Hahn struggles to a 78
Bryce Alderton
Newport Beach Country Club head professional Paul Hahn said he “never
got into his game” and finished 7-over-par 78 in Saturday’s second
round of the Toshiba Senior Classic.
Hahn, making his second Toshiba appearance, sits at 12-over 154
after two rounds following a 5-over 76 Friday at Newport Beach
Country Club.
“Am I tournament ready? No,” Hahn said. “My last real tournament
was Toshiba last year, if you don’t count the Jones Cup.”
Hahn said he missed four or five two-footers Saturday.
“Things change inside of you with a tournament of this magnitude,”
Hahn said. “I had fun despite bad shots.”
Hahn said his goal today -- he will be in the first group off for
the third straight day -- will be to hit approach shots closer to the
hole.
“You can’t have 40-foot putts and lag them,” Hahn said. “I stroked
some good ones [Saturday], they just didn’t go in.”
* First-round leader Gil Morgan struggled on the front nine, going
2-over through the first eight holes to fall to 4-under. Tom Jenkins,
who started the round 5-under and only one back of Morgan, also shot
2-over through the first eight holes to drop further behind the
leaders.
Both rebounded on the back nine, especially the final three holes
to stay within contention.
But the front nine, particularly holes 5-9, wreaked havoc on
several golfers’ scores.
The 203-yard par-3 eighth proved the most difficult Saturday,
yielding the least birdies (five) and rendering the most bogeys (25).
Nos. 6 and 5 ranked second- and third-most difficult,
respectively, in the second round.
“I think 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are tough,” said Jay Sigel (69-69 --
138), in a five-way tie for 19th after his round Saturday. “The wind
was blasting on 5 and 6.”
Mark Johnson (12-under 130), whose three-stroke lead over Keith
Fergus is the largest in this event since Hale Irwin staked the same
margin en route to victory in 2002, tallied one of only eight birdies
on the par-4 sixth hole, a 418-yard dogleg left.
Johnson didn’t hesitate when asked which nine played more
difficult.
“The front side,” said Johnson, who tallied a 5-under 30 on the
front nine, the best of the second round.
* Dave Eichelberger’s birdie on the par-5 18th hole gave him a
one-stroke victory over Dave Stockton in the season’s first
Georgia-Pacific Grand Champions competition. Eichelberger two-putted
from 43 feet for a birdie and gave him his first win in the category.
He earned $30,000.
* In the last five years, four players who have led or been tied
for the lead after 36 holes have gone on to win the Toshiba Senior
Classic.
* Mike Reid (70-65 -- 135), tied for fifth, has the fewest putts
of any player in the tournament with 48.
He had 10 one-putts Saturday and didn’t putt on Nos. 3 and 9.
* Fuzzy Zoeller and Andy Bean’s Saturday didn’t end after
completing their second rounds.
The two helped about 200 youth golfers gathered on the driving
range at 5 p.m. Saturday for the first junior golf clinic sponsored
by Wells Fargo.
Knute Kraus, 11, of Rancho Santa Margarita and Scott Matthews, 10,
of Newport Beach each received tips from Zoeller.
“I learned to not kill the ball and stay down,” said Knute, who
plays golf about two or three times a month.
His grandfather, Arthur Kraus, once caddied for Zoeller, who
provided Knute Kraus with some set up suggestions.
“He [Zoeller] said imagine my brother or sister as the golf ball,”
Knute Kraus said. “I hit it far.” Matthews said he occasionally plays
at Mesa Verde Country Club in Costa Mesa and gained some pointers
from Zoeller.
“I learned to not swing as hard and to take my time,” Matthews
said.
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