ESPN.com - Golf Online - Masters 2001 - Friday notebook: Impressive return

Associated Press
Friday, April 6

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Mark Calcavecchia shot a 6-under 66 to tie David Duval, Tiger Woods and Toshi Izawa for the low round Friday, marking a successful return to Augusta after not being invited in 2000.


	Calcavecchia

"I missed being here, and it fired me up," he said. "I knew I wasn't going to let that happen again."

Calcavecchia's absence was due to a bad 1999 season in which he didn't finish high enough to be invited. He turned that around in a big way this year, setting the PGA Tour record for a 72-hole score by shooting 28-under 256 in January.

"Not playing here last year, I didn't lose anything," said Calcavecchia, who had played in The Masters the 13 years previous. "It wasn't like I lost all the local knowledge at all."

Perry's pain
It was a rough day in the pine straw for Chris Perry.


	Perry

Perry twisted his knee in the straw on No. 1, then twisted it again on No. 6, and faced a day of pain from there.

"I played flat-footed, like a 10-handicapper," Perry said, after limping noticeably through the back nine.

Actually, maybe a little better than that.

He started the round with a pair of 7s, but came back to shoot a respectable 74. He sits at 2-under and is eligible to play this weekend.

In the hunt again
Jose Maria Olazabal, the champion in 1994 and 1999, made his way back onto the leaderboard, shooting 68 to head into the weekend at 6-under.


	Olazabal

Last year, he missed the cut but had to stick around until Sunday to award the green jacket to Vijay Singh.

This year, he'll try for jacket No. 3.

"All through the years, even though the golf course has changed, I still like the place," Olazabal said. "I have great memories around this golf course, and maybe that helps."

Into hibernation
A 25-foot chip dropped into the cup on No. 18, and Jack Nicklaus thrust his hands in the air triumphantly, just like he has on that green so many times before.


	Nicklaus

But this was a Friday, not a Sunday, and Nicklaus is going home, not sticking around to play this weekend. The six-time Masters champion shot a 3-over 75 to finish at 4 over. He missed the cut for only the fourth time in his 42 trips to Augusta.

"I said I wanted to be competitive," Nicklaus said. "I wouldn't call missing the cut by (three) strokes competitive."

At age 61, it seems Nicklaus expects more out of himself than his fans do. He made 2000 his last year for playing all four majors, but returned to Augusta, even though he conceded he pretty much knew he couldn't win the tournament.

He's not committing for 2002 yet.

"Next year?" he said. "I'm only thinking about next week right now."

Divots

Gay Brewer, 69, withdrew before play began in the second round.

After missing the cut 11 times in 14 years, Hal Sutton stuck around for the weekend for the second straight time, finishing at 1-under.

For the first time, more players are wearing soft cleats instead of metal. A survey released by a soft spike manufacturer said 52 players wore soft spikes and 40 wore metal.

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