Roller coaster sport takes them for a ride
ORLANDO, Fla. -- His numbers crunched, Brad Faxon settled over his second shot and focused on a hole location cut tight to the front of the 18th green in Friday's second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
But his chief concern had nothing to do with the 167 yards that remained, and everything to do with the confidence that didn't.
"I know I'm right on the cut line," said Faxon, who was 1 over par. "I know I've got to make par. I'm thinking 2 over might make the cut, but if you hit it right, you're in the water and you're out. Part of me was like, 'Oh, let's just play it way left to make the cut and be safe.' "
So when he backed off the shot, it had nothing to do with a marshal 20 yards away who had unknowingly moved into view. Yes, Faxon saw the man, but it was his own thought process that offered a bigger disruption. He is 24 years into a PGA Tour career that has earned him eight wins and more than $17 million. What is a consummate 45-year-old professional doing with such defensive thoughts?
"I had to gather myself," he said. "That's why I backed off. I said to myself, 'You know what? If you're out here just trying to make cuts, you're never going to make enough money and play good enough.' I decided to just hit the shot the way I hit any shot."
He carved a splendid approach with his trademark draw, bringing his Titleist in over water, directly over the flagstick, and when he made the slippery 18-foot birdie putt, Faxon's round of 1-under 69 had pushed him to even-par 140. Little did he know at the time, but afternoon gusts would blow the cut to 3 over, so he was much safer than he had assumed.
But the greater point was this: Faxon had won -- at least in this instance -- his individual battle with the golf demons who are forever flaunting their combative nature.
And, yes, the demons haunt even the world's best players.
"It's a brutal game. It's a mental game," said Mark Calcavecchia, who at the age of 46 can point to a PGA Tour career that dates to 1982 when guys named Craig Stadler, Tom Watson, and Calvin Peete were each winning four times. In other words, he's been around. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is his 655th PGA Tour event as a professional, and if he's learned one thing in all that time, it's this: Don't waste a second of your valuable time trying to figure out this riddle of a game, for it cannot be solved.
"I mean, it's fun to play golf for a living, but I tell you what," said Calcavecchia. "It's driven some guys to some odd behavior."
Like losing confidence and going into spells of bad play that defy logic? Indeed, the most stalwart of PGA Tour pros know the feeling, even if the public doesn't understand.
"It's golf," said Faxon. "It happens."
The Rhode Islander missed the cut in his first five starts this season, making it eight in a row dating to 2006. You would have to go back to 1985-86 -- his second and third years on Tour -- to find a longer drought (nine straight), so if you're thinking that Faxon wasn't encouraged by Friday's round, think again.
"It's like you have to take baby steps back," said Faxon, who has now made two straight cuts. "I know one thing, nobody likes to miss cuts out here. Some guys are way better at accepting it than others. But when you've missed a bunch in a row like I had, it starts to get to you."
Justin Leonard, 34, can commiserate. He started the season by missing the cut in the first six tournaments; to find a skid that matched that, you'd have to go back to his rookie season in 1994. Between 1995 and 2005, Leonard won a major championship and nine other PGA Tour events, while placing anywhere from fifth to 42d on the money list, a remarkable stretch of consistency that made him one of the world's grandest players. So it was stunning in 2006 when the Texan slumped to 109th on the money list and failed to crack the $1 million mark for the first time since 1996.
There were shots stuffed within 15 feet at the 17th and 18th holes Friday, but when birdie putts lipped out, Leonard not only was left at 3 over, he was suffocating in frustration. Mostly because he figured he had missed yet another cut (he didn't), partly because a good day of ball-striking had somehow resulted in a 3-over 73.
"Look at Justin Leonard," said Faxon, who was paired with his friend and fellow sufferer. "His confidence is shot and he just hit a lot of nice shots. But I'll tell you, he won't remember any of those shots."
What he will have is sympathy from a large contingent of colleagues, all of whom know that golf is many things, fickle chief among them. Want proof? Consider Calcavecchia, who in 2006 registered his fewest top 10s (one) since 1986 and finished 120th on the money list, his worst standing since 1985. He was exasperated, just as he was stunned when last week he managed to win the PODS Championship in Tampa, and just as he was frustrated by Friday's birdieless round of 73.
"I was in a funk, then I had a miracle happen to me, now I'm in a funk again," said Calcavecchia. "It's unbelievable. I can't read a putt to save my life."
Calcavecchia, just days removed from his 13th career win, shrugged. "That's why they call it golf," he said. "I am just resigned to the fact that I'm so streaky."
Calcavecchia, a 26-year PGA Tour veteran, is not surprised at anything, not even the reemergence of Rocco Mediate, 44, he of the 22 missed cuts in 61 tournaments the last three seasons and money list rankings of 206th, 114th, and 176th. But after rounds of 66 and 65 at the Palmer, Mediate had surged to 9 under, ahead by three, his first 36-hole lead since 1999. His competitive fire was back, though he had wondered whether he'd ever find it.
He had taken a job with The Golf Channel and was on air for a few events to start this season, but he never said he was quitting the game.
"What the hell else am I going to do?" he said. "I don't want to do anything else right now. "
Like Faxon, like Leonard, like Calcavecchia -- established players who have a combined 37 PGA Tour wins -- Mediate knows the cruel side to this game that is often lost in a glare of million-dollar purses, glamorous courses, and flashy courtesy cars.
"It's easy to play good and have fun," said Mediate, "but if you play lousy, you've got to show the same thing. You have to show people that [respect]. That's what they want to see."
Being the 36-hole leader at a tournament named after his hero and fellow Pennsylvanian had Mediate smiling, but it's not as if he doesn't appreciate how the emotions can swing in this game.
"There have been a lot of low spots. Augusta was the lowest, because it failed me completely," said Mediate, who last April was tied for the Masters lead until he double bogeyed the par-4 18th to close out his third round Sunday morning. When he took 10 shots to play the par-3 12th in Round 4 en route to an 80, Mediate crashed into a tie for 36th, his spirits aching as much as his chronic bad back.
Hours earlier, Faxon had echoed such a sentiment. It had been a round of 69, though a 59 wouldn't have felt any better. His wife, his daughter, his mother, and a healthy assembly of friends in this town where he once lived had cheered wildly after that birdie at No. 18, a needed reminder to Faxon why he is so in love with this game, fickle though it is.
If he or his colleagues needed a reminder, it was served up in yesterday's third round at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, for Leonard shot 79--222, Faxon 78--218, Calcavecchia 72--212, and Mediate squandered a three-shot lead by ballooning to 76-207 (now five back). Whatever answers they had discovered in Round 2 were lost just a day later. Not that they had time to fret, however. After all, they'll have another shot today at this mystery called golf.
Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com. 