Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 | 10:06 a.m.
Steve Jones was leaving the press room when reality -- and a scoreboard -- caught his eye.
"Uh, oh," he said. "Furyk's up there again."
Which can only mean one thing: Jim Furyk is a threat to win in Las Vegas for what must seem to his cohorts to be the umpteenth time.
In reality, Furyk has three victories here and a fourth is hardly improbable given his standing through two rounds of the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. He's at 12 under par, as is Charles Howell, yet Furyk's 131 total is a stroke better than where Howell, Jones, Jeff Sluman and Frank Lickliter stand entering play today at three local courses.
Two of those courses, the TPC at Summerlin and Southern Highlands, have a par of 72. The third course, the TPC at the Canyons, has a par of 71, hence the discrepancy in listing the precise leader (or the order of the standings) in the tournament until each of the 144 players has played a round on each of the courses, as will be the case by the end of the day.
"I just know I put myself in good position," Furyk said. "There's three rounds to be played and all of them for me are at Summerlin. That's good for me."
He had a 65 Thursday at the Canyons following an opening 66 at Southern Highlands.
Jones, the first-round leader after a 62 at the Canyons, came back with a 70 at Summerlin and got off the course before winds began whipping around 1 p.m.
"It's hard to come back after a great round (with another one)," he said. "You know you're probably not going to do as well."
Jones was hardly alone. In fact, of the top 12 leaders entering the day, none shot as well as he did the day before and only one -- Scott Verplank, with a 69 -- was even in the 60s.
The guys who went low Wednesday found par a tougher challenge in Round 2, as proven not only by Jones, but by Lee Janzen (74), Rich Beem (70), J.L. Lewis (70), Paul Stankowski (70), John Huston (71), Glen Day (73), Notah Begay (70), Chris Riley (71), Dan Forsman (71) and Tim Herron (75).
They remain in the championship picture but now have some company.
"I played well here last year and enjoy the format with amateurs," said Howell, one of the upwardly mobile movers. "I'm more relaxed (after winning last week in Virginia) and it's a fun environment. I can even joke around a little bit."
Sluman was joking around in the clubhouse after a second straight 66, this one at Summerlin, had him threatening Furyk's lead.
"I know ordinarily 11 under doesn't get you into the interview room, but the scores might not be as good (later in the day)," he said shortly after noon, and, of course, he was right.
"There's nowhere to hide anymore out here," Sluman said. "On these three golf courses, there's no great place to be if the wind starts blowing."
His own round came in peaceful conditions and could have been even better.
"When you hit it in the middle and don't have any trouble, you always feel you should (score) a little better," he said. "But to me, it's a difficult putting course. The ball is always supposed to break toward downtown and it kind of shocks you when it doesn't."
Summerlin played two shots tougher than it did a day earlier and it may get harder yet if the forecasted winds arrive as scheduled. But with $900,000 going to Sunday's winner and $5 million available in overall prize money, everyone's best effort is assured.
In Jones' case, he's happy not only to be playing well but to be alive.
Appearing far more jovial than what once was the case, he chatted incessantly with his amateur partners and refused to buckle after one particularly damaging hole. A double bogey at the par-3 14th dropped him out of the lead although he recovered to birdie No. 16 and just missed birdie putts on the ensuing two holes.
"I might get on myself on the inside, but not outwardly," he said. "I need to stay that way to play my best."
At 43, he's playing very well -- which is especially notable given the six-hour operation he had Aug. 14 to correct an irregular heartbeat.
"I know it was affecting me with my game," he said of the condition, which he had tried to combat with beta blockers until undergoing a surgery that has an 80 percent success rate. Whether he will be counted among the successes or not remains to be seen, but as of Sunday he'll be off his medication.
Might he, coincidentally, win his first tournament since 1998 the same day?
"I'm not hitting the ball that good," he said, somewhat surprisingly. "I'm not physically fit in my golf game right now, so I'm relying on timing, feel and brains."
An eight-time winner on the tour, Jones spent much of his post-round afternoon on the practice putting green. After 20 years using the same putter, he switched to a newer model three weeks ago at Tampa.
"It took years of not putting very well for me to switch," he said, mocking his reluctance to toss the old one aside. The new putter seems effective but Jones was neither hot nor cold with it during a second round in which one of his amateur partners -- a 13-year-old from the Philippines -- snared much of the public attention.
"I know," Jones said later. "He beat me by two strokes."
That wasn't quite true but the kid apparently had more than his share of TV time, as well as a protective father, a brother who called himself a bodyguard and at least a couple of autograph requests.
Jones took it all in stride and never let on that he was distracted.
"I'm relaxed," he said. "I like these tournaments that have amateurs and have won a couple of them."
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