’t make it easy down the stretch.
“Bogey free again, which is always a big plus. I challenged it the last couples holes with some difficult bunker shots, but it was — it’s good,” Waldorf said. “You don’t really want to be putting yourself in those positions too often. Bunkers are difficult out here — they’re steep and the greens are firm.”
Lehman is one stroke back at 11-under, along with Davis Love III and Tom Pernice, Jr.
Lehman started the day three shots off the leader, but had the best day of the trio by making a living on the Par-5s. The 1996 Open Championship winner went 7-under on those four holes alone, with three eagles and a birdie. He tied the PGA Tour Champions record for eagles in a round and it was the first time since Jay Don Blake did it at the Shaw Charity Classic in 2013. Lehman’s lone miscue was a double bogey on hole No. 6.
“I had a lot of chances today. I gave myself chances all day long,” Lehman said. “You make some, you miss some, but I’m very happy.”
Watson drew the biggest crowd as he approached the clubhouse to wrap up his 65 second round. He landed in a group with Olin Browne and Round 1 leader Joe Durant two stokes back at 10-under.
“Pretty good for an old guy,” the 66-year-old Watson said with a smile.
Watson last won the Mitsubishi Electric title in 2010, but spends some time on the Big Island and knows the course well.
“I think that’s a big help,” Watson said of his knowledge of the course. “I think it’s a golf course where if you’re hitting it half decently, you can make a lot of birdies.”
Vijay Singh shot a 72 in his first round, but entered the clubhouse tied for the early lead on Friday, rolling in a 30-foot putt on hole No. 18 to wrap up his 8-under 64. The best round of the tournament so far puts the Hualalai rookie in contention heading into the final day.
Almost every player noted the lack of wind on Friday. If the weather repeats for the final round, it will be a track meet to the trophy. The scoring average was 69.326 in Round 2, a whole stroke better than 70.535 in Round 1.
“I felt the wind was just that extra notch down,” Waldorf said. “It started out and felt like it was going to be the same kind of day — windy at the start and then picking up. But it kind of died down.”
If the wind stays down, a slew of big names lurking on the leaderboard have a shot of rocketing up and taking home the tournament’s unique “Makau,” or hook trophy.
Among them are course record holder Loren Roberts and defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez at 8-under. Fred Couples, Jay Haas and two-time Mitsubishi Electric champion Bernhard Langer are also within range to make a run at 7-under.
Notes
Should Waldorf win, he would be the ninth player to have claimed the tournament championship in his first appearance…The most difficult hole was No. 8. The par-3 hole averaged 3.163 and there were just three birdies for the day…One of the interesting pairings on Saturday is the 11:25 a.m. duo of Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin. They were opposing captains at the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales…Nine times in the last 10 years the tournament winner has come from the final pairing. The exception during that stretch was John Cook in 2011. He was in the second to last pairing.