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Stewart lets Perry slip into MCI lead Associated Press April 17 6:01pm ET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Payne Stewart faltered on one of his favorite courses Saturday and Chris Perry took advantage for a one-stroke lead in the MCI Classic. Stewart was at 12-under following a birdie on the par-3 seventh hole -- his 6-iron knocked off a tree and landed four feet away -- and led by four shots. But he made three bogeys the rest of the way at Harbour Town Golf Links and finished behind Perry, whose 68 left him at 10-under par.
Stewart shot a 64 on Friday to move in front and spoke about how he liked Harbour Town's thought-provoking fairways and finesse-filled greens. This time, he struggled through both for a 1-over 72 that tied him with John Huston. "It's amazing how often guys on tour shoot 7- or 8-under one day, next day they shoot above par. I don't know what it is, but it happens to everyone," said Lee Janzen, two shots back at 8-under after a 68. Stewart's round came while 26 of 73 golfers shot less than 70 and 28 players, including Tiger Woods, were within six shots of the lead. Stewart knew he had lost an opportunity to all but close out his third Harbour Town victory. "There's a lot of people, a lot of explosive people, in this golf tournament," he said. "There was a chance to have only a few in it." Perry, the son of former major leaguer Jim Perry and nephew of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, was one of the few late starters who mastered the course's swirling, fickle wind. He said he barely noticed Stewart's large lead and proved it by calmly rolling in birdies on Nos. 13, 15 and 17. "I definitely want to know where I stand, but if I spend too much time on it, I'm not thinking about what I'm supposed to be doing out there," said Perry, who's only PGA Tour victory in 14 years came in last year's B.C. Open. Huston, tied with Perry at 7-under to start the round, also sneaked up the leaderboard. He rolled in an 18-footer on the long par-4 18th hole to tie Stewart. David Frost, who set the course record with a 61 five years ago, almost matched it as one of the early starters. His 64 was the day's best score and left him in a group tied three back at 7-under. Former U.S. Open champion Corey Pavin was among seven players at 6-under, while Woods, despite a triple bogey-7 on No. 6, and Nick Faldo were in a group two more shots behind. "There are a lot of people who can win this," Perry said. For a while it looked like only Stewart could do it. As he was making birdie on the seventh hole, his closest rival, John Cook, made double bogey and Stewart was four shots in front. But he had to play a sideways shot on the ninth hole after landing in a nasty pot bunker, missed a 15-foot putt for par on the 12th and looked up on a chip shot -- "It was very amateurish," he said -- to make bogey on the 13th hole. "I am disappointed about my score today," Stewart said. "But I am still in the golf tournament. And that is why I came here." Divots: Nick Faldo fired a 67 on Saturday, his lowest round of 1999. With his opening 69, it marked Faldo's first tournament this year with two sub-70 rounds. A year ago, Faldo was last in the MCI, the first time that happened to him in a four-round event. ... Greg Norman and Davis Love III, battling for the Masters title until the final holes a week ago, teed off before 10 a.m. this time. Norman shot a 73 while Love, the defending champion, notched a 74. Love then withdrew, citing a sore back and hip from five straight weeks of golf. ... Woods had just made birdie and eagle on the fourth and fifth holes to start a run at the leaders. But he drove the ball out of bounds on No. 6, then three-putted for a triple bogey. He finished with a 69 and was 4-under.
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