Mark Calcavecchia was on the US PGA Tour before Zurich Classic first-round leader Kyle Reifers was born.
They both put themselves in some tough spots during Friday's second round, and the seasoned pro handled it better than the tour rookie.
"It's a miracle I don't have any bogeys yet, considering the places I hit it today," Calcavecchia said after his 3-under 69 vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard.
PHOTO: AP
The 47-year-old former British Open champ stood at 9 under, one shot ahead of Lucas Glover (69) and Nick Watney (67).
"I shot the lowest score humanly possible today, considering the places I was," said Calcavecchia, who won the PODS Championship last month for his 13th US PGA Tour title.
"It kind of reminded me of Tiger Woods, who seems to make every 10-foot [3m] par put he looks at when he needs to," he said.
Reifers, who shot a 64 on Thursday, repeatedly pulled shots left off of the tee, costing him his first two bogeys of the tournament as he failed to consolidate the two-shot lead he had when the day began. He finished with a 73, leaving him tied for fourth at 7 under with Charley Hoffman (69).
"I just couldn't buy one. I felt like I was hitting good putts and they just didn't drop," Reifers said.
Certainly, it could have been worse, but the 23-year-old impressively saved par twice on the back nine, where he started his second round.
On No. 13, his drive landed at the base of a towering cypress tree that blocked his view of the green. With his back pressed against the trunk, his ball surrounded by protruding roots known as cypress knees, he chopped the ball into the middle of the fairway about 90m from the pin.
"Those aren't fun ones, just hitting it 4 yards [3.6m]. It's like giving away a shot," Reifers said.
His next shot landed 1.3m from the hole, setting up his par putt.
On the par-3 17th, with an alligator lurking in the water nearby, he missed the green on his tee shot, then botched his chip so badly that one spectator could be heard yelling "That's horrible," as the ball skidded nearly 10m past the pin.
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