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By CONNOR ENNIS Times Leader Sports Correspondent
Sunday, July 30, 2000     Page: 1C

DALLAS – Tom Kilduff thinks he might have figured out the recipe for
success at the Potentate Tournament at Irem Temple Country Club.
   
First, play a solid round of golf with a few birdies. Second, get a ringer
of a partner like Bill Lawler. Third, stay the heck out of that partner’s way.
    That combination has landed Kilduff and Lawler in the semifinals of the
match-play championship flight. They will square off with four-time defending
champions Mark Kopec and Carlyle Robinson today at 7:50 a.m. The winning duo
will advance to the 12:50 p.m. championship match, where it will face the
winner of the other semifinal match between Mike and Chet Blazick and Jim
Blinn and Brian Corbett.
   
“I watched,” said Kilduff with a laugh after Lawler holed several long
putts to salt away the match. “I helped him with the read, he gave me credit
for that. I helped him read the putt.”
   
Saturday’s second-round match between Kilduff and Lawler and Tom Gauntlett
and Rollie Schmidt took a turn on the 13th hole, said Kilduff. Gauntlett and
Schmidt had momentum in their favor after evening the match with birdies on
the 10th and 11th holes.
   
Things could have gotten worse for Kilduff and Lawler on the par-5 13th
when Lawler hit his tee shot into the woods. However, Lawler got onto the
green in four shots and hit a long putt to salvage par.
   
“Like he had been doing all day long, he knocked in about a 25-footer to
save par,” Kilduff said of his partner. “They were there sitting for birdie.
They missed their bird then, so the hole ended up being a tie. That was a big
turning point in the match.”
   
The duo then won the next three holes on the strength of three long putts
by Lawler.
   
For their performance, Kilduff and Lawler receive the dubious prize of
squaring off against Kopec and Robinson.
   
“It’s a good match,” Kilduff said. “They beat us last year and they’ve
won this tournament (four) times so obviously they’re always the favorites but
with match play anyone can win.”
   
The defending champs also relied on some good work on the greens to pull
off both of their victories Saturday.
   
In the second-round matchup against Steve Federicci and Tom Bevevino,
Robinson went into his bag of tricks on the 17th green to get his team into
the semifinals.
   
“Carlyle made a vintage 50-footer with about 15 feet of break like he does
all the time it seems,” Kopec said. “He’s a specialist at that.”
   
Even with the possibility of a championship on the line today, Kopec said
he doesn’t feel any pressure on his team.
   
“Honestly, I have a great outlook, especially this year,” Kopec said.
“I’m just out there hitting it around and having fun. If we win that’s great.
If not, I’m not too worried about it.”