Print this page  |  Close Window

By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

BETHESDA, Md. -- The man's voice cut through the mid-morning quiet at Congressional Country Club during the first round of the AT&T National on Wednesday.

Billy Andrade shot a 68 on Thursday. (WireImage)

inside the numbers

Billy Andrade's first round

Birdies 3 Pars 14 Bogeys 1 Driving Accuracy 64 Driving Distance 297.0 Putts 32 GIR 89

• More stats, click here

MAGINNES

When someone asks a PGA TOUR tournament director what the toughest part of his job is, the answer is always the same.  • Complete story,  click here

Billy Andrade was 3 under and playing his 16th hole of the day when his newfound fan began to bellow. "You've won," the man yelled. "You can start spending that money now," he suggested.

"Thanks, pal," Andrade recalled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "There's a lot of tournaments I've played and I've won on Thursday: You don't need to play on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, pal. You've got it!"

"All right, have another beer."

Andrade may not be writing out a deposit slip for the $1.08 million first prize just yet. He has, however, put himself in contention for what would be the fifth victory of his career, and the first since 2000.

That 68 Andrade shot Wednesday left him two strokes off the lead held by Joe Ogilvie, K.J. Choi, Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby and Vijay Singh.

Andrade started on the back nine Thursday, gutting out pars on the diabolical 10th, a 218-yard par 3 over water, and the 489-yard, par-4 11th. He called the two holes "probably the two toughest holes to start, ever."

The former Wake Forest All-American stayed patient, then got things rolling when he made birdie on the 15th, 17th and 18th holes. A 9-iron to 4 feet started the surge. He hit a 7-iron to 10 feet at No. 17 and closed with another 9-iron, this time to 5 feet.

The front nine wasn't as productive, although Andrade gave himself repeated chances from the third hole on. He ended on a sour note with a three-putt from 38 feet on the final hole, but the Rhode Islander refused to be too disappointed.

"It wasn't a nice way to finish," Andrade admitted. "But in all of those holes where I didn't make any birdie putts, I (only) hit one putt that wasn't a very good one. The rest of them are all beautiful putts and all looked like they were going in.

"That's what you need to do. You need to just stay steady and hang in there, and every hole out here is a challenge in itself. You're just trying to execute and have some chances and get off to a good start. That's what Thursdays are all about."

Andrade, who picked up his first TOUR title at nearby TPC Avenel in 1991, was extremely steady on Wednesday, hitting nine of 14 fairways and all but two of his greens. The bogey on his final hole was Andrade's only miscue of the day.

The first putt on the par 5 went down one slope, up another and then veered downgrain. Andrade left it 3 feet short, and he was faced with a sidewinder that didn't break and lipped out for par.

"You know, all you can do ?? especially on downhillers and sidehillers -- is hit a solid putt and hopefully it will slide in for you," Andrade said. "But they are very difficult when you're defensive putting because they can wiggle any which way out here."

Andrade is playing his fifth tournament in a row, and his schedule figures to remain hectic over the next two months. He currently stands 133rd in FedExCup points with just seven tournaments remaining before the playoffs begin.

Andrade finds himself with ground to make up after missing the cut in seven of his first 12 tournaments this year. He's playing better of late, though -- finishing 16th, 70th, 30th, 22nd and 49th in his last five starts -- so Andrade is optimistic.

"Now, basically if you don't make your money, your points, by the middle of August, you're out," Andrade said. "And I don't think there's any player out here that want to take a month and a half off in August and September. So, you've got to play. You've got to keep playing.

"And that's where I'm at now. I started slow. I've been playing much better in the last few months. I'm putting better. I'm just competing now. I feel like I'm definitely in a better place.

"But there's not much time left. You know, you've got to make it ?? you have to do it quickly. If not, no one wants to have to take a break, and you want to be in all of these all?star games and these playoff tournaments and all that, so you've got to play.

"What a better place to do well than here? Winning changes everything. It gets you in all of these extra tournaments, and, you know, that's what we all want to do."