Odd year on calendar finds Calcavecchia back on an even keel  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Mark Calcavecchia won't deny his predilection for odd behavioral habits, and, in fact, he relishes them, which is why his 2007 season figures to be an enjoyable journey despite the collection of aches and pains that accompany a man approaching his 47th birthday.  Mark Calcavecchia was happier than most to see the calendar turn to 2007. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
So far, he has no complaints. The chronic pain in his feet won't abate and demon spirits infiltrate his putter at some inopportune times, but his back isn't acting up and his scores are going down. "Except for the occasional duff, I'm hitting it pretty good," said the former British Open champion, who hit it better than most Saturday by shooting a 4-under-par 68 at the South Course at Torrey Pines and moving into contention heading into the final round of the Buick Invitational. Calcavecchia tied co-leader Andrew Buckle for low round of the day on the difficult South Course, which through the first two rounds had yielded just seven sub-70 scores. This effort allowed the 12-time PGA TOUR winner to move from 37th into a tie for eighth place, just three behind Buckle and Brandt Snedeker and one back of Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in the world and prohibitive favorite who seeks his seventh straight TOUR victory and fifth in this event. The aggressive ascension follows on the heels of Calcavecchia's splendid 69 amid winds gusting to 40 miles per hour in the final round of last week's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. That effort lifted him an almost identical number of spots as he finished eighth after beginning the final round tied for 36th. What's more, he already has equaled his top-10 output from a year ago -- his worst on TOUR since his breakthrough 1986 season. "Anything would have to be better than last year," said Calcavecchia, who managed to finish among the top 125 money winners for the 21st year in a row thanks to a late surge -- a tie for ninth at the FUNAI Classic at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort and a tie for 19th at the Chrysler Championship. The latter of the two lifted him eight spots to 120th on the money list, his lowest position since 1985. "I've discovered that I'm an odd-year player. I do better in odd years. I won the British in 1989. Guess I should play the odd at roulette." Odd pays off on the golf course. He's won eight of his 12 TOUR titles and another three international titles in odd-numbered years. His last TOUR title was the '05 Canadian Open. All of his specialty wins (like the Dunhill Cup or Franklin Templeton Shootout) have come in the odd years. In his 27th year -- yes, his 27th -- as a professional golfer, Calcavecchia knows a lot more about golf than the young guns bombing and gouging it today without much forethought. More importantly, he knows a lot more about his own game. He has made no changes to either equipment or approach, yet he is achieving better results than in '06 largely through patience, some key putting and a back that isn't in constant upheaval. Of the three, putting is the one area over which he frets a bit. At the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he put up a third-round 75 at LaQuinta Country Club after he missed six putts inside five feet. Three were two feet or less. Friday's 74 on the South offered more of the same, including an 18-inch putt that barely hit the cup at the first hole. "The putting gets iffy, but, overall, I'm still pretty good around the greens," he said. "I don't get discouraged." In fact, the more he plays, the easier it is for him to find his ball. This has led to a cycle of preparation that he wouldn't recommend to anyone else. "I like playing three or four weeks in a row," said Calcavecchia, who next week returns home to Scottsdale for the FBR Open, his fourth straight start. "As I get older, I realize that when I take two weeks off, I can't help but really take two weeks off where I don't do a thing. Then Monday comes around and I haven't touched a club for 13 days, and I'm like, "Holy ... I better get back to work.' It works for me, and I gradually play my way into some pretty good form." His form has peaked before at the FBR Open. He once shot 28 under par there to win by eight strokes. His 256 total broke the long-standing aggregate scoring record Mike Souchak had held since 1955. That came in 2001, by the way. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
