Toms sets the pace -- and now hopes to finish the job at TPC Sawgrass

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- If there's one thing David Toms has learned in 38 competitive rounds on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, it's that Pete Dye's signature creation is a very democratic layout.

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Big hitters such as Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods have won THE PLAYERS Championship. So have ballstrikers like Fred Funk, Justin Leonard and Nick Price.

Friday's second round of the PGA TOUR's marquee event offered up yet another lesson -- but not necessarily for Toms. The 44-year-old actually was the instructor as he played the first two rounds with two of the game's talented new breed, Anthony Kim and Jason Day, who are 25 and 23, respectively.

Solid rounds of 66-68 -- his first consecutive sub-70 rounds at TPC Sawgrass in 19 starts -- earned Toms the lead at 10 under. Day is five shots back while Kim trails by 16 and won't be around for the weekend.

While Day and Kim mostly used 3-woods off the tee to navigate the course, Toms stayed aggressive with his driver, allowing him to keep up with the youngsters. Indeed, Toms' average distance on all drives for the two days was 274.2 yards -- better than Day's 274.1-yard average. Kim was only a few yards further at 280.5 yards.

"This golf course kind of evens everybody out, the way you have to play it," Toms said. "So I think that's why you see so many different players winning here, you know, different styles. It tells me that I can compete here against two really good great young players that have awesome careers ahead of them."

Of course, the conversations as the three strolled down the well-manicured fairways are a little different, too.

If Toms had been paired with, say, his Ryder Cup partner, Phil Mickelson, the two could talk about their wives and kids. Day and his wife Ellie, on the other hand, are still contemplating that life-changing moment of having children.

"He said, well, it looks like you started later in your career," Toms said. "I said, yeah, I was 30 but my wife was 25 when we had our son. And I was like, but, at that point it was one of those things about having your career established and being out here where you had some security before you started a family.

10 years ago ...

David Toms has hit a lot of golf shots during a career that has spanned more than two decades. Perhaps the most memorable, though, was the 5-wood he holed for an ace at the 17th hole during the third round of the 2001 PGA Championship. Toms went on to win that duel with Phil Mickelson at the Atlanta Athletic Club and picked up his only major title. Story

"And I told him, here he is, he's already won tournaments and he's established and he's going to be out here for a long time because he's talking about having kids soon. And I told him I thought that was a good idea, to go ahead and jump into the fire."

Toms's children came eight years apart, and he credits his oldest, 13-year-old Carter with renewing his enthusiasm for the game. That's because Carter is playing golf seriously now, too, and Dad would like to show him how it's done. Besides, Carter is really too young to remember when Toms was at the peak of his game.

"I'd like to play great again just for him to be able to see that," said Toms, whose last of 12 TOUR wins came in 2006 at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The steady Toms, who won the 2001 PGA Championship, is showing Carter a thing or two this week. He's hit 24 of 28 fairways and all but seven greens in regulation. He's been opportunistic with his putter, too, which is key on the Stadium Course's vexing, venomous greens.

"I've played with short hitters before, but I haven't played with a guy that hits it so straight and so solid all the time," Day marveled. "I heard that, I think it was (Paul) Azinger back in the day, said David Toms is one of the best ballstrikers he's ever come across. After the last two days, I believe that. He played wonderfully the last two days and he putted even better.

"There are a lot of holes left, but if he keeps playing the way he's playing, it's going to be tough to catch him."

Toms has the fairways-and-greens game that at first glance appears tailor-made for the Stadium Course. But he hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with the angular, tree-lined vistas and his record suffered as a result.

The LSU product missed the cut in his first six appearances at THE PLAYERS, and made an early exit a total of 10 times in 18 previous starts. But Toms has learned to take what the course -- and his game -- has given him.

"Just like today, on 18, I actually took it down the left side and hit a cut into the fairway," Toms said. "The two guys I played with, they were hitting it down the right side and drawing it into the fairway, which is probably the better shot. That's the way the hole sets up. But for me I just knew I could take the water out of play by making sure I hit a cut shot, and it didn't go very far, but I got it right in the middle of the fairway.

"I think that's what I've learned over the years, just try to play my game rather than trying to hit the perfect shot on the golf course. If there's a pin that I can't get to, I play it 30 feet to the right or left of the pin or short and try to two-putt and find a hole where I can get to it, and I think that's just what I've done a little bit differently over the years here."

The last few years haven't always been great to Toms, though. He's battled injuries and consequently, he's fought to get his confidence back. He's had good rounds, but he's looking to put together good tournaments. The first two rounds of THE PLAYERS Championship have gotten him halfway to that goal.

"It's probably just overall confidence," Toms said. "When you're hot there for a few years, it seems like you expect to do well when you are in the hunt, and maybe I've put too much pressure on myself to get back to that level.

"I've done a good job the last, well, actually this whole year of just playing golf. I didn't finish well last week. I had a chance to have a top-10 finish there and finished up bad the last few holes (and tied for 24th). I could have let it carry over, but I came back this week determined to get right back there and playing great again, and that's what I've done."

Toms will have plenty of time to contemplate his position as he awaits what will likely be Saturday's final tee time with another of the game's best young players in Nick Watney. But the softspoken veteran from Louisiana knows better than to attach too much significance to the final outcome -- whatever it might be.

"I just want to go out and play well," Toms said. ""I love having a chance. That's what I've always played for. You work hard, you stay on the road away from your wife and kids, and you want to have the opportunity to get in the hunt, and certainly that's why I play. Whenever it happens again, if it happens again for me, it'll be a great day."