As the sun rose, so did the wind. But scoring remained remarkably strong in the first round of the $1.9 million MCI Classic at Harbour Town, here on Hilton Head Island yesterday, when Doug Tewell and Hawaiian Open champion John Huston set the pace with five under par rounds of 66.
Designed by Pete Dye with some help from Jack Nicklaus, this is noted as a classic shotmaker's course, which takes quite a lot of knowing. So, on his first visit, Darren Clarke could feel reasonably pleased with an opening 72 - one over par - especially since he was three over par after his first six holes.
For John Daly, however, self-discipline rather than local knowledge seemed to be the problem on this, his third visit here, A dispiriting 79 contained a nine and an eight, both at par fives. The nine came at the second hole, his 11th, where he hit two balls out of bounds.
The performance had resonances of Bay Hill last month when, in a final round of 85, Daly had a horrendous 18 at the long sixth, where he made five attempts at carrying water with a three-wood second shot, only to lose out on each occasion. This time, he declined to comment afterwards, but headed directly to the practice ground, where he worked off his frustration by hitting three buckets of balls.
It was also a trying round for Mark O'Meara, though for vastly different reasons. The newly-crowned US Masters champion was one over par after 11, but covered the remaining seven holes in two-under-par for a 70, with which he was well pleased.
"I found it tough out there today," he said afterwards. "Even with a Masters title, golf remains a game of confidence. You hit a couple of bad shots, as I did, and your confidence can drop pretty quickly. But the important thing is that I hung in there for what was a decent score."
Against that background, Clarke did well, particularly in his control of a notoriously fragile temperament. Prior to his fine performance in sharing eighth place in the US Masters last weekend, the head would more than likely have dropped after a dismal opening nine.
Having started on the 10th, a wayward approach cost him a shot at the 11th; he had to get up and down from a bunker to save par at the next and was in water off the tee at the short 14th for bogey. He also bogeyed the 575-yard 15th where a misjudged third shot tangled with trees.
After that, it became a question of consolidating before daring to attack. Yet it remained a disappointment that he failed to give himself decent birdie chances at the long second and fifth, where he failed to chip within six feet of the target.
But patience eventually paid off, when he reduced the 419-yard sixth to a drive, nine iron and 10foot putt. And he also birdied the difficult, 180-yard seventh, holing a treacherous, 12-foot downhill putt. After that, he got up and down to save par at his closing two holes.
"I can already feel the benefits of Augusta," he said afterwards. "Last week taught me to be patient and that's a big change for me. So I hung on until the birdies eventually came." Then he added with a smile: "For a while, my putter was so cold that I wondered if someone had left it in the fridge last night."
Clarke has already been won over by the quality of the course, which he compares to Valderrama in its general tightness. His prospect of progressing here are clearly strengthened by some excellent driving, long and straight. This was especially true of the third - a selected driving hole for statistical purposes - where he hit a best of the day 268 yards into the wind.
The value of a hot putter, however, was illustrated by the performance of one of his playing partners, Frank Lickliter. Essentially a journeymen, with a distinctive swing characterised by low hands, Lickliter couldn't hope to match the quality of Clarke's striking. With excellent wedge play and only 26 putts, however, he shot a fine 68.
Per-Ulrich Johansson, winner of the Smurfit European Open for the last two years, was a stroke better than the Irishman with a fine 71 that contained a hectic finish. The Swede, who played with Clarke in the last round of the Masters, was level par with four holes to play and finished birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie.
Incidentally, Clarke is not the first Irishman to have competed in this event. That distinction is held by David Feherty who failed to make the cut in 1995 after rounds of 71 and 74. "It is an outstanding course, representing some of the finest work Pete Dye has done," said Feherty yesterday, who is here with the CBS television team.
On that point, he would find no argument from Nick Price, the defending champion, who is making his 12th appearance since competing in the inaugural event in 1983. Price was clearly delighted with an opening 67, particularly having missed the cut with a half-way total of 151 at Augusta National last Friday.
"I feel very comfortable around here," he said. "In fact I know enough about the place not to have attacked the pins on the last four holes, where I was satisfied simply to make two-putt pars." He added: "And I also enjoyed the wind, which we had for about eight holes."
A measure of Price's liking for Harbour Town is that this was his eighth successive round in the sixties - a tournament record. The sequence started with a 67 in the second round in 1996 and was followed by 69, 65, 65, 69, 69, 66 and now 67 - a stunning 31 under par.
Former Irish close champion Peter Lawrie holds a three-shot lead going into today's final round of the British Professional tour qualifying school at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire. The Dublin economics graduate shot a five-under-par 67 in the second round for an aggregate of 135.
Three other Irish players made the cut. Tralee's Graham Spring is on 141 after a 70. Warrenpoint's Jim McCarvill shot 73 for 143, while John Kelly of The Ward finished on 146, one shot inside the qualifying limit after a 74.
The tournament has been reduced to 54 holes because of bad weather. Missing the cut were Neill Manchip (148) and Geoff Loughrey (n/r).
