Crenshaw forgets bad shots, recalls good ones at Senior Open  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator HAVEN, Wis. -- Ben Crenshaw's collared golf shirt was appropriate for a warm and sunny summer Friday at Whistling Straits, with lemonade yellow and orange sherbet stripes reminiscent of a beach towel or a Popsicle.  Ben Crenshaw's mood was as bright as his shirt after his 67 Friday at Whistling Straits. (Morry Gash/AP)
His second round at the U.S. Senior Open, on the other hand, didn't start off so bright and happy. Making double bogey on No. 10, his first hole of the day, to go to 2 over par for the tournament suddenly brought him close to missed-cut territory. But Gentle Ben didn't worry. "There was too much golf left," Crenshaw simply said. Still, on a hole he considered one of the easiest on the golf course -- with "easy" being a relative term at the venue that boasted a scoring average of 76.3 on the first day -- it was a bitter pill to swallow. "I was pretty upset to make a 6 on that hole," he said, sounding anything but upset as he quietly and calmly recalled his round. "But I suppose if anyone could, I could," he added with a laugh. The rest of his round went much more smoothly, as Crenshaw made seven birdies to finish the day with a 67, putting him at 5 under for the tournament and three shots behind leader Tom Watson. The birdies, it seems, weren't as seared into his brain as the costly double bogey. Indeed, Crenshaw even had a difficult time recollecting what holes they came on when asked to discuss said birdies. "Golly, I can't remember. I had a bunch of them. We're at a point right now where it feels like it happened way, way too long ago," said the 55-year-old Texan, joking that he'd awakened at 5:00 a.m. and couldn't remember. His short-term memory may be a blur, but the noted golf historian and architect knows enough about the game and setting up a course to have a great appreciation for the opportunity to play on a tough Pete Dye-designed venue. "When you first go around here, it's very intimidating. You look at it and you go, gosh, it's a spectacular golf course in so many ways, exposed to the elements. You know that when the wind blows, you're going to have to play really honest shots and you have to know the golf course," said Crenshaw, who felt he lucked out with an early tee time on Friday morning, when a lack of wind made lower scores easier to come by. A 2002 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame and a 19-time PGA TOUR winner, Crenshaw surprisingly has yet to win on the Champions Tour. He's been in contention several times in 2007, including tying for 12th at the Senior PGA Championship, the Champions Tour's first major of the year. But Crenshaw has not quite found what it takes to win against guys he calls "tournament hardened and sharp." "I still enjoy playing, I do. But I can't play every week. There's just, it's an impossibility now," said Crenshaw. "I'll build courses the rest of my life. And I've enjoyed studying the game and the history and the architecture since I was 16. And it's fascinating. I still find it fascinating. "But I have three wonderful daughters and a wonderful wife, so I miss them." To get his first win in a Champions Tour major would be special, but maybe not life-changing for the two-time Masters winner who earned his last professional victory at Augusta National Golf Club in 1995. Still, to be in contention after two rounds and sitting up there again with the likes of Watson and Loren Roberts is pretty sweet. "I would like to get myself into position. There haven't been too many times where I've been in a position to win. So that's what I'm trying to do," said Crenshaw. "But, like I say, I've been luckier than most and I had some wonderful things happen to me." Which makes it a little easier to put those double bogeys behind him. |
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