Faxon feeling good, seeking first win at Insperity

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Brad Faxon is seeking his first Champions Tour title this week.

THE WOODLANDS -- Maybe it was that course-record 64 he shot at his home course -- Old Sandwich -- a couple of weeks ago.

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Yes, Brad Faxon shared the crystal and the Pro-Scratch Best-Ball with his buddy Doug Mackenzie that day, but that 7-under was all his. Including a spiffy 3-wood he threaded onto the narrow 10th green. A shot he normally wouldn't have hit on the tough Ben Crenshaw-Bill Coore design period, let alone on a hole he usually can't figure out. Usually makes a 10 there.

But that day, Faxon did and it was perfect.

"It showed me,'' he said, "I can commit to a shot.'' And pull it off.

Faxon chuckled at himself that day because he'd broken 70 on his home course maybe once before.

He chuckled even harder Saturday afternoon when he realized that his bogey-free 7-under-par 65 gave him the lead heading into the final round at the Insperity Championship.

In just his sixth Champions Tour event, no less.

One minute he was down by seven shots at the Woodlands TPC, the next -- or so it seemed -- he was leading by a shot over Tommy Armour III and by two over Eduardo Romero.

And then there was the little dance. His approach to the 18th hole from behind a tree felt exactly like Sergio Garcia's hit-and-run shot at the 1999 PGA at Medinah. So, after executing the perfect cut -- with a 6-iron and 30 yards of cut -- he celebrated.

"I tried to click my heels,'' Faxon said. "He had more of a scissors-kick. I did an Irish jig. It was brutal.''

The dance. Not the round.

Fax played some brilliant golf in the second round, starting the day with three straight birdies -- from 12 inches, 14 feet and 20 feet. Then there was a 6-iron to 12 feet at the seventh and a 9-iron to eight feet at the 10th and he was right in the thick of it. A 4-iron to 10 feet at the 14th -- "The best shot I've hit in a long time" -- got him to 9-under for the tournament and then, with playing partner and then-leader Romero in trouble, Fax went with a 7-iron approach over water to the tough 17th.

"I smashed it,'' said Faxon, who hit 16 greens. "You can say get up or get down, but you never know what's going to happen. So I kept my mouth shut.''

It settled 6 feet below the hole. He made the putt to go 10-under for the tournament and take the lead.

He chuckled at himself again when he tried to explain the 65 and "cliché'd away". He tried to stay patience. Stay calm. Take it one shot at a time. Stay in the moment. You know the drill.

What he really did was finally accept where is right now, put what he hasn't done the last few years into perspective and enjoy himself.

"I have seen little positives,'' he said. "I've worked hard at my short game; I've worked hard on my irons, but that doesn't guarantee anything does it? If that was the answer then everyone would be good because everyone works hard. But now my head's in the right place.

"I could go out and shoot 90 tomorrow, but my head's in the right place where I can accept things so much better. When I was 49 and battling on the other tour waiting to turn 50, I wish I could have finished my PGA TOUR career on a bright note. I know I can still play a little. I've never been a great player, a great ball striker, but there's a few things I can do pretty well at times.''

Like hit 14 greens. And wind up in the final group at a tournament for the first time since 2005 when he was paired with Padraig Harrington and Jim Furyk at The Barclays. Harrington won, Furyk finished second, Faxon tied for third.

Sunday, he has the chance to become the fourth consecutive first time winner on the Champions Tour, following Mark Calcavecchia (Boeing Classic), Jay Don Blake (Songdo IBD Championship) and Kenny Perry (SAS Championship). And he'll be paired with Romero and Armour.

He just shook his head. It all seemed a little funny, a little strange, to go from making so few cuts his last few years on TOUR -- he made just 10 cuts combined in 26 events in 2009/2010 and didn't make one cut in 12 events earlier this year -- to be the second-round leader in his sixth Champions event.

But the past is now just that -- the past.

"You know, this (Champions Tour) is my place,'' he said. "This is where I belong. I'm not going to beat myself up about the last few years like I have."

Faxon hasn't stopped smiling since he turned 50. He had no idea he would enjoy playing a couple pro-ams and three rounds and hanging out with old buddies like Jeff Sluman, Tom Kite and Jay Haas as much as he has. Nor did he realize that players start fast in these three-round events. An opening even-par means losing ground.

"My quote that I've used so many times already is this is like getting the 80s on XM Radio,'' said Faxon, said. "You hit the button and here comes Pat Benatar and Styx and Kansas and you're like, 'Oh, yeah, I used to play with them.' I've loved it.

"People ask, they ask me all the time, what would you do if you didn't play golf? I'm a golfer. I love to play. When I go home and I'm on vacation, I still play golf because I like to play.

"And seeing these guys and hearing stories, I could listen to it all day. I'm loving it.''

He's always been one of the best putters around, but his swing hasn't been as automatic. So, the last two years, he has been a student of the Stack-and-Tilt, but he's just started seeing really good things in the last six months.

"People laugh at me, like why would you do that? I see things in my seeing that are better. I know I can't think of 100 things at once. Eliminating thoughts is always a good think for me. I have a better understanding of what they want me to do. What I can and can't do."

Funny, but he's always been able to do that on the greens. Players routinely drop by for advice -- like Tim Simpson Friday afternoon.

"I like it,'' he said. "(Talking putting) reinforces what I need to do. I'm a big believer that half the stuff I say is better off being said on the couch because more of it's attitude that physical.''

Now that he's applying the same thing to the rest of his game . . .well, the 18th hole said it all. He was behind a pine tree had about 190 to the pin in a gusting wind. Try carving a flier into a 30-yard cut with a 6-iron, "which is hard to do." But not impossible.

It could have gone into the driving range. The second it left the club, he knew it was good.

"It was nice,'' he said. "I could have gacked the last putt -- a four footer -- but I shook it in there.''

For a 65, a one-shot lead and a chance to build on what he started at Old Sandwich.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.