Verizon Heritage: Rd. 3
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
CAN GAY CLOSE THE DEAL? (5:40 p.m.): Brian Gay has already won on the PGA TOUR, so he won't have the added pressure of trying to win for the first time. What he will be dealing with, however, is trying to avoid another final-round loss.
Gay has been in contention several times during his career, but only once has he been able to close the deal. Some of that's been his fault, some of it not. Let's review.
At last year's Viking Classic, Gay was eliminated from a three-man playoff when he failed to make birdie on the first extra hole. At Colonial, he entered the weekend one off the lead, but shot 69-72 to finish T10. In 2007, he was one off the 36-hole lead at the Stanford St. Jude Championship, but finished seven back. In 2005, Gay entered the final round of the Barclays Classic two back of Jim Furyk and Padraig Harrington, but had two double bogeys on Sunday.
You get the idea.
The toughest one to take, however, had to be at the 2000 Honda Classic. Within one of leader Dudley Hart going to the 17th hole on Sunday, Gay's 30-foot birdie putt stopped just on the edge of the hole before eventually dropping in. Unfortunately, Gay waited longer than the allowed 10 seconds and was hit with a one-stroke penalty after the round. He also bogeyed the 18th and finished two back. Ouch.
What will happen this week? Gay has a three-stroke lead -- the largest of his career -- so he has to be feeling good. Given the track record of near-misses, however, Sunday could prove interesting once more. -- Brian Wacker
HALL OF FAME GAME (5:15 p.m. ET): When Michael Jordan was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last week, he expressed his satisfaction with the announcement but also his disappointment. After all, being elected to the Hall of Fame is acknowledging that your career is over, right?
"I was hoping this day was coming in 20 more years, or that I'd actually go in when I'm dead and done," Jordan said. "Because the way you always look at it, you can always go and put shorts on and play. Now you get into the Hall of Fame, what else is there to do?"
The same cannot be said of golf. The Champions Tour is playing the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, and World Golf Hall of Fame members Larry Nelson and Nick Price are ahead of the rest of the field.
Nelson is currently 2 under for the day and 8 under for the tournament, while Price is also 2 under on Saturday and 7 under for the week. Price is searching for his first Champions Tour win, while Nelson is going for his 20th victory on the 50-and-over circuit.
Of the celebrities teeing it up in the pro-am, Vinny Testaverde is tied for fourth, while Bill Murray and Emmitt Smith are also in the top 10. -- Lauren Deason
EXTENDING THE LEAD (5:05 p.m.): Brian Gay just extended his lead to three shots after recording his fourth birdie of the day when he rolled in a 22-footer on the par-5 15th.
The man right behind him, Tim Wilkinson, however, had six birdies on the day and matched the day's lowest score with a 65. Wilkinson's been doing it with accuracy all week and today was no different as he hit 13 of 14 fairways for the third straight day.
"I got lucky on the first hole, I hit a tree and the ball bounced back into the fairway," Wilkinson told CBS' Peter Kostis. "It makes it easy, but you've still got to hit good iron shots into the green."
That's exactly what Wilkinson did, taking advantage where he could, hitting seven approach shots to within 20 feet of the hole. As for tomorrow's strategy as he tries to catch Gay and capture his first career win on the PGA TOUR? "Play pretty aggressively," the New Zealander said. "There are a few good birdie chances out there." -- Brian Wacker
TWO NEAR THE TOP STRUGGLING (4:50 p.m.): Of the top 23 names on the leaderboard, and the players in contention going into today's round, only Todd Hamilton and Alex Cejka are over par on their rounds.
Hamilton has had a wild ride today, opening with a bogey before bouncing back with a birdie on No. 2. He had just one more birdie the rest of the front nine before posting back-to-back bogeys to open the back nine. Given his scores today, it's not surprising that Hamilton has hit just 6 of 11 fairways and 8 of 14 greens in regulation.
Cejka, meanwhile, is having a similar performance with 6 of 11 fairways hit and 6 of 14 greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
CEJKA STRUGGLING (4:20 p.m.): First-round leader Alex Cejka, who opened with a 64, has been struggling since with a 71 yesterday and a round of 3 over after a double-bogey on the 13th today. As a result, the 11-time winner around the world, who is still looking for his first career PGA TOUR victory has fallen into a tie for 12th eight shots off the lead, which is now at 12 under after Brian Gay's third birdie of the day. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGHEST HOLE (3:58 p.m.): The picturesque par-4 finishing hole gets all the headlines here at Harbour Town -- both for its amazing scenery and the difficulty that belies it.
But the toughest hole here this week is the 192-yard, par-3 14th. It was in Round 2 and is again today. On the week, it's playing to a stroke average of 3.32 with more than twice as many bogeys as birdies and 11 more double bogeys than birdies.
The 18th isn't too far behind, however. It's playing as the second-hardest hole this week. -- Brian Wacker
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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BAIRD IN WITH 65 (3:28 p.m.): Briny Baird, still looking for his first career PGA TOUR win, is in good position after finishing off a 65 a little while ago, which matches the lowest score of the day so far. Not surprisingly, he was extremely accurate off the tee, hitting 13 of 14 fairways. He also took just 23 putts (though found just 11 of 18 greens in regulation). That has Baird in at 7 under and currently four shots back of the current lead. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Baird's scorecard from today:
PAMPLING HEADING THE WRONG WAY (3:05 p.m.): After opening with back-to-back 68s, Rod Pampling was in good position heading into today's third round. Unfortunately for Pampling, he's going the other way today, playing his first eight holes in 3 over with a bogey and a double bogey.
