Saturday, August 21, 2010

Tradition leader Weibring playing from memory

SUNRIVER, Oregon (AP) — D.A. Weibring has only two top-10 finishes the past two years on the Champions Tour. The second-round leader of the Jeld-Wen Tradition thinks he'll remember how to handle the pressure of being in a final pairing.
Weibring shot his second straight 5-under par 67 on Friday at Crosswater Club to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Lehman.
The Tradition is the fourth of five majors on the Champions Tour.
Weibring, who has struggled the past two years with a bone spur on his left shoulder, hasn't won a tournament since the 2008 Senior Players Championship. Weibring said when he's been healthy, he's done well on the Champions Tour, pointing to 2004, 2005 and 2007, years when he reached double digits in top-10 finishes.
"I feel pretty good," said the 57-year-old Weibring, who is 49th on the tour's money list. "I look forward to the weekend and that I can challenge myself. If I can keep doing what I'm doing and build on that, good things will happen."
Weibring made five birdie putts ranging from 12 and 18 feet.
Weibring by no means has separated himself from the field. There were 13 players within five strokes of the lead, including Bernhard Langer and Lehman, who have combined to win the three Champions majors during 2010.
Lehman is lurking despite some spotty play the first two days. Lehman, who shot a 69 Friday and was at 136, made birdies on three of his final five holes to move into second place.
Lehman described his day as "difficult," saying he started out strong without results, got mad at himself midway through the round before rallying down the stretch.
The key to Lehman's round was the par-5 12th, when he got up and down from 270 yards to save a par.
"I feel good about this round, that I was able to squeeze three birdies in the end. It's gratifying and satisfying to do that," Lehman said.
Gil Morgan, Jay Don Blake, Bob Tway and Fred Funk were tied for third at 137.
Morgan, who will be 64 in September, is the most surprising of that group after shooting a second-round 69. Morgan doesn't have a top-20 finish this year and hasn't won on tour since 2007. He admits at his age, his game is deteriorating.
"But we keep plugging along. There are days we play good, when we're feeling good," Morgan said.
Tway shot a 67 that included five birdies on the back nine.
Funk, who shot a second-round 69, continued his hot play at Crosswater. In 14 Tradition rounds at the central Oregon golf course, Funk is 42 under par.
Four strokes off the lead at 138 were Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas.
Langer, who shot a second-round 69, is attempting to become the second player in Champions Tour history to win three consecutive majors. Earlier this summer, Langer won the Senior British Open and U.S. Senior Open.
Haas had Friday's low round with a 65. He shot a 6-under 30 on the front nine, then added a birdie at No. 15.
Five strokes behind Weibring was a group of five including local favorite Bob Gilder of Corvallis.
Heading a group of five players at 140 was David Frost, who tied a Champions Tour record with a 25-under 191 total at the 3M Championship two weeks ago. Frost shot a 66 Friday, though the round was marred with a double-bogey at 18.
Also shooting 66 on Friday was Hal Sutton, who was at 141.
Defending champion Mike Reid bounced back from an opening-round 79 with a 69
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
134 D A Weibring 67 67
136 Tom Lehman 67 69
137 Gil Morgan 68 69, Fred Funk 68 69, Jay Don Blake 69 68, Bob Tway 70 67
138 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 69, Jay Haas 73 65
139 Tom Purtzer 70 69, Tom Jenkins 69 70, Bobby Clampett 69 70, Bob Gilder 68 71, Tommy Armour III 71 68
140 Michael Allen 69 71, Fulton Allem (Rsa) 68 72, John Cook 72 68, Scott Simpson 69 71, David Frost (Rsa) 74 66
141 Russ Cochran 71 70, J.L. Lewis 70 71, Hal Sutton 75 66, Mark Calcavecchia 69 72, David Peoples 71 70, Nick Price (Zim) 71 70, Larry Mize 71 70, Tim Simpson 73 68, Bobby Wadkins 72 69
142 Andy Bean 70 72, Gene Jones 71 71, Mark Wiebe 69 73, Tom Watson 71 71, Craig Stadler 73 69, Jeff Sluman 71 71, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 71 71
143 Brad Bryant 72 71, Loren Roberts 69 74, Corey Pavin 68 75, Mike Goodes 74 69, Chien-Soon Lu (Tpe) 70 73
144 Peter Senior (Aus) 73 71, Morris Hatalsky 71 73, Don Pooley 69 75
145 Bruce Vaughan 69 76, Joey Sindelar 73 72, Joe Ozaki (Jpn) 71 74, Hale Irwin 69 76
146 Mark O'Meara 73 73, Dan Forsman 74 72, Ronnie Black 73 73, Wayne Levi 74 72
147 Olin Browne 74 73, Mark James (Eng) 69 78, Jerry Pate 75 72
148 Tom Kite 74 74, Keith Fergus 77 71, Mike Reid 79 69
149 Bruce Fleisher 76 73
150 Ben Crenshaw 76 74, David Eger 75 75
151 Chip Beck 77 74
152 Denis Watson (Zim) 76 76, Fuzzy Zoeller 73 79
153 Phil Blackmar 81 72
155 Isao Aoki (Jpn) 78 77
156 Allen Doyle 77 79
162 Graham Marsh (Aus) 77 85

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