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KA‘UPULEHU, Hawaii >> Those following Tom Watson at this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai might notice a group of people dressed pretty in pink.
After Thursday’s opening round he posed for a photo with those 15 folks, who are paying tribute to his wife, Hilary, of nearly 19 years. She was diagnosed with cancer late last year and is undergoing chemotherapy to fight the disease.
Watson revealed the news in a Facebook post in early December after he competed in the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity’s Careity Foundation.
“She’s going through chemotherapy right at the moment and obviously it’s difficult,” Watson said in the Facebook video.
“You think cancer, you think end-of-life thoughts. The more I see her … around people with this disease, it seems like she could care less about it. She’s just going to carry on with her life and let the doctors take care of her. I know one thing, she’s a lot stronger than I am.”
Watson, who captured this winners-only event in 2010, opened with a 68 to shoot his age and find himself four shots off the pace. He came back on Friday with a pedestrian 72 on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course. This is one of only a handful of events that Watson still plays. He appeared in eight tournaments in 2017, including his final appearance at the Masters.
Sauers’ struggles recognized by PGA
First-round leader Gene Sauers received the PGA Tour Courage Award last November from tour commissioner Jay Monahan for overcoming his near-death experience with a rare disease known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
Diagnosed in 2011, Sauers was given only a 25 percent chance to live, much less ever play golf again. The disease burns the skin from the inside out and causes great stress to the joints. The 55-year-old said he felt like his skin was on fire and often wondered what was next in his life.
After winning the 2016 U.S. Senior Open Championship, Sauers was granted a five-year exemption in this event and has taken advantage of the opportunity. Last year, he opened with a 65 in the wind-blown tournament that was shortened to 36 holes. This year, he began the event with a 64 to tie for first with Jerry Kelly. He begins today’s final round just two shots off the pace.
The courage award gives the recipient $25,000 to donate to charity. Sauers sent the money to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Scientists at the non-profit do research on testing, treatment and prevention of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome.
Inside the numbers
The second-round scores were even better than the first, with a scoring average of 69.159. There were 26 rounds in the 60s and 35 below par. The seniors carded seven eagles and 199 birdies. Fred Funk even got a hole-in-one at the par-3 12th. It is only the second time an ace has been recorded in this tournament. The first was by Doug Tewell in 2002 at the par-3 eighth. Vijay Singh just missed an ace of his own at the par-3 17th.
The hardest hole was the par-3 fifth with a scoring average of 3.205. There were three birdies, 33 pars, four bogeys and four double bogeys at the 205-yard hole that has water guarding the front. There was a tie for the easiest hole between the par-5 fourth and 10th holes. The scoring average for both was 4.364. There were a combined three eagles, 55 birdies, 25 pars and five bogeys.
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