Marino opens at 65

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: July 3, 2008

BETHESDA, Md. — Even before the ball dropped into the cup for birdie on the 18th green at Congressional Country Club Thursday, Steve Marino’s friends were primed. An old college buddy wearing a pink polo shirt, pale green shorts and aviator sunglasses let out the sort of scream usually reserved for crucial putts on Sunday at Augusta.

And this was only Thursday. Imagine what will happen if Marino is still in contention at the end of today’s second round of the AT&T National.

“I’ve got an afternoon tee time,” Marino said with a smirk. “Fourth of July. They’ll have plenty of time to get lubed up.”

And plenty of reasons to be excited, if Thursday was any indication. Marino, who teed off at 7:35 a.m., gave his gallery a quick jolt with birdies on three of his first four holes. He remained bogey free until the end, with his birdie on 18 securing a tidy 5-under 65.

Marino, a Virginia graduate who has never held the 18-hole lead in a PGA event, takes a one-stroke edge into today’s second round over Jeff Overton, Frank Lickliter, Bob Estes and Rod Pampling. Estes had a chance to join Marino in the lead, but he missed a 12 footer for birdie on 18 and settled for par.

Marino grew up 13 miles from Congressional in Fairfax, went to high school at W.T. Woodson and learned the game at the Country Club of Fairfax. An accomplished player on the state amateur circuit, Marino routed Martinsville’s Keith Decker 5 and 4 in 1999 to win his lone VSGA Amateur Championship.

After graduating Virginia in 2002, Marino found that turning pro and making it on the PGA Tour are two entirely different things.

Marino bounced all over the place, playing on the Canadian Tour and earning scraps on mini-tours like the Golden Bear Tour and the Gateway Tour. After playing the Gateway Winter Series in 2005, he made his initial push for playing time on the PGA Tour. He entered a Monday qualifier for the 2006 Henrico County Open, a Nationwide Tour event held in the Richmond suburb of Glen Allen.

On the final hole that day, he made birdie to gain a spot in the field. He took advantage, finishing in a tie for 10th, one of five top 10s he’d accumulate on the Nationwide that year. Marino then went to Q School, earned fully exempt status for 2007 and watched his career take off.

As a rookie last year, Marino earned $1.18 million, finished 70th in the FedEx Cup standings and racked up four top-10 finishes. This season has been even better. He shot the best round of his career, a third-round 64 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico that vaulted him to a second-place finish. He tied for fourth at the Sony Open in January and has already broken the $1 million mark.

Still, he didn’t exactly see Thursday’s 65 coming. Unhappy with his recent play — the last three starts have produced two missed cuts and a tie for 62nd — Marino switched from Cleveland CG1 irons to Cleveland Tour irons. Marino tried the new clubs out on the range Tuesday and liked how he felt afterward.

“You know, I haven’t been hitting the ball that well, and sometimes you just need to change a little bit,” he said.

Marino looked comfortable with the new sticks, especially on the par-4 17th hole, when he turned a potential disaster into a deft par save. His slapped his drive hard to the right, the ball landing underneath a tree about 170 yards away from the green. He muscled up with a long iron and hit his second shot long into a greenside bunker. He escaped perfectly, leaving himself a short putt to save par. When it fell, chants of “Wahoo-wah!” emanated from the gallery. UVa fans were coming out of the woodwork.

“They are rowdy,” Marino said. “But it definitely feels good to have them out there supporting me, and it’s fun. I mean, when you have people out there yelling and screaming, it kind of takes your mind off things and makes you laugh a little bit.”

Marino, looking for his first PGA Tour title, played with Notah Begay III, a four-time Tour winner looking to regain full-time PGA status. Begay, playing in just his fourth event this year, shot a 3-under 67 to stay in the hunt.

“It was one hell of a surprise for me to be perfectly honest,” said Begay, the lone full-blooded Native American on Tour.

A herniated disk in Begay’s back has limited the former Stanford standout’s distance in recent years, but he’s found ways to improvise. Daily yoga and stretching have kept him limber, and he wants to attempt to regain full playing status in the fall through Q School. Even at 35 with a balky back, Begay isn’t ready to give on golf yet.

“So many people dream about being on this Tour and playing at this level, and playing at places like Congressional,” Begay said. “I think for me to turn my back on that, I don’t want to do that.

“It would be a shame. I keep going out of respect for the game and my talents.”