Old hat to Perry, Langer
Veterans show how it's done at TPC
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Given his long career, the pairing with Tommy Armour III in yesterday's second round of The Players Championship probably felt familiar to Bernhard Langer. After all, he broke into this business alongside Tommy Armour the original, he of three major championships and "Silver Scot" fame.
OK, we kid. But to put in perspective just how long Langer has graced the scene, consider:
One of his competitors here at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Anthony Kim, was born two months after Langer won the first of his two Masters, while another, Sergio Garcia, came into this world eight years after Langer turned professional.
Heck, Langer can testify what it was like to hit persimmon, and now, a few months shy of his 51st birthday and during his 304th PGA Tour event (for further perspective, Kim and Garcia combine for just 206), he's a testament to golf being a game not only for the ages, but for the ageless.
"Thrilled to be here, to be talking, to be swinging, and obviously thrilled with the score as well," said the unflappable German, whose 5-under-par 67 in whipping winds around a treacherous course vaulted him into the thick of a hunt that should make him feel like the clock has been turned back. That's because on a demanding day, 47-year-old Kenny Perry shot 70 to settle into the lead at 6-under 138, a stroke ahead of Langer and 43-year-old Paul Goydos (71), who share second with Garcia, whose grip on first place disappeared when he double bogeyed the par-3 17th en route to a 73.
Three guys well past 40 chasing the top prize in this $9.5 million spectacle? What's with that?
"It's the type of golf course where it doesn't hurt to have played it a bunch," said Langer, who is here for the 23d time. "So, experience plays some part."
The emphasis on some, because while it felt like Old-Timers' Day, Garcia, 28, provided some youthful exuberance late in the day, while the blossoming Kim shined in the morning. One week removed from his first PGA Tour win, the 22-year-old shot his second straight 70 to get in at 4-under 140, alone in fifth, though just a stroke ahead of Boo Weekley (71 -141), who may not be young (he's 34), but he remains a fresh story given that it's only his third year on Tour.
If he had never experienced conditions quite like Round 2, what with winds a steady 20-25 miles per hour and gusting to as high as 35, well, Weekley wasn't alone. Neither had Perry, who is in his 22d PGA Tour season.
"You're at the mercy of the wind," said Perry, who played the back in 2-under 34, then birdied the par-4 first to get to 7 under. He then held things together, save for a bogey at the par-3 eighth. "You never felt quite comfortable with where [the wind] was, because it was swirling all day today."
At every turn, Perry's sentiments were echoed, and there were crashes to prove his point, none more painful than Rich Beem's. Sitting at 1 under at the 15th tee, Beem was just five shots off the lead, but he proceeded to play the next four holes in 9 over, which included four balls in the water - one at the 16th, one at the 17th, two at the 18th. In all, nine players failed to break 80, and even the esteemed Padraig Harrington bogeyed seven holes over his final nine, including five straight to finish, to shoot 78 -150 and miss the cut by five.
No wonder Adam Scott (71 -146) said, "This is as tricky as I've seen a golf course with so many open and unprotected holes."
And no wonder that even a guy who is in his 25th appearance here, 48-year-old Fred Couples, shook his head. "Every shot you hit is tough. There aren't any easy ones," said Couples, whose 72 -142 has him at 2 under, tied for seventh with five others, including Craig Stadler.
Oops. Strike that. Credit it to being caught up in all those older guys, but the Stadler in question is Kevin, Craig's son. At one point he had a share of the lead at 5 under, but he doubled the par-4 14th, bogeyed the par-4 15th, then squandered a birdie at the par-5 16th by depositing one of 18 balls into the water at the island-green 17th. As always, that tee shot provided the ultimate test in brutal winds, so demanding Perry termed it "the hardest conditions in all my years of hitting that shot."
Somehow the leaders held their own there, except for Garcia. His tee shot came at one of those dreaded lulls in the wind and his ball went through the green and rolled down a pathway. A poor pitch and three putts later he was saddled with a double, but not doubts.
"I think I played great," said the Spaniard, who had started the day with a two-shot lead and led by one after making birdie at the 16th. "I was quite calm."
While you couldn't say the same about the weather, you would have to say the men atop the leaderboard matched Garcia's assessment. They, too, were calm.
"I've always said you can't put a price on experience," said Perry, who has nine Tour wins, but none since 2005. "That price tag is priceless."
Well, now they also have nametags, too.
"Basically right now, we're still just the pace cars," said Goydos, whose eagle at the par-5 second jump-started his round. "We're going to wait and see what happens on the weekend when the racing starts."
He paused, then added, "But it's a good place to start the weekend. If nothing else, you get to sleep in."
Now, if only the wind will do the same.
Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com. 