Three share lead in LVI

Friday, Oct. 24, 1997 | 9:27 a.m.

Billy Mayfair lost count of his birdies while shooting himself into a share of the second-round lead in the $1.8 million Las Vegas Invitational.

Phil Mickelson was keeping track of his birdies and nearly shot himself into the PGA Tour record book as he flirted with a tour record-tying 59.

Both rounds came at the defenseless Tournament Players Club at Summerlin when, for the second straight day, forecasted strong winds never materialized.

Mickelson, who started his round on the 10th hole, birdied eight of his first nine holes, including the last seven on his front side and made the turn at 28.

"Obviously, I was thinking 59," Mickelson said. "All it (would have taken) was a 31 on the front side."

The 27-year-old left-hander picked up another birdie at the par-5 No. 3, his 12th hole, to go to 9 under par for the round. On the next hole, however, Mickelson lipped out a three-foot birdie putt and settled for par.

He birdied the par-4 sixth hole to go to 10 under, but pulled his drive on No. 7 into the trees and wound up with a bogey and finished with a 9-under 63.

"After making the birdie on three, I'm thinking I need two more birdies and then you have number nine," Mickelson said of the reachable par-5. "When I missed that short putt, that took the wind out of it. I thought if I make that, I can get two more.

"On this golf course, you can birdie every hole out there. It's just not much of a challenge for these guys."

Mayfair and Duffy Waldorf, who shot matching 9-under 63s to tie Bill Glasson (65 Wednesday at the TPC) for the second-round lead at 16-under-par 128, agreed with Mickelson.

Unlike Mickelson, Mayfair wasn't tallying his birdies as he cruised to the early lead before being joined atop the leader board by Waldorf and, later, Glasson.

"I was just playing," Mayfair said of his 10-birdie, one-bogey round. "I said to my caddy coming up 18 that I wasn't really sure how many under I was -- I had lost track and I didn't really want to know.

"Here, in this tournament, you just want to try to make as many birdies as you can until you get done and then add them up at the end. That's basically what I did today."

While Mayfair's round was steady, Waldorf had a roller-coaster round that saw him play the first four holes in 4 under par and the last six in 5 under.

"I got off to a really good start with a birdie on the first hole and then I eagled the third hole and birdied the fourth hole," Waldorf said. "It's nice to get that kind of momentum going and fortunately for me I was very patient in the middle of the round.

"I didn't take as many good shots, really, from the fifth hole through about the 12th hole; I was kind of struggling a little bit. I played those holes even par but then I had a nice finish. It was almost two (different) rounds, the middle part where I was just hanging on and the hot start and the hot finish."

No one will ever know how Glasson felt about retaining his share of the lead after backing up his opening 63 at the Las Vegas Country Club with a 65 at Summerlin; Glasson told a PGA Tour official that he "had nothing to say" to reporters after his round and retired to the TPC locker room.

Glasson, Mayfair and Waldorf held a one-shot lead over Kelly Gibson (65 at the TPC) and Steve Lowery (64 at TPC). Brad Fabel (66 at TPC) was two shots off the lead at 14-under-par 130 and Mickelson, Ted Tryba and Wayne Levi were tied at 13-under 131.

A group of five players, including defending champion Tiger Woods, were four shots off the pace at 12 under. Woods followed his opening 68 at the Desert Inn Golf Club with an 8-under-par 64 at the Las Vegas Country Club.

"It feels good to get back in the tournament," Woods said. "I hear the wind is supposed to pick up, so getting this round in low is a boost. I hit my iron more crisp today and I made a lot of putts. Because of my better iron play, my putts are not as long.

"I'm enjoying this. I'm glad to get my game going in a more positive flow."

Mayfair, who finished second to Jim Furyk in the 1995 LVI, also is enjoying his week in Las Vegas after a disappointing season in which the Scottsdale, Ariz., resident has earned only $145,683 and is 139th on the PGA Tour money list.

"(A win) would mean everything to me," Mayfair said. "It has been a very frustrating down, up, down type of year. Not even being in the top 125 (in earnings) isn't very nice. Even though I'm exempt for next year, you still want to finish up as high on the money list as you possibly can."