Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – J.P. Hayes is feeling much better about his health than the last time he was in these parts on the PGA Tour. And thanks to a 7-under 65 Thursday at Disney, his prospects for keeping his card are looking good, too.

Hayes turned a sloppy hole into a birdie on the par-5 10th at Magnolia, then ran off four more birdies in wet and windy conditions to build a one-shot lead in the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Hayes is No. 123 on the money list with a $16,599 cushion. This is the final event of the PGA Tour season, and the way the Fall Series has gone, no one feels safe. Already, nine players have cracked into the top 125.

“I wouldn’t say I was worried about it,” Hayes said. “I’d really like to finish in the top 125. Everybody would like to perform better and play less, like Tiger. Unfortunately, not all of us can.”

Cameron Beckman, who secured his card last week, played with a sore back but virtually no stress and raced out to a bogey-free 66 in the morning on the longer, tougher Magnolia course. He was joined by Scott Verplank and Ryuji Imada, who played the Palm Course.

Justin Leonard, Woody Austin and Tim Clark, three guys who have no worries about next year, were in a large group at 65 with a couple of guys still sweating it out – Dicky Pride, who is at No. 159, and Tag Ridings, who at No. 210 can only keep his card with a victory.

Such concerns now seem but small details to someone like Hayes, 42, who was far more worried about his heart this spring.

He was outside Tampa in March when he felt heart palpitations during the PODS Championship, then dropped to his knees with a light head while walking down the first fairway of the final round.

He was taken to the hospital overnight, wondering if he had suffered a stroke. After seven days of tests at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, doctors diagnosed him with vaso-vagal syncope, in which his blood pressure drops when it should be rising.

If that wasn’t enough to shape his perspective on golf, his pro-am partner in the first round did the trick. Hayes was paired with Zak Russell, a 19-year-old from Toronto who was born two months premature with a bad connection between the trachea and esophagus, meaning it could allow food or stomach acid into his lungs.

Russell has gone through 14 surgeries, and has survived to sport a good game in golf, snowboarding and football.

“You look at that and say, ‘Wow!’ Hayes said.

Another wow factor for Hayes might be collecting his first victory in five years, although there’s still three days to go on rain-soaked resort courses and a leaderboard that is as bunched as ever at Disney.

Seventy players were within five shots of the lead.

Tadd Fujikawa, the 16-year-old from Hawaii playing on a sponsor exemption, birdied three consecutive holes early in his round before a couple of three-putts slowed his momentum. He settled for a 71, leaving him a chance to make his first cut as a pro. With the Magic Kingdom across the street, he picked the perfect metaphor for his round.

“It was a roller coaster out there,” he said.

It has been that way for most players in the Fall Series, many of whom are trying to secure their positions inside the top 125 for next year, with a few of them – Leonard, for one – hopeful of cracking the top 30 to get into the Masters.

Beckman has already gone through the drill.

He was 149th in the FedEx Cup standings, missing the playoffs by a mere 153 points. That gave him a four-week vacation, enough time for him to take stock of his position and realize he’d better to get to work. He had seven weeks to avoid another trip to Q-school.

“I got ready to go,” he said. “I knew my position coming into the Fall Series. I don’t want to go to (Q-School). And with the FedEx Cup, you don’t want to be in the (Q-School).”

No need to worry now. Beckman tied for third in Las Vegas to get on the cusp of that magic No. 125, then broke through last week in south Florida with a tie for fifth that moved him up to No. 118, essentially securing his card for next year.

“Compared to the stress level I’ve had the last six weeks, this was nothing,” Beckman said. “I felt like I was playing a practice round.”

Divots: MacKinzie Kline, the 15-year-old with a congenital heart defect who played on the LPGA this season, was in the pro-am pairing with Fujikawa, although they were not partners. It was a huge day for Kline because she walked the last 16 holes. Kline was given permission to use a cart at the Ginn Tribute on the LPGA Tour because she was recovering from recent surgery to fix a hole in her heart. “I haven’t done that in a long time,” Kline said. “It was very exciting. The one thing I really want to do is walk all 18 holes.” Fujikawa loved having her along. “I haven’t played with someone my age in a long time,” he said. ... John Daly, who has walked out of six tournaments this year, said he was disappointed not to get a sponsor exemption to Disney. Lo and behold, Daly could have made it as an alternate based on his status as a past champion, but he wasn’t at Disney to claim the spot and the Tour took the next guy in line. ... The Canadian Open finally got a title sponsor Wednesday when the Royal Bank of Canada agreed to a deal.

