Doyle Making Pitch to Regain Rookie Form

Allen Doyle already can hear the questions about a sophomore jinx, so he’s planning to put an end to all that as soon as he can.

Doyle, a four-time winner as a Senior PGA Tour rookie last year, shot four-under-par 67 in the second round of the Toshiba Senior Classic on a cold, wet Saturday at Newport Beach Country Club and has a two-day total of six-under-par 136.

His lead is one stroke over Howard Twitty and Jim Thorpe and two shots better than first-round co-leader Roy Vucinich.

Doyle, who finished fourth on the money list last year, has six consecutive top-20 finishes dating to last year and has finished in the top 15 in each of his five events this year. But he hasn’t won since the TD Waterhouse Championship last September.

“If I get through the year and I haven’t won, people are going to say ‘What happened?’ ” Doyle said. “No one’s asked me yet, but inevitably it would come if I hadn’t won at a certain point.”

A victory here is far from secure. True to form in the Toshiba, a group of 20 players have positioned themselves within five strokes of the lead.

This tournament has produced two playoffs in its five-year history and twice has been decided by one shot. Jim Colbert’s two-shot victory in 1996 is the largest margin of victory in tournament history.

Doyle knows perfectly well how this tournament can end up. He was part of a four-man playoff last year, won by Gary McCord.

“You can’t make a ton of birdies and when you’re able to do that you’re always going to make bogeys,” Doyle said. “This is that type of golf course. Whenever you get a course like this you’re always gonna get a bunch of people bunched throughout the whole tournament.”

Among those in striking distance are Larry Nelson, Graham Marsh and Dave Eichelberger at three under par, Lee Trevino and George Archer at two under and Hale Irwin, who shot a course-record 62 in the final round to win in 1998, at one under.

With such a massive group of heavyweights behind him, it’s unlikely Doyle will hear the tiptoeing of Twitty.

A second-year senior tour member, Twitty has had three foot surgeries in the last three years and wears specially designed spiked sandals to alleviate pain.

He has had six hammer toes and nerves repaired, bunions on both feet removed, both arches rebuilt and tendons transplanted.

“They did a total lube and valve job on my feet,” he said.

He braved the wet course Saturday wearing the sandals and what were supposed to be waterproof socks, but afterward his feet were so cold he said he couldn’t feel them.

Twitty, who shot 70 Saturday, had a difficult time with club selection and staying loose because of the conditions.

“Survival,” he said. “That’s the best way to describe it. It’s difficult because you just stay cold and you can’t stay loose, especially at our age.”

Doyle began the day three shots behind leaders Eichelberger and Vucinich but vaulted to the top of the leaderboard with a hot start. He had birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 4 before the rain started.

Bogeys at the fifth, sixth, eighth and 10th dropped him back, but a quick glance at the leaderboard showed no significant movement.

“If I’d have dropped 20 spots then I’d have said, ‘Boy what a dummy. How stupid could you be?’ ” Doyle said. “But I make the turn and I’m two under just throwing away shots and I’m still in great shape. That’s reassuring.”

That confidence boost, coupled with clearing weather, helped him to a torrid finish. He made birdies on Nos. 11, 13, 15, 17 and 18 to take the lead.

Twitty narrowly missed a 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th hole that would have given him a share of the lead. He also hit a poor chip shot on No. 10 that led to a bogey and hit a poor pitch on the par-five 15th, settling for par on the easiest hole of the day.

“I made two or three pathetic mistakes on the back nine,” Twitty said. “There’s no excuse for that.”

Because more inclement weather is forecast for today, the starting times have been adjusted. Players will start on both No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 7:45 a.m. Doyle, Twitty and Thorpe start at 9:33 on No. 1.