Pavin stretches streak
Corey Pavin is in the midst of one of those swings nobody likes to talk about. If this were baseball, he’d be sitting alone at the end of the bench.
The only guy who might say something to him over the next few holes is current record-holder Hale Irwin, who once crafted 13 consecutive rounds in the 60s back in 1999. With Pavin’s nifty 68 that left him tied for third just three shots behind after Saturday’s second round of the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship, he now has 10 straight.
A couple of recent tour strings were snapped on Friday, adding to the jinx factor. Tom Pernice‘s 73 on Friday ended 17 consecutive rounds of par or better for him. Duffy Waldorf‘s 130 consecutive holes without a three-putt ended at the 18th.
As for Pavin, the string of hits in the 60s began on July 27 in the third round of the Senior British Open. What makes the run more remarkable is Pavin took off for two tournaments when the Champions Tour went through Canada, and hadn’t teed it up in nearly three weeks.
Not a problem. Starting on the 10th on Friday, he opened with a 68, birdieing the seventh hole to go to 3 under for his round, and then birdied the ninth just for good measure — this with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 18.
But in even more blustery conditions Saturday, the winner of the United Airlines Hawaiian Open in 1986 and 1987 managed another 68, birdieing both par 5s on the back nine, to keep the streak alive.
Pavin will be in the final threesome today with second-round leader Mark Wiebe and Vijay Singh, who is trying to become the 17th player to win his inaugural Champions Tour event.
As for Pavin, he has been hot of late. He is currently riding a streak of five straight top-10s, including the last four events, where he’s finished either second or third. He’s searching for his first victory since the 2012 Allianz Championship.
Singh goes bogey-free
One reason Singh sits alone in second after 36 holes of this stop on the Champions Tour is his consistency. He was the only golfer not to card a bogey Saturday. On Friday, Mark Calcavecchia and John Inman had the only cards without a bogey.
Singh said after his round that he’s working on adjusting his swing. He’s also using the claw grip on a shorter putter that’s working well enough this week. Singh is averaging 29.5 putts a round, good enough for 46th in the field. He is first in greens in regulation at 86.1 percent (31 of 35) and tied for second in fairway hits at 89.3 percent (25 of 28).
Inside the numbers
The Kapolei Golf Club played a shade tougher on Saturday than the opening round: Blame that on the wind.
The trades were howling at times as they swept across West Oahu and the 81 seniors taking turns swinging golf clubs. There were 19 rounds in the 60s — one more than on Friday — and 33 rounds in the red as opposed to 36 the first day. The scoring average was 72.137 — a 10th of a percent higher than Friday.
The most difficult hole was the par-4 second, with a scoring average of 4.287. There were only four birdies, with 51 pars, six bogeys and one double. The easiest hole was the par-5 17th with a scoring average of 4.387. There were three eagles, 44 birdies, 32 pars and one bogey.
Cochran disqualified
Russ Cochran was disqualified after Saturday’s second round for failure to sign a scorecard. Cochran opened with a 72 and would have shot a 78 on Saturday.
