Will MacKenzie fired an 8-under 64 on Friday to close within a stroke of the lead after two rounds of the Viking Classic, but can’t remember much about it.
A guy like MacKenzie — a kayaker, heliboarder and surfer who lived in his van for five years chasing thrills — lives in the moment. And even when asked to recall some moments from his round, he struggled.
He did not struggle when out on the course. His two-round total of 10-under 134 put him a stroke behind sole tournament leader Marc Turnesa, who shot a 4-under 68 to be 11-under at the halfway mark.
PHOTO: AP
Joining McKenzie at 10-under and a stroke off the lead were Paul Stankowski (65), Brian Gay (68) and Dicky Pride (67).
McKenzie has made all 15 putts from within 10 feet in the first two rounds and is back to using the claw grip, for the most part.
“I won my only tournament with a claw, but I actually switched back for some reason,” said MacKenzie, the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open winner. “That’s the way I am.”
Most the leaders on Friday used their putters to their advantage.
Turnesa took the opening-round lead on Thursday with 12 one-putts and 22 total. He shook off a slow start on Friday with a 55-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 fourth and saved his lead with an 8-foot putt for par on his final hole that was not easy.
The PGA Tour rookie has held the second-day lead once before, but fell out of contention at the St. Jude Championship this year with rounds of 70 and 77 to tie for 37th.
“Just the fact that I have been here before makes me a little more confident,” Turnesa said after his second-round 68. “Hopefully I can finish off a little stronger than I did at St. Jude.”
Stankowski also had a great day with his putter and is gaining confidence after holing a 31-footer on the par-4 ninth and eight other birdies. Feeling good about his putting is a new emotion.
“It’s kind of been my weak link early throughout my career,” he said. “I had a month off and finally got a putting lesson for the first time in my life and started working on my putting for the first time in my life, which is probably a good thing.”
Stankowski is pain free for the first time in years. He’s dealt with a litany of hand, wrist, shoulder and forearm injuries. Most recently a doctor taught him how to apply tape to his hand and the pain he experienced from cumulative injuries over the years disappeared.
“I’m baffled as to what the heck this tape job does, but ... I am pain free — and I hope for a long time — and I finally got my wish and it looks like I’m going to get to play at least one full year without any pain,” Stankowski said. “It’s been fun.”
It would be a lot more fun for the 38-year-old if he can win on the tour for the first time in more than 10 years after victories at the BellSouth Classic in 1996 and the Hawaiian Open in 1997. He’s pretty sure he’ll have to stay focused on his putting to reach that goal.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that’s the one aspect of my game I’ve never worked on and I am committing myself to it, and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
About the only player who’s not putting well and keeping pace was Pride, who shot a 67 for the second straight day. He stayed in contention by acing the par-3 second on Friday, a day after knocking his tee shot within 6 inches.
“No. 2 and my 4-iron are getting along particularly well at the moment,” Pride said.
LPGA qualifying
AFP, RANCHO MIRAGE, California
Michelle Wie advanced to the final round of qualifying for the LPGA Tour after shooting 71 in the fourth round at Mission Hills Country Club on Friday.
Wie placed in a tie for fourth place, eight strokes back of winner Ahn Sun-ju of South Korea, who finished with a 16-under 272 total in the Palm Springs-area sectional qualifying event.
Japan’s Shiho Oyama and the US’ Stacy Lewis joined Wie at eight-under 280.
Wie advances to the final round of qualifying in December, where she will try to earn her LPGA playing privileges.
Wie, who turned pro in 2005, is unique in the sport because for the past few years she has not been a member of any professional tour.
The 32 players from the California event will advance to the LPGA final qualifying tournament from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
They will be joined by the top 30 finishers from a second sectional tournament, to be played from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 in Venice, Florida.
The final qualifying field will also include current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their priority standing and the 10 players finishing 6th through 15th on the 2008 Duramed Futures Tour season-ending money list.
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