BIRDIE: To the fans throughout the course cheering and yelling encouragement to Tom Watson's caddie, Bruce Edwards, who is a victim of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Not because it's the trendy thing to do, but because there are good-hearted folks around these parts. During today's third round, when Watson is paired with tournament leader Vicente Fernandez, y'all might want to give it up for the other caddie in the group, too. Brian Deasy has cancer.

BOGEY: Granted, it was a stupid question. But it produced something of a cold answer. Bruce Lietzke was asked if it meant anything to him that Toledo-based course architect Art Hills, who has done extensive renovation work at Inverness, picked him to win the Senior Open. “Nah, I don't know him. In 1925, if Donald Ross had picked me, I might have been impressed by that.”

BIRDIE: To Tim Waltzer and his staff on the Inverness driving range. With only 600 range balls to work with, the range crew survived an early-morning barrage yesterday with 36 players warming up to complete first-round play and all the early starters on hand to begin second-round play. Golfers were actually sharing spots and alternating warm-up shots, but Waltzer and Company had the ball-picker running, the ball-washing machine working overtime, and someone stuffing balls into range bags in record time. Not once did a golfer have his pre-round routine interrupted because a station ran out of balls.

BOGEY: To Tom Watson, sort of, for a post-round TV comment Thursday referring to “bumpy greens” at Inverness. Watson was actually referring to slope and undulation, but the word bumpy normally carries a negative, municipal-course connotation and tournament officials, not to mention the superintendent's staff, about went into seizures.

BIRDIE: In yesterday's editions, we gave a bogey to the “poor soul” who shot a 90 in Thursday's first round. We didn't have the heart to even identify him. Now we will. His name is Kean Ridd, a pro from Springville, Utah. In the second round, he had four birdies on the back nine en route to a round of 73. That's a 17-shot improvement in less than 24 hours. Give the man his props.

BOGEY: To the local TV sports crew that keeps referring to Inverness Country Club. In its 100-year history, the word “Country” has never been part of the club's title.

BIRDIE: This one is sort of intramural, so forgive us. But after what he called a frustrating round of golf that prompted him to wonder why anyone would want to talk to him, Jack Nicklaus proceeded to spend more than 30 minutes standing under a shade tree with media members discussing just about anything and everything under the sun. There are only two golfers your B&B man feels will consistently be so gracious with the media in good times and bad. Their names are Nicklaus and Palmer.

BOGEY: Or should that be quadruple bogey? One minute, Gil Morgan was in the thick of the hunt. Eight shots later he was 4-over and nine shots behind after some misadventures at the par-4 fourth hole. He wasn't alone with a single-hole collapse, however. Lanny Wadkins had worked his way back to 1-over with consecutive birdies at Nos. 3 and 4, but triple-bogeyed the fifth hole.

- DAVE HACKENBERG

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I did drive it into two traps today and once in the rough where I was absolutely stone, motherless dead. I couldn't move it forward more than 30 or 40 yards. That's what USGA events are all about.”

- Australian Graham Marsh, talking about his few poor shots of the day and the deep, difficult roughs.

5 QUESTIONS FOR ... Terry Awls

It has been said that Toledo and Inverness Club are hosting 156 of the world's best senior golfers this week. In reality, Terry Awls is hosting 156 of the world's best senior golfers. He is the locker room manager at Inverness, and it is his job to keep all of his guests happy, whether they need their street shoes shined, want dinner reservations at Mancy's, or even a little nip waiting at their locker after a difficult day on the course.

“This is a big week, sure, but we try to always treat our club members and their guests the same way we're treating the tour pros,” said Awls, 32, who is in his fifth year on the job. “I tell people I have the best job in the world. I truly believe that.”

OK, Terry, let's play five questions ...

Q: Has anything prepared you for the task you are handling this week?

A: We host a lot of big events here on a fairly regular basis. There are the Dana Pro-Ams and the Senior Mid-Am Championship, so we've had events that have given my staff and me the opportunity to get ready for the Senior Open. This is everything I expected and it's a neat experience. I have to admit I didn't realize how large-scale it all was until I saw all the fans on the grounds and the media swarming the locker room. No offense.”

Q: None taken. What exactly are your jobs this week?

A: We're doing a lot of service-oriented things, but our No.1 job is to make a good first impression and an even better lasting impression. This is the first major championship here since 1993, and perception is reality. Everybody involved with the club and the tournament wants the players to leave with a good taste and a lasting impression, and a lot of that can be accomplished here in the locker room, where the players spend so much time.

We have shoe service, dry cleaning service, make dinner reservations, stock all the personal-hygiene items and run a crew that monitors both floors of the locker room facility every 30 minutes for cleanliness.”

Q: What has been the strangest request from a player so far?

A: Well, I don't know if I should say this, but one guy wanted a couple bottles of liquor in his locker. Absolut, as I recall.

Q: How do you prepare or train for a job like this?

A: Actually, I have a culinary background. I started in the kitchen in 1991, moved up to pantry supervisor, then banquet supervisor. The club approached me about taking over the locker room in '98, and it was a wonderful opportunity.”

Q: How many people do you have working and what kind of hours is your staff putting in this week?

A: I have a 10-man staff, including my two assistant managers, Maher Salameh and James Buffaloe. I'm getting here between 5 and 5:30 each morning and heading home at 8:30 or 9 at night. They're long hours, sure, but this is something we've all been looking forward to for a long time. A little extra work isn't going to bother us.

- DAVE HACKENBERG

SHOT OF THE DAY

Bob Harrington, an amateur who qualified for the U.S. Senior Open out of his hometown of Portland, Oregon, was decidedly upbeat despite missing the cut with an otherwise unspectacular 19-over-par 161 after two rounds.

Part of the reason may have been the nothing-to-lose attitude he brought to the tournament, and the rest was the spectacular par save he made on his third hole yesterday.

Harrington, 50, pushed his tee shot to the right on the 194-yard, par-3 third hole at Inverness and watched his ball find the water. Taking the necessary drop and penalty stroke, Harrington hit a high wedge shot to a slightly elevated green. The ball landed 15 feet from the pin and rolled into the cup for a par.

“I had to go to the drop area and there's no yardage over there, so you're kind of guessing,” Harrington said. “It's about 60 to 70 yards. There's no green to work with from there, but I dropped it into a pretty good lie and hit my 58-degree lob wedge and just hit a perfect shot.

“It looked perfect in the air, it looked perfect when it hit the green and it just rolled right in. I was looking at maybe a 5 at best from over there with no green to hit to, so it's just euphoria when all of a sudden you make par. It was the highlight of what's been a great week for me.”

Shot of the day No. 1-A came from tournament leader Vicente Fernandez, who hit a brilliant 6-iron shot on No. 13 yesterday from 202 yards away on the 511-yard, par-5 hole. The ball hit the pin and stopped eight inches from the hole, and Fernandez tapped in for an eagle.

- STEVE JUNGA

STAT OF THE DAY

Vicente Fernandez began his second round on the back nine and on each of the first seven holes scored one fewer stroke than in Thursday's first round when he shot 73, resulting in a 64 that came within one stroke of tying the competitive course record at Inverness.

First Published June 28, 2003, 5:30 a.m.