Back Nine

FIRST - ROUND LEADERS R.W. Eaks First-year senior tour member starts fast on back nine -- birdies on 11,12 and 13 -- and front nine -- two birdies and an eagle on first three holes. Tom Watson Three-time winner on senior tour hits 12 of 14 fairways (86 percent); four birdies -- three on the back nine -- came on par 4s and 5s. James Mason Double bogey on No. 6 offsets six-birdie round. Allen Doyle Average drive of 245 is lowest among leaders. Tom Kite Plays three par-5s at 1-under.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Will Phil Mickelson finally win his first major this week? Maybe the stars are in perfect alignment, since the final round of the 102nd U.S. Open will coincide with Mickelson's 32nd birthday as well as Father's Day. Three years ago in Pinehurst, N.C., Mickelson held the lead on the back nine during the final round before losing by two strokes to the late Payne Stewart. Mickelson had considered withdrawing during the tournament because his wife, Amy, was ready to give birth to their first child.

DULUTH, Ga. - The road back to the Ryder Cup has been a long and often strange trip for Mark Calcavecchia. It began when Calcavecchia missed a putt that would have won the famous "War at the Shore" in 1991 at Kiawah Island, S.C. While the United States wound up winning, Calcavecchia's career crashed after that. It took six years for him to recover. Calcavecchia, 41, will be going to The Belfry in England next month, and hopes that his performance in the 83rd PGA Championship here at the Atlanta Athletic Club will give U.S. captain Curtis Strange the confidence to play him in more than a match or two in the three-day competition.

DULUTH, Ga. -- The age-old axiom in golf is that players can't win major championships on the first day, but they certainly can take themselves out of the hunt with a bad opening round. Another of the game's aphorisms is that the more times you knock on the door, the better chance you'll bust through. Phil Mickelson, who has banged on that proverbial barrier so often in an otherwise successful career that his knuckles should be permanently bruised, gave himself yet another opportunity yesterday in the opening round of the 83rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

POTOMAC - Stuart Appleby looked like the master of his domain on the last two days at the Kemper Insurance Open, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hole he dug for himself during the opening rounds. The Australian, who won the Kemper at TPC of Avenel in 1998, was a birdie short of equaling his own course-record of 63 on Saturday, and charged hard yesterday before falling short with a 68. Appleby, who finished in a tie for seventh at 9-under par, rediscovered his magic of two years ago in the third round when he made five birdies and an eagle for his 64. Three birdies in the first five holes on the back gave him hope, but the margin was too wide.

KILLINGTON, Vt. -- The sound has become all too familiar to Jenny Chuasiriporn. It is the unmistakable thwack that occurs when a golf ball squarely hits the trunk of a tree, which happened Thursday afternoon when Chuasiriporn hooked her drive off the ninth tee here at the Green Mountain National Golf Course.After searching for a couple of minutes, a volunteer working at the SmartSpikes Futures Classic found Chuasiriporn's ball among some stones in a drain to the left of the fairway. Her errant shot led to a bogey to close out an opening-round, 4-over-par 76."

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- All around him yesterday, those at or near the lead in the 63rd Masters were backing up on the back nine of Augusta National, their names and scores moving down a few notches on the leader board.First, Lee Janzen took the lead away from Jose Maria Olazabal, only to cough it up with a couple of poor decisions that led to bogeys.Then Davis Love charged in front, before he put his second shot on the par-5 15th in the water and double-bogeyed the hole.After stumbling on the front nine, Olazabal kept avoiding the disasters that had befallen others, particularly on Amen Corner and again on the 18th hole.

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- It is golf's magic number -- 59. It's the ultimate low, the most of the least, the sum total of greatness when the only thing suitable for writing it down on your scorecard is a gold pen.For David Duval, it was his final-round score yesterday, the one that won the Bob Hope Classic, an almost numbingly routine-looking 59 that moved him past the 12 players who began the day in front of him, allowed him to collect a $540,000 winner's check...

Lack of knowledge about the back nine of Baltimore Country Club's East Course did not seem to bother Keith Unikel yesterday.Seeing most of that portion of the course for the first time, the University of Maryland junior shot 2-under-par 33 to complete a 2-under 68 and win the qualifying medal in the 77th annual men's amateur championship of the Maryland State Golf Association.Three others -- Kirk Lombardi, Pat Tallent and Jeff Graf -- had 69s to better par of 35-3570 on the rolling 6,681-yard layout.