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Scores with relation to par from the first round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, played Nov. 1 at Walt Disney World Resort’s par-72, 6,957-yard Palm Golf Course (p) and par-72, 7,516-yard Magnolia Golf Course (m):

1. J.P. Hayes	65m		-7
2. Cameron Beckman	66m		-6
2. Scott Verplank	66p		-6
2. Ryuji Imada	66p		-6
5. Dicky Pride	67p		-5
5. Tim Clark	67m		-5
5. Vaughn Taylor	67m		-5
5. Tag Ridings	67p		-5
5. Justin Leonard	67m		-5
5. Woody Austin	67p		-5
5. Jeff Overton	67p		-5
5. Jason Schultz	67p		-5
13. Robert Garrigus	68p		-4
13. Steve Marino	68m		-4
13. Nick Watney	68m		-4
13. Sean O'Hair	68m		-4
13. Joe Durant	68p		-4
13. Carl Pettersson	68p		-4
13. John Mallinger	68p		-4
13. Rich Barcelo	68m		-4
13. Parker McLachlin	68p		-4
13. Heath Slocum	68m		-4
13. Lucas Glover	68p		-4
13. Tim Petrovic	68p		-4
13. Bryce Molder	68p		-4
13. Mathew Goggin	68p		-4
27. Bob Heintz	69p		-3
27. Eric Axley	69p		-3
27. Bart Bryant	69m		-3
27. Neal Lancaster	69p		-3
27. Stewart Cink	69p		-3
27. Joey Sindelar	69p		-3
27. Michael Allen	69m		-3
27. Ryan Armour	69m		-3
27. Jarrod Lyle	69m		-3
27. Kevin Stadler	69m		-3
27. Frank Lickliter II	69m		-3
27. Charles Warren	69p		-3
27. Ken Duke	69p		-3
27. Jeff Maggert	69p		-3
27. Brett Wetterich	69p		-3
27. Ron Philo, Jr.	69m		-3
27. Craig Bowden	69p		-3
44. Mathias Gronberg	70m		-2
44. Richard S. Johnson	70m		-2
44. Charlie Wi	70m		-2
44. Craig Kanada	70m		-2
44. Brian Gay	70p		-2
44. Bob Tway	70p		-2
44. Ben Crane	70m		-2
44. Ted Purdy	70p		-2
44. Billy Mayfair	70m		-2
44. J.B. Holmes	70m		-2
44. Tom Lehman	70p		-2
44. Brendon de Jonge	70p		-2
44. Ryan Moore	70m		-2
44. Craig Barlow	70m		-2
44. Jerry Smith	70p		-2
44. Robert Gamez	70p		-2
44. Rich Beem	70p		-2
44. Doug LaBelle II	70m		-2
44. Bob May	70p		-2
44. Joe Ogilvie	70m		-2
44. Bubba Watson	70p		-2
44. Stephen Ames	70m		-2
44. Kirk Triplett	70m		-2
44. Shaun Micheel	70p		-2
44. Jesper Parnevik	70m		-2
44. D.J. Brigman	70m		-2
44. Craig Lile	70p		-2
44. Chris Stroud	70p		-2
72. Jeff Quinney	71p		-1
72. Tripp Isenhour	71p		-1
72. Jeff Brehaut	71p		-1
72. Craig Perks	71p		-1
72. Marco Dawson	71m		-1
72. Kevin Na	71p		-1
72. Chris Tidland	71m		-1
72. Steve Lowery	71p		-1
72. Fredrik Jacobson	71p		-1
72. Gavin Coles	71p		-1
72. Tadd Fujikawa	71p		-1
72. Matt Kuchar	71m		-1
72. David Branshaw	71p		-1
72. Harrison Frazar	71m		-1
72. Brian Bateman	71p		-1
72. Brent Geiberger	71m		-1
72. Chris Couch	71p		-1
72. Bob Estes	71m		-1
72. Greg Owen	71p		-1
72. John Merrick	71m		-1
72. Michael Sim	71p		-1
93. Billy Andrade	72m		E
93. Tom Pernice, Jr.	72m		E
93. Duffy Waldorf	72p		E
93. Daniel Chopra	72p		E
93. Kyle Reifers	72m		E
93. Jeff Gove	72m		E
93. Rocco Mediate	72m		E
93. Bill Haas	72p		E
93. Jim Rutledge	72m		E
93. Jerry Kelly	72p		E
93. Ben Curtis	72m		E
93. Jaco Van Zyl	72p		E
93. Scott Gutschewski	72p		E
106. Daisuke Maruyama	73m	+	1
106. Briny Baird	73m	+	1
106. Brian Davis	73p	+	1
106. Boo Weekley	73m	+	1
106. Michael Boyd	73m	+	1
106. George McNeill	73p	+	1
106. Greg Kraft	73m	+	1
106. Kent Jones	73p	+	1
106. Mark Calcavecchia	73p	+	1
106. Jay Williamson	73m	+	1
106. Steve Wheatcroft	73m	+	1
106. Johnson Wagner	73m	+	1
106. Michael Putnam	73p	+	1
106. Andrew Buckle	73p	+	1
120. Paul Gow	74p	+	2
120. Glen Day	74p	+	2
120. Darron Stiles	74m	+	2
120. Jason Dufner	74m	+	2
120. Matt Hendrix	74m	+	2
120. John Huston	74p	+	2
120. Ryan Palmer	74m	+	2
120. Lee Janzen	74m	+	2
120. Robert Allenby	74m	+	2
120. Tom Johnson	74m	+	2
130. Cliff Kresge	75m	+	3
131. Scott Gump	76m	+	4
131. Bubba Dickerson	76m	+	4

Posted: 11/1/2007

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