Ailing Verplank surprises himself with superb opener
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
NORTON, Mass. -- Scott Verplank may have dinner with Steve Stricker again on Friday night.
But don't look for him to order the same thing to eat that his friend does -- even though Stricker and Verplank both made their way to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
The lobster ravioli they ate on Thursday took its toll on Verplank, who was so sick that night he didn't sleep more than two or three hours. He felt so bad that Verplank said he "barely" made it out to TPC Boston for the first round.
"I was really just kind of hoping to survive today," he said. "And you know what, maybe that's what I needed because I got pretty relaxed."
While Verplank just worried about literally putting one foot in front of the other, though, Stricker felt fine and was focused on making birdies.
Stricker produced eight of them, too, on the way to a 63 that gave him sole possession of the lead in the second event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Verplank's round of 65 left him three strokes off that lead.
"It must've worked out all right for him," Stricker said with a grin, as he walked out of the interview room about an hour behind Verplank.
Seeing Stricker in the lead at a Playoffs event should come as no surprise. Particularly not at TPC Boston, where he has finished tied for seventh, ninth and 13th in his last three starts.
In nine previous Playoffs starts, Stricker has five top-10 finishes, and he ranks second only to Camilo Villegas, who has six, in that category. One of those happened last week when he came within a 10-footer of forcing extra holes before tying for second at The Barclays.
Stricker has won twice already in 2009 and ranks second to Tiger Woods in the FedExCup standings. His 63 on Friday bettered his previous best at TPC Boston by four shots and marked his TOUR-leading 26th round in the 60s at a Playoff event.
So with apologies to MLB's Mr. October, Reggie Jackson, how does the Mr. September of the PGA TOUR explain his success?
Stricker broke an eight-year victory drought at The Barclays in 2007, then finished third in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill two weeks later on the way to a second-place finish in the FedExCup. He didn't finish lower than 24th in any of the four Playoffs last year, either.
"Maybe the courses just suit my game," Stricker said with a shrug.
"I don't know, it's just the time of the year. I guess we're winding down on the season, there's a lot at stake. I don't know what it is, if I reach another level of focus or whatever, but I feel comfortable with my game the last three years since these Playoffs have started. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.
"So it's just, I'm riding it out. It's been good, and I just wake up and try to do the same things every day."
Stricker would do well to duplicate Friday's performance, which saw him hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. His putter was hot, too -- he had birdie putts of 10, 4, 24, 5, 16, 4, 1 and 3 feet in the 25 he took overall. The final five birdies came in a row, starting at the 18th hole, as he made the turn.
"It was probably one of my best ball striking rounds this year, for sure," Stricker said. "I mean, it was hard to beat a couple of those rounds at the Bob Hope (where he tied for third), but you know, from tee to green here today was pretty good. I even missed a couple putts early in the round that I could have made under 10 feet."
Verplank, who planned to take a nice long nap on Friday afternoon, had called Stricker before the two teed off to see if he'd suffered any ill affects from dinner. He said no, and then Stricker went out and proved it on the course.
"I guess I was a little disappointed to look up there and see Stricker 8 under par," Verplank acknowledged with a smile. "But you know what, the guy is a heck of a player, so I guess you're going to have to keep making birdies to keep up here.
"I didn't think (the course) was that easy, but I think the conditions just are so good that you can make putts left and right if you get the speed."
Verplank, who ranks 37th in the FedExCup, got things going when he hit a 5-wood to 12 feet on the par-5 second hole and made the putt for eagle. He added three more birdie putts inside 6 feet and narrowly missed a fourth from 5 feet to make the turn in 31.
Verplank, who suffers from Type I diabetes, admitted he started to drag a little on the back nine even though he made sure to eat something before he teed off. Birdies on the last two holes, though, sent him home with positive thoughts.
"Maybe, like I said, I was more concentrating on putting one foot in front of the next one to get through the hole," Verplank said. "Sometimes the faster you get the ball in the hole, the less time it takes to play. So that was good."
And what if the two do eat together again on Friday night? Given how well each played, will Verplank be telling the waitress "I'll have what he's having?"
"I promise you I'm not," he said with a grin.
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