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Mark Wiebe |
First round at The International:
Wiebe no longer clueless, finds swing
By David R. Holland,
Regional Staff Writer
CASTLE ROCK, CO - Wednesday afternoon Mark Wiebe of Denver said
he didn’t have a clue where his ball was going, but by Thursday
afternoon he knew, and even better was his confidence with the putter.
In the first round of The International at Castle Pines, Wiebe’s
13 points in the modified-Stableford format put him right there
near the top.
It was David Toms, however, who took the first-round lead with 16 points. He waited out two rain and lightning delays that totaled more than three hours and finished his rounds eight hours after he began. There were 51 golfers unable to finish their rounds and they are scheduled to resume play early Friday. Toms, who ranks among the top 50 on the PGA’s money list, had an eagle and six birdies and surprised himself. " I was struggling with every part of my game coming in here, so my expectations weren't very high," Toms said. "But I worked with my teacher over the weekend. I made some putts and things just seemed to fall into place, even though we were out there all day. I felt good over the ball all day. " Davis Love III finished early and posted a second-best 14 points followed by Wiebe and Steve Elkington at 13 and Rick Fehr at 12. Then came a lengthy rain and lightning delay than began at 2:35 p.m. and play didn’t resume until 5:25 p.m. “When I don’t turn in my golf swing,” said Wiebe, “I make Jim Furyk’s swing look good. My instructor (Don Hurter) got the video camera out and showed me how ugly my swing was. I was putting well coming in to the week so I really thought I could score well. Wednesday afternoon I didn’t know where my ball was going, but today I was a little surprised with my ball-striking. “ Wiebe, who has an 88th world ranking and is 102nd in the PGA rankings, said he spent much of last week at Castle Pines. “I knew my putter was good, and did a lot of putting, but I was really suspect going from the range to the golf course all week. Today towards the end of the round it seemed simple, but I did a lot of thinking on the course and I really don’t like to do that -- I like to react instead of think when I’m in competition. Obviously I am not going to change anything tomorrow,” Wiebe said. “I feel pretty good about the way I am playing, but I still need some work. I have to fine-tune this and get it to where it is a second thought and not my main concern.” As for his putter, on No. 18 (his ninth hole of the day) Wiebe nailed a drive and then hit a “generic shot that was no big deal to the green. It went down in the bowl to the left and I just tapped that in from about 50 feet,” Wiebe said. “If you want to say it was 80 feet, that is fine with me. The putt was just outside the 303 area code so it made me feel pretty good at my turn to the second nine. “I just wanted to have a good round and if the points came along then great,” said Wiebe, who made seven birdies on the day and has earned $305,044 this year. He posted five straight birdies from the 14th through the 18th holes. As for playing under the pressure of being home in Colorado, Wiebe said: “There’s a lot of people out here other than my family pulling for me, but I try to just have a good attitude and not care so much. That’s a hard thing to do, but just having the right attitude goes a long way.”
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Davis Love III |
Love, who had six birdies in the first seven holes, said it was a morning for scoring. “When I started there was no wind and the greens were perfect,” Love said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the greens this good.” Winner of the 1990 International, Love didn’t commit until the last minute and said he was thinking about a shoulder injury that caused him pain last week at the PGA when he hit his long irons. “It’s more like a pinched nerve and it causes a tingling in my arm when I hit a full shot,” Love said. “I really wanted to come here, but I was also thinking about how my back would feel and my hip climbing all these hills. I felt pretty good last Friday so I made the decision I wanted to come.” “I got off to a great start off the back nine,” said Love, who is ranked No. 5 in the world. “I just didn’t want to get in trouble before the par five’s and I made three birdies right off the bat. I hit the ball good all day, but toward the end of the day I think I was a half a club off and the rest of the way I missed some opportunities. But going off early in the morning today was the time to score -- there was no wind and the greens were perfect.” The International scoring system gives eight points for a double eagle, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, zero for a par, minus one for a bogey and minus three for a double bogey or more.
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