Watson works weekend
Legend’s tweaks help him make cut
PEABODY — A tweak on the range following the practice round for the U.S. Senior Open has helped fan favorite Tom Watson advance to the weekend at Salem Country Club.
The 67-year-old turned in a second straight 1-under par 69 to enter today’s third round 9 shots behind leaders Kirk Triplett and Kenny Perry.
“I just got my hands a little farther ahead at address,” he said. “I got my right elbow, instead of out, got it a little bit more under. Feels like going I’m to hit it straight right, but it goes pretty straight most of the time.”
Watson also said keeping his putter head lower on the takeaway has helped.
The card had two birdies and one bogey, all on the back nine — his opening nine.
“I played OK,” he said. “I kept the ball in play. I hit some quality iron shots, but still not very consistent.”
Watson hit 5-iron from the right side of the fairway to 2 feet on No. 18, for his second birdie in as many days on one of the harder holes statistically.
His Callaway ball is among the easiest to pick out as it has the pentagonal patterns found on old soccer balls.
He said that it came out at the beginning of last year and the pattern has helped the company increase ball share “about 2 percent.”
It also can show when things are going well and not so well.
“You can actually see, in the rare occasion I hit a ball with the proper spin or the proper roll of the putt, you can really see the beautiful rotation of the ball going backward with the backspin and going like this with the putt,” said Watson moving his fingers end over end. “If you hit it with a little bit of side spin, you can see it. You know you hit a crappy shot or a crappy putt.”
As one of the elder statesmen on the Champions Tour, he understands time is catching up with him in terms of competitiveness, but it still doesn’t diminish the joy of playing.
“It’s great playing in front of a lot of people, it’s terrific,” Watson said. “We’re showing them some pretty good golf. (A) 62 (Triplett Thursday) and 63 ( Olin Browne Thursday), that’s some quality golf, real solid golf.”
Local flavor
Billy Andrade of Bristol, R.I., entered the day knowing he had work in front of him to stick around for the weekend. He delivered with a 3-under 67 to get to 1-under through 36 holes. With 24 players having to finish their second round today, the cut is projected to be at 1-over.
Andrade had four birdies and one bogey. He played the back nine in 33 with birdies at the short par-5 14th and par-4 16th to ensure his place for two more days.
He hit 15 greens in regulation, three better than Thursday when he carded a 72.
P.H. Horgan of Newport, R.I., shot a 71 to get through the first 36 holes in 1-over.
Milton native and Archbishop Williams alum Mark Brown had The Brownie Bunch backing him in matching shirts and carded three birdies on each side, but also made seven bogeys and finished on the wrong side of the cut line after a 71 left him at 4-over.
Chip Johnson of Hingham also shot a 71 to finish at 4-over with bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 (his 16th and 17th holes of the day) knocking him out of contention.
Also missing the cut with local ties were Ron Philo (73-149) of Stowe, Vt., twotime champion Allen Doyle of Norwood (79-155) and George Zahringer (77-158), a Stonehill alum and five-time Met Amateur champion from New York.
No back-to-back
Gene Sauers became the first defending champion to miss the cut since Roger Chapman in 2013. Sauers only had four birdies over the two days and was over par from the start.
After a 73 on Thursday in which he bogeyed the first two holes, Sauers shot a 72 yesterday. . . .
The 20 amateurs in this year’s field is the second lowest total in tournament history, only behind the 17 in 2014 at Albuquerque.
When play was suspended only one, Robby Funk, was on the correct side of the projected cut line, and he still has work to do. The Californian is at even par with three holes to play.
He quit golf for 13 years after being disqualified for picking up his ball after he thought he had been given a putt by a high school opponent. . . .
If the line moves back to 2-over, last year’s Senior Amateur finalist Matthew Sughrue, a psychotherapist in Vienna, Va., would get to stick around.