Kent State's Curtis enjoys career-best round

He shot a 9-under 62 for the lead at the Booz Allen Classic.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
POTOMAC, Md. -- Ben Curtis is still searching for the elusive victory that proves his 2003 British Open title wasn't a flash in the pan. A career-best round at the Booz Allen Classic might have him on his way.
Curtis, who golfed for Kent State University, shot a 9-under-par 62 Thursday, topping a lackluster field in the first round of an anticlimactic tournament following the U.S. Open. He took advantage of the impeccable conditions at a TPC at Avenel course that looked especially inviting after last week's brutal challenge at Winged Foot.
"After playing last week, the fairways look like they are 80 yards wide," said Curtis, who was one shot off the course record. "The greens look huge, so you just kind of free-swing."
Next
Curtis led Jeff Gove by one shot and Jose Coceres by two, with Steve Flesch and Will MacKenzie three back. Curtis birdied four consecutive holes on the front nine and five straight holes on the back nine in what he said was his best round he's ever played in competition.
"This is what you dream of, and this is what you play and practice for, to get to that feeling," Curtis said. "You don't get it very often, so when you feel comfortable out there, you just want to take advantage of it, and that's what I did."
Curtis' only bad shot was his first one, when a gust of wind put his tee shot left of the fairway, which then made him miss the green with his approach shot. He saved par, then hit 13 of 13 fairways and 17 of 17 greens in regulation the rest of the way.
Curtis became the first player in 90 years to win a major on his first try when he captured the British Open three years ago, and even then he didn't have the pressure of sinking a winning putt with any inkling that the championship was on the line. He finished in the fourth-to-last group, then watched in the clubhouse as Thomas Bjorn went 4-over in the last four holes to lose the title.
Curtis realizes now that the victory and ensuing fame were a bit much to handle for a tour rookie. He was tired and busy, unable to focus on golf the way he should.
"The more I look back on it, maybe I could have done a few things differently," Curtis said. "I think there's a few tournaments where I wasn't ready to play, and I just let a few bad habits get into my golf game and my swing. ... You start going downhill, and it just kept going."
Slump
Since winning the British, Curtis has made the cut in only two majors, and his best finish was a mere 30th at the 2004 U.S. Open. He made only 17 of 44 cuts on the PGA Tour in 2004 and 2005, highlighted by a third-place finish at the Western Open last year.
This year has been better. He's made 10 of 14 cuts, although he hasn't finished higher than a tie for 20th at the FBR Open in February.
"I feel like I'm playing like I did four years ago," Curtis said. "Just making a lot of cuts. Just haven't put four rounds together."
He couldn't ask for a better chance to put together a winning effort than he'll get this week. Defending champion Sergio Garcia isn't playing because of a back injury, and most of the tour's other marquee names are resting after the U.S. Open.
Curtis will always be a British Open champion, even if he never wins again. Still, another victory would validate his career in the eyes of many golf fans.
"I've got enough motivation to win again and to be competitive again, so I don't really pay attention to that," Curtis said. "There are so many good players in this world that have only won once -- or have never won anything. Just to be able to win one tournament is an accomplishment, something I'm very proud, of, but obviously I want to win again."
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