Furyk’s game steady despite gusting winds

Saturday, Oct. 16, 1999 | 7:11 a.m.

Defending champion and two-time winner of the Las Vegas Invitational, Furyk shot a steady 1-under 71 Saturday to open a three-shot lead.

Furyk, who also won the tournament in 1995 and has won just one other event in six years on the PGA Tour, pulled out of a three-way tie at the top and went to 23 under through four rounds of the five-day event.

Jonathan Kaye began the day one shot off the lead and moved into second alone with a 73 at the 7,243-yard TPC Summerlin course.

"My short game was real sound; it bailed me out," said Furyk, who made four short birdie putts to overcome one bogey and a double-bogey.

"The wind was blowing so hard you couldn't try to let the wind take the ball. You had to work the ball into the wind."

Kaye said that, on one hole, he started his approach shot some 40 yards to the left of the pin and the ball wound up 35 yards to the right of it.

"It was pretty tough out there," he said.

Although an earthquake, which was centered some 150 miles to the west in California, jolted many in Las Vegas from their beds in the early morning hours, neither Furyk nor Kaye lost much sleep.

"It was pretty crazy; I'm from the East and I'm not used to that," Furyk said. "But I was groggy and just went back to sleep."

The shaking didn't bother Kaye a bit.

"I slept through it," he said.

It was two more shots back to Harrison Frazar, who struggled to a 76 as the gusts turned club selection into a guessing game.

Bob May, who shared the third-round lead with Furyk and Frazar, had a 78 to fall seven shots behind.

Vijay Singh, who complained after the third day that the low-scoring tournament was turning into a putting contest and said he wished there was some wind, got his wish. One shot behind the leaders heading into the fourth round, he ballooned to an 80 that left him 10 shots behind Furyk.

Some other well-known players also had problems. Fred Couples, in contention early in the tournament, had a 79 and was 11 under. Justin Leonard had a 78 and was 8 under, along with Phil Mickelson, who had a 79.

The tournament scores were almost embarrassingly low the first three days, when conditions were ideal.

A pair of unheralded players, Craig Barlow and Frazar, set the early pace. Barlow had a first-round 61, and Frazar had cards of 65-62-67 to go to 22 under heading into the fourth day.

The second day also featured a brush with the tour's magic number, 59. Tommy Armour III shot 12 under, one off the tour record round for 18 holes shared by Al Geiberger, Chip Beck and David Duval.

Players had been predicting a winning score of around 35 or 36 under - unless the wind began blowing. Divots: The cut Friday to the low 70 scorers and ties was 11 under, lowest ever for a tour event; players at 10 under and worse were sent packing. The previous record also came in on desert courses with a pro-am format, the 1993 Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., when players at 10 under made it, and those 9 under and beyond went home. ... The leaderboard was crowded the first three days in Las Vegas, but the wind put some air into it, with only six players within seven shots of the lead or closer.