Parnevik quite happy to let chip-ins fall where they may
is penal on the calibre of a U. S. Open or last month’s PGA Championship, you naturally take all the help you can get and in Parnevik’s case, it meant chip- ins to save par at the fifth hole and then again at the sixth on his way to four- under 66, one shot behind co-leaders Mark Calcavecchia and Lucas Glover.
“ I don’t think anyone else is going to chip in twice in one round. Period,’’ Parnevik suggested. This did not seem that unreasonable a statement, except even as he said it, the feat had already been duplicated without his knowing it.
Scott Dunlap, whose career highlights seem almost exclusive to Canada, had somehow managed exactly the same feat, on the 10th and 11th holes. His unexpected little delights both produced birdies on the way to a three- under 67.
“I guarantee that’s the only time that’s ever happened,’’ Dunlap later explained to the assembled press multitudes, which got everyone barking because he sounded so much like Parnevik. Apprised of the situation, Dunlap laughed and said, “ Well, he’s probably lying, but I guarantee I’m telling the truth.’’ A round with two chip-ins probably doesn’t possess much truth to it. It’s like a guy who makes a handful of long putts to make up for some questionable ball- striking. It’s more a oneday fluke, like a hot goalie rescuing a careless defence. Not to wish any ill luck on Parnevik or Dunlap, though. Jesper has been mostly a delight these years on the PGA Tour, providing some colour ( and not just the outfits) for a gang that sure needs some. And Dunlap is that rarest of animals — a journeyman pro who says out loud that he not only loves the Canadian Open, but loves Glen Abbey, too. He doesn’t even know enough to whisper it; none of the locals here are allowed to do anything except sneer at any golf course in Ontario.
Dunlap’s best PGA Tour career finish, a tie for third, came at Glen Abbey and even though he has regressed to the Nationwide Tour, he leaped at the chance to try to play this one. He went the Monday qualifying route and, lo and behold, shot a 67 and won his way into the Bellbash. Earlier this year, he Monday qualified for the BellSouth and made that one, too, then finished sixth in the tournament. He said he had tried to Monday qualify a dozen times in his career and always came away empty before. Whether he caught lightning in a bottle for one day or one week here remains to be seen. Same for Parnevik, who has descended to 131st on the money list and needs good cash to assure himself an uninterrupted trip down golf’s fashion runway. They both need to be better today, but they’re pretty happy with things to this point. In another way, of course, so is Weir.