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Carter, Waldorf share lead at Buick Classic Associated Press June 26 4:56pm ET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HARRISON, N.Y. -- Jim Carter, still a little squeamish in
the spotlight of the PGA Tour, says he will be seeking to call as
much attention to himself as possible in the final round of the
Buick Classic.
"My main focus is just going to be on me," he said Saturday after a 5-under 66 left him tied with Duffy Waldorf for the third-round lead at 8-under 205. "I am going to be real selfish tomorrow. Me. Me. Me."
Thinking of himself first has never come easy for the soft-spoken Carter. On Thursday, he said he didn't even remember it was his 38th birthday until a PGA official, his old college coach, reminded him. And Carter says his comfort zone has not extended to the two other times he led after three rounds -- the 1989 Hawaiian Open and the 1995 Anheuser-Busch Classic. He didn't win either tournament. "Basically, I've been kind of a quiet guy," he said. "I am not that outgoing in the public eye. So it is different to be out there in front of everybody trying to perform. ... But I am feeling more comfortable and learning to have a little more fun with the gallery." Winning a tour event is only a matter of time, said Carter, whose best finish in nine years on tour was a third. "I am playing great golf," he said. "I am getting better all the time. I am doing the things I want to do. And I believe it is going to happen." Waldorf has rarely been accused of being uncomfortable with attention. From his psychedelic caps to graffiti-covered balls to unusual name, he has always seemed to stand out. He has won only once on tour, the 1995 Texas Open. Now 36, Waldorf, who had a 68 Saturday, said he feels the urgency to win again. "It would mean that I've still got enough game to compete out here," he said. "You see the young guys coming on and they are hitting it longer than you and making more putts and chipping great. You go, 'Geez, I am getting old. I am not hitting it longer. I am struggling with my putting.' You wonder if you are ever going to get back." Fives others -- Lee Janzen, Steve Flesch, David Sutherland, Justin Leonard and Chris Perry -- were two strokes behind the leaders as no golfer could put any real distance between themselves and the rest of the field. Heading into Sunday's final round, 16 players were within four strokes of the leaders. The field was bunched in large part because hot, breezy weather made Westchester Country Club's small, undulating greens harder and browner as the leaders played their rounds Saturday afternoon. Balls which were staying on the putting surfaces the first two days squirted time and again into the rough behind or off to the side of the greens Saturday. Carter, the 1983 NCAA champion at Arizona State, had five birdies in a round that got a spark from the very beginning with birdies on Nos. 1 and 2. He also made birdies at Nos. 9, 10 and 18. Waldorf had a more erratic round with three bogeys, four birdies and an eagle. The eagle came on the par-5 fifth hole when he drilled a 2-iron from 245 yards within 5 feet of the cup and made the putt. He also made birdie putts of 20 feet on 13, 25 feet on 14, chipped in from 30 feet on 17 and tapped in for a birdie on the par-5 18th after hitting driver-driver to the side of the green and putting within 2 feet with a 3-wood. Waldorf said he used golf balls scribbled with New York themes Saturday, including the Statue of Liberty and the New York Knicks logo. In fact, he made eagle with the Knicks ball, Waldorf said. Janzen, the Buick Classic winner in 1994 in a duel with Ernie Els, shot a 2-under 69 despite taking 32 putts. Leonard is playing his first tournament ever here and said Saturday he was only starting to learn where and where not to land the ball on the tricky greens. He had a 66 Saturday. Flesch, one of the few left-handers on the PGA Tour, had five birdies in a 66. He said he has played well this week because he has driven the ball accurately, hitting 37 of 42 fairways. Sutherland had three birdies and did not make a bogey in shooting a 68. Perry finished with birdies at 17 and 18 to shoot an even-par 71. Jeff Maggert, the second-round leader with Perry at 6 under, held a piece of the lead at 7 under midway through the round Saturday but played himself out of contention with bogey 5s on Nos. 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and a double-bogey on 18. His 6-over 77 dropped him from a tie for first at the start of the round to a tie for 38th. Tom Byrum also shared the lead at 7 under with Maggert and Carter on the back nine Saturday before bogeys at 15 and 16 dropped him back in the pack. Byrum shot a 70 and was among four golfers at 5-under 208.
Divots
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