Bulletin: Lehman Has a Bogey

CARLSBAD — Tom Lehman played radio station golf Friday. The hits just kept on coming. On the fifth tee, Lehman hit a high-tension wire, and then from the fairway he hit a woman’s purse.

Lehman also hit a bad chip and a bad putt before his golf ball finally hit the bottom of the hole.

After that, Lehman said there was only one thing to do:

“I walked to the next tee.”

Sounds sensible enough. The way things are going for Lehman these days, when he actually does something like make a bogey, it’s news.

Take the second round of the Mercedes Championships at La Costa. It was a tidy six-birdie, one-bogey stroll though the park and another numbingly efficient round of par-busting golf.

This time, Lehman finished with a five-under-par 67, which adds up to 11-under par 133 after 36 holes and a two-shot lead over Jim Furyk.

No one else is closer than four shots, which is where you can find Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Guy Boros, who are all at 137.

Tom Watson and Corey Pavin are next at 138.

Once Lehman got off the course, he sat down and discussed a little golf philosophy.

“You don’t always play that well,” he said. “Sometimes when you have the greatest expectations, you play your very worst. I came in not expecting a whole lot.”

Imagine Lehman’s surprise. Counting the season-ending Tour Championship, he has led or tied for the lead in the last six rounds of official events, during which he is 23 under par.

Lehman always has been steady with a driver, but when his putting takes on the appearance of a convoy of golf balls heading for the holes, he’s sort of effective.

“A combination like that is pretty hard to beat,” Woods said.

Woods’ 67 was three shots better than his opening round, and that was satisfaction enough. If Woods needs more to feel good about, he can check out his driving statistics--a 293.7-yard average after two rounds.

“I needed to shoot a good round to get myself back in the tournament, and I did just that,” Woods said. “I’m pretty happy about it.”

He had trouble only once, when he bogeyed the par-five 12th. Woods drove into the left rough, then visited the right rough, the right rough again, chipped to eight feet and missed the putt.

“I saw every part of that hole,” he said.

Furyk said his round of 68 was mostly uneventful. “Pretty boring, but the end was pretty exciting,” he said.

Well, yes it was, considering Furyk closed with a rollicking bogey-eagle-birdie finish. He eagled the 569-yard 17th when he holed an eight-iron from 138 yards.

Love’s 67 would have been better if he hadn’t bogeyed the 18th, which he accomplished after he pushed his six-iron approach and two-putted from 50 feet.

He has been close enough to Lehman to know something good is happening when he sees it. Love even thinks he knows why.

“Tom has a great sense of peace in his game,” Love said. “He’s always been real steady, but he has a real confidence in his game.”

Lehman has real confidence, all right, and it doesn’t even bother him if he doesn’t know where all his shots are going. He certainly didn’t worry about hitting that wire or that purse.

He has hit other things before.

“Lots of times, unfortunately,” said Lehman, whose most colorful mis-hit might have been the time he one-hopped a ball into the side of a portable toilet that happened to be occupied.

Golf Notes

Tiger Woods’ father, Earl, is scheduled to undergo open-heart surgery the first week of February. The elder Woods, 64, experienced chest pains at the Tour Championship in October at Tulsa, Okla., and was hospitalized briefly. The Woodses had intended to play in the AT&T; National Pro-Am Jan. 30-Feb. 2 at Pebble Beach.

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La Costa Leaders

$1.2-million Mercedes Championships

At La Costa Resort and Spa--Par 72

36-Hole Scores

Tom Lehman: 66-67--133 -11

Jim Furyk: 67-68--135 -9

Davis Love III: 70-67--137 -7

Tiger Woods: 70-67--137 -7

Guy Boros: 69-68--137 -7

Complete results, C10