Down the stretch they come
Langer carrying thinnest of leads with challengers set for last round
THE WOODLANDS — Fittingly on Kentucky Derby day, the Insperity Invitational turned into a horse race Saturday.
Bernhard Langer, a golfing thoroughbred by any measure, is out front entering the homestretch, but six players are within two strokes and another eight are three back.
“(Sunday) will be a little bit of a shootout,” said Jeff Maggert, who lives nearby and, with two swings to make up, figures be the sentimental favorite given his long, oft-frustrating quest for a championship in his backyard. “Hard to predict the winner. It’s a strong leader board with a lot of guys up there who have won tournaments.”
After 18 holes Friday, Langer led the field by three shots and he promptly birdied No. 1, no doubt causing considerable consternation for the rest of the pack. The Insperity’s three-time champion, who also owns a pair of Masters green jackets, could have stayed two clear through 36 if he hadn’t flubbed a tap-in 2foot putt on No. 16 for a bogey and wound up shooting an even-par 72 for a 9under 135 total. This after he had tied The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course record with a bogey-free 63. Foursome threatens
Instead, the foursome of Mark Calcavecchia, Scott Dunlap, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Tom Pernice Jr., are hard on his heels, one stroke to the rear at 136. Maggert and Bart Bryant are at 7-under 137.
Maggert, 54, came close to winning two springs ago, when he tied for second, which is also as close as he came during the many years the PGA Tour’s Shell Houston Open was played on this 7,002-yard track. To get over his hometown hump, he admitted he’ll need to putt better than he did Saturday. He left a number of strokes on the green, finishing with a 71 after an opening 66. But at least he headed for his nearby home on a head-clearing high note after birdieing the last hole.
“It was a struggle,” Maggert said. “I felt my ball-striking was actually better today than yesterday, but I wasn’t close to the hole like I was yesterday. I had six birdie putts that were tap-ins basically. Today, I was hitting some pretty good shots but just wasn’t making the putts. Today was two-putt after two-putt after two-putt. Putting is everything in this game.” Langer agreed. “It was a tough day,” he said. “The wind was up and the pins were difficult at times. I played really good for the most part, but I just didn’t make as many birdies, and I missed that really short one there … three-putted from 12 feet or so. That one hurt. I didn’t make any putts of any lengths. I didn’t take advantage of the par 5s, either. I just didn’t get much going.”
Langer last won the Insperity in 2014 after claiming back-to-back titles the first two years he entered, in 2007 and 2008. He also used the word “shootout” when asked what he expects to see in the final round, admitting, “I let a lot of people back in the tournament.” Spaniard in the hunt
Pernice posted a 4-under 68, Calcavecchia matched Jimenez with a 69 after a first-round 67 and Dunlap, the early leader Friday before Langer caught fire, carded a 70 to go with his 66 on Friday. The flashy, pony-tailed Spaniard Jimenez had pulled even with Langer at 9 under by birdieing No. 9 to turn the corner with a 32, but two back-nine bogeys against just a single birdie kept him from clinging to a share of the lead by day’s end.
“(Am I) happy? No,” he said. “I missed a close one on the par-5 15th, then chances for birdies on 17 and 18. But I’m contention. I feel good on the golf course. Anything can happen tomorrow.”
Defending U.S. Senior Open champion Kenny Perry, who has returned to competition after a long layoff following shoulder surgery, put together the day’s best round. Perry birdied four of the final five holes to fashion a 65, joining the octet at 138, three swings behind Langer. He had struggled to a 73 in the first round and was seemingly a non-factor heading into the weekend. Perry recovering
“I’m just trying to work on my game to get ready for the majors,” said Perry, who has won four at the senior level after failing to break through while playing on the regular PGA Tour. “I really can’t expect much (because of the shoulder), so it was a good day. They threw me in the lion’s den (by being paired) with Langer and (Jerry) Kelly (second on the Champions Tour money list). They’ve been playing great all year. I was a little out of my element.”
Perry also posted a second-round 65 here a year ago and wound up tying for second, only a stroke behind John Daly, who won his first and still only title on the Champions Tour. Daly played himself out of contention Saturday with a 5-over 77, largely the result of two double-bogeys on the front nine. He’s a distant 13 strokes to Langer’s rear.
Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champion, is the only player other than Langer who’s high on the Insperity leader board with a major title to his name. Asked if he was surprised his tenacious German rival didn’t further separate himself from the pack, Calcavecchia admitted he was, saying he assumed Langer would “shoot 2, 3 or 4 under, quite honestly, as good as he is. But we’re all kind of glad he didn’t.”