FORT WORTH – One after another during the first two days of the Charles Schwab Challenge, golfers with afternoon tee times exited Colonial Country Club’s holy grounds appearing as if they encountered one of the seven seals.
It wasn’t a horse, but rather Lubbock that hopped out, wielding a ferocious blade designed to strike at the ambitions of the best golfers in the world.
On Friday, Tony Finau and Jordan Spieth both looked as if they had gone 12 rounds with the Tasmanian devil, he – or she — of Looney Tunes creators.
What it was they encountered was another day of wind gusts that turned afternoon games into battles of attrition.
Consider Finau, the 16th-ranked player in the world, and Spieth both winners on Friday.
Finau managed to gain two strokes in a 2-under 68, and Spieth somehow broke even after grudgingly marking down five bogeys, along with five birdies, on an even-par round.
That counts as survival. Both escaped in good position for the weekend rounds.
At 8-under par, Finau sits one stroke back of leader Jonas Blixt, who managed to outplay the wind on Thursday afternoon. Spieth is four back.
Blixt and Kevin Na, both able to attack in calm morning hours, registered the day’s best rounds. Blixt followed a 3 under in the first round with a 6-under 64 to sit at 9 under. Na got around Colonial in an 8-under 62.
In three of his last five rounds at Colonial, Na, also one back of Blixt, has signed scorecards reading 61, 62 and 62.
Moving day will be an interesting one. The line of players within striking distance resembles a busy Saturday night at the Everleigh sisters’ brothel so many years ago. Twelve players are within six shots of Blixt.
“I had five bogeys,” said Spieth. “Four of them came on either par-3s or out of the fairway with a wedge in my hand, which is very unusual for me when I’m striking the ball well.
“But a lot of that had to do with the wind. I mean, on every single one of those shots I actually hit in on the line I wanted to hit it. They just ended up anywhere from 15 to 20 yards off in the distance.”
Spieth got two strokes back by sinking a 46-footer for birdie at 12 and hitting his tee shot within 2 feet of the pin on the par-3 16.
On 14, Spieth slid an almost 8-foot par putt past the hole, a miss that left him obviously perturbed.
Ryan Palmer, the Aggie from Amarillo who now makes Colleyville home, playing with Spieth, saw more of Colonial than he probably ever hopes to again. His scorecard simply read “scrambling.” But he did it well enough, getting in at 3 under for the tournament after a 1-under second round in the afternoon. He was at 5 under for a minute.
Jason Dufner scampered up the leaderboard like a squirrel running from Fido, reaching 8 under with accurate irons, despite the wind, before limping to the finish line with bogeys in three of his last four holes.
Defending champion Justin Rose, No. 3 in the world, rebounded from his wind burning on Thursday to advance to the weekend with a 3 under in the second round and 1 over total. British Open champ Francesco Molinari, ranked seventh in the world, is also at 1 over.
Those on planes Friday night headed for home included Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, who was 6 over, all players ranked in the top 15 in the world. Paul Casey, No. 13, withdrew with something resembling the flu.
All missed the 2-over cutline.
“I think mentally you got to stay tough,” Finau, 29, said of the conditions. “You got to be mentally tough on a day like today where I think you’re going to make some bogeys, but try your best to stay patient and hit good shots, and it’ll start to go your way. That’s kind of how was it for me today.”
Finau was more pleased with his even-par front side (he started on the back), with critical saves on Nos. 14 and 17, than his three birdies in the final nine. He hit only nine greens in regulation.
“I was able to control the golf ball for the most part, and when I needed a crucial par save or bogey save, I made it,” Finau said.
“Those are things you need to do to be in contention, and I’m happy with the result.”
Also on the leaderboard was Jim Furyk, at 49 the old man Trinity River of the top five. Of those remaining in the field, Furyk and Mike Weir are behind only David Toms’ 52 years in terms of the elders.
Age is no disadvantage at Colonial.
In fact, it has been a trump card.
Since 1989, only six players under the age of 35 have put on Hogan plaid. One was Phil Mickelson, just shy of his 30th birthday in 2000. He won eight years later at 37. The other was Spieth, the youngest of all of them in that time, who won at 22 in 2016.
Bruce Lietzke won at 40 in 1992, Kenny Perry was 42 and 44 for his two victories, and Nick Price was 37 and 45 when he won in 1994 and 2002. Steve Stricker was 42 when raised the Marvin Leonard Trophy in 2009, while David Toms scored at 44 in 2011.
Tom Watson, like Furyk, was 49 when he walked triumphantly from the clubhouse in 1998. Furyk, then 28, was the runner-up that year.
Part of the answer as to why that is lies in something former champion Fuzzy Zoeller once said about Colonial. It’s a course that demands experience and savvy.
“Most golf courses dictate what you’ll hit,” Zoeller said. “On this course, you have to decide.”
The wind is forecast to be more of a whisper on Saturday, but it’ll be there.
However, the arrival of a south wind will allow players the privilege of judging distances better on the crosswind holes.
That’ll help the olds just as much as the whippersnappers.
“It’s not a power-dominated golf course,” Furyk said. “It’s a place you have to put the ball in the fairway. You’re going to have to hit some shots and hole them against the winds.
“It’s a golf course I don’t think favors any style, other than guys that can work the ball, control it in the wind, hit some shots.”
Only shotmakers need apply. Finau and a resurgent Spieth both qualify.
(Photo: John Henry)
