Toms' turnaround puts him in the hunt at Transitions

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David Toms shot an 8-under 63 to move into contention at the Transitions Championship on Friday.

INNISBROOK, Fla. -- David Toms' goal was very simple Friday. He was just hoping to make the cut when he stepped to the first tee of the Copperhead Course at 8:48 a.m..

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The 74 he shot in the first round of the Transitions Championship had left him on the outside looking in, and Toms, who says he "hates" not playing on Saturday, was not a happy camper.

"I was pretty down,'" Toms admitted. Aggravated, even, he would later say.

Birdies on the first two holes Friday changed the complexion of the day, though. Suddenly, Toms was motivated again, and after completing a tournament-low round of 63, the 43-year-old veteran now finds himself in the hunt again.

The round, which was one stroke shy of the course record, is four better than any Toms has shot this year. Thanks to the 11-shot improvement, he'll start the third round 5 under and just three strokes off the lead held by Padraig Harrington.

Go figure.

"I think that's the beauty of the game," Toms said. "That's what keeps players, whether it's our level or your amateur level coming back every day, because every day is a new day. You don't know what's going to happen; ... are you going to get good breaks or bad breaks, a bad bounce here or there?

"It's a tough golf course, it really is. You have to be patient on every shot. And to shoot 8 under par; I certainly didn't think that was in there in my game right now. ... (But) I've been working pretty hard ... and to finally get some results today, it was a good feeling for me."

Jim Furyk, who shot 68 on Friday to move to 7 under, also knows how quickly things can change. He was leading last year's Transitions Championship after opening with a 65 only to follow with a 78 and go on to tie for 52nd.

"It's just the nature of our game," Furyk said. "... I think he's a great player, and he's got a lot of experience. ... You get on a roll and you catch that momentum. It's a hard thing to do, but once you get it rolling, it seems like a lot of things can go right."

When he tees it up this weekend, Toms will be seeking his first win since the 2006 Sony Open in Hawaii. He had seven top-10s last year, including a trio of runner-up finishes but he hasn't finished higher in a stroke play event than 42nd this year.

One of the reasons is a bum shoulder, which Toms had discreetly kept to himself until Friday's interview session. He has a bone spur that's rubbing on the tendon in his rotator cuff which causes a fair amount of pain at certain spots in his swing.

Two different doctors have recommended arthroscopic surgery which would keep Toms on the shelf for about eight weeks. He's been controlling the pain with medication right now and was thinking about having the procedure after the Masters.

"Who knows? I don't know what I'll do from here," Toms said. "But certainly the round that I played today, I felt like I was maybe getting through it a little bit, at least where I feel like I can still play golf. But I'm still in a lot of pain. I can't even toss a ball to my caddie, when I get the ball out of the hole."

Toms, who battled back problems a few years ago, knows these nagging aches and pains are just the downside of getting older. His practice time has been limited of late, and never a long hitter, Toms has lost about 10 yards in driving distance -- which can play on one's mind, particularly when a golf magazine reported how far his playing partners are hitting it past him.

"That's part of getting old, but at the same time, being injured and old is not a good thing,'" Toms said with a wry grin.

He's learned to pick the venues that suit his game, though. And Toms is man enough not to give into any feelings of inadequacy when he plays with bombers like Nick Watney, Charl Schwartzel and Henrik Stenson as he did at TPC Blue Monster last week.

As frustrated as he was on Thursday evening after shooting 74, though, Toms still found time to put on a sport coat -- "which we don't do very often," he said -- and attend a small dinner party with Transitions executives.

He had opted out of the Wednesday pro-am since his kids were on spring break and he took his family to the Bahamas early in the week. So the dinner party was a way for Toms to fulfill his obligation to the sponsor and he ended up having a very good time.

"It helped me get past my round," Toms said. "... We laughed a lot and to a T every one of them said 'You're going to play great because you're here tonight' and it worked out."

Wonder who'll make Friday's dinner reservations?