POTOMAC -- Fred Funk figured he had nothing to lose. He was already in the midst of one of his most disappointing seasons in a decade on the PGA Tour. He was about to play in a tournament, the $2 million Kemper Open, in which he had missed the cut the last three years and had never been in the hunt.
So Funk paid a visit to the doctor Tuesday afternoon.
Not a swing doctor or a sports psychologist, but Dr. Mark Whitten, a local eye surgeon who performed laser surgery on Funk in his Rockville office and sent the 41-year-old golfer back to the TPC at Avenel having corrected his vision from 20/600 to 20/25.
"He told me he had started putting a little better [before the surgery]," Whitten said yesterday. "I told him that he was going to be putting unbelievably in two days." Talk about following doctor's orders.
A 7-under par 64 by Funk in the opening round gave him a one-shot lead over Chris Perry. Four players -- Craig Parry of Australia, journeyman Tommy Armour, and unknowns J. L. Lewis and Mike Weir -- were three shots behind at 4-under-par 67. A dozen players, including defending champion Justin Leonard and reigning Masters champion Mark O'Meara, were at 3-under-par 68.
Funk's score was one shot off the course record and was his best score in the 31 Kemper Open rounds he had played here. It was only the third time that Funk had shot under 70 at Avenel -- he had an opening-round 65 in 1989 and a closing 69 in 1992 -- and was his best round of the year.
"It might have been my best round in two years," said Funk, who finished 38th on the money list last year and is 70th this year.
It was by far the best start Funk has had in a tournament this year. His scoring average is more than 73.5 for the opening round of the 16 events in which he has played, and Funk ranks 138th of 150 for the first two rounds. Funk, the University of Maryland golf coach from 1982 to 1988, had missed the cut five times but made the cut the past two weeks despite shooting 75 in the first round.
"It was a really good putting round," said Funk, who needed only 11 putts on the front nine and 26 overall. "It's something I've really never done well at Avenel. I don't know why, I have a hard time reading these greens. They consider me a local guy, but I don't know this course very well."