The double bogey came on the 156-yard, par-3 fourth hole when Pampling rinsed his tee shot left of the green. He re-teed it, hit on the green and two-putted for a 5.
Pampling is looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational. Last year, Pampling was tied for the lead coming to the final hole of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial before Phil Mickelson, playing in the same group, birdied the hole from the left trees. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIE ALERT (2:52 p.m.): Tim Wilkson is the latest player to make a charge on the front nine here at Harbour Town, where he birdied his last four holes to make the turn in 31.
Wilkinson, who hasn't missed a fairway yet and has hit 7 of 9 greens in regulation, is in just his second year on the PGA TOUR. The New Zealander isn't in unfamiliar territory, however.
One of the TOUR'S more accurate players off the tee and into the green, Wilkinson had a pretty spectacular rookie season with a T2 at the Valero Texas Open, a third at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and a T6 in Puerto Rico.
The runner-up in Texas might've been most impressive with Wilkinson shooting four rounds in the 60s, including weekend scores of 63-64. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Wilkinson's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here.
LEADERS ARE ON THE COURSE (2:40 p.m.): Halfway leader Brian Gay is on the course and still in front by one, but hasn't done much yet, playing his first four holes in even par. Ditto Todd Hamilton. Both are looking to win, but with different things at stake.
Gay has been in contention a number of times on the PGA TOUR, including at Colonial last year when he was in second going into the weekend before shooting rounds of 69-72 to finish T10. Even that first career victory, at last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, came after 292 career starts, the 13th-longest number of starts on TOUR without a win. Getting that second one has proven difficult at times.
Hamilton, on the other hand, is a major champion, having won the 2004 British Open. However, his TOUR exemption for winning that tournament expires after this season. That means Hamilton will need to finish in the top 125 on the money list, or, better yet, win, to lock up a fully-exempt future. -- Brian Wacker
BAIRD BOGEY-FREE (2:22 p.m.): Briny Baird still has a few holes left in his round today, but is bogey-less so far. He's also got five birdies and as a result has jumped from T27 to T5 and within three of the lead as he continues to try to chase down that first career PGA TOUR victory.
Talk about a bittersweet year for Baird in 2008. He had the second-best season of his career with a 27th-place finish in the FedExCup standings and more than $2 million in earnings for just the second time in his career. But he also had a couple of close calls. He was tied for second entering the final round in Puerto Rico last year, before shooting a 72 on Sunday to finish T4, and was in contention in the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship, before being undone by bogeys on Nos. 15 and 17.
That's been the story of Baird's 10-year career. Three times he's finished second, most recently at the 2004 FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney Resort. This year, he had yet another opportunity, this time in Mexico, where he opened 67-66-67, before closing with a 73 to finish T6. -- Brian Wacker
SEA OF RED (2:11 p.m.): It's not quite the birdiefest we saw in the opening round of the Masters last week, but there are plenty of red numbers being put up today with the wind still down. Of the 78 players who made the cut, only 20 of them are over par in today's third round.
When it comes to scoring at Harbour Town, it's clearly all about what the wind is doing. In the first round, it blew quite a bit, especially in the afternoon. Today, it's starting to pick up, but is still very calm. -- Brian Wacker
RORY UPDATE (1:59 p.m.): It looks like Rory McIlroy's string of top 20s on the PGA TOUR is going to run out this week. The 19-year-old Irishman shot a 72 today and is at 2 over and in a tie for 67th.
In five TOUR events this year, McIlroy's worst finish was a T20 at the Masters and at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. Twice, he's finished in the top 15 with a high of T5 at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.
However, McIlroy hasn't broken 70 since the final round of the Shell Houston Open, eight rounds ago. -- Brian Wacker
PUTT FOR DOUGH (1:42 p.m.): With such a premium on ballstriking and finding Harbour Town's small greens, it's no wonder players who putt well here this week will fare well. Though Harbour Town yields one of the lowest putts per round averages you'll see on the PGA TOUR all year -- mostly because when you find the green, putting isn't all that difficult here -- there's definitely a correlation between how you're putting and your place on the leaderboard. Check out the numbers on leader Brian Gay below, for example. -- Brian Wacker
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DON'T CRY FOR ARGENTINA (1:25 p.m.): A little less than a week after Angel Cabrera was washing down nine cheeseburgers with a few glasses of red wine following his playoff victory at the Masters, another Argentine could be making headlines.
Jose Coceres has crept up the leaderboard at the Verizon Heritage thanks to four birdies through his first seven holes, including three in a row -- though he just gave one back with a bogey on No. 8.
Coceres had an injury plagued year in 2008 and is playing this season on a Major Medical Extension in which he has 12 events to earn just over $600,000. Coceres has two career PGA TOUR victories, but has only played in two TOUR events this season prior to this week, missing the cut in both of them. -- Brian Wacker
ROUND OF THE DAY (1:15 p.m.): Luke Donald just wrapped up the lowest score of the day so far, shooting a 6-under 65 to get to 5 under for the week and within a mid-iron of the the lead.
"The lack of wind [today] made it easier, but you you still have to make good shots around here," Donald told GOLF CHANNEL. "Obviously there's more pressure for the guys out front, but if the wind stays down I'll expect them to make a few birdies."
Given Donald's ballstriking ability, it's not terribly surprising to see him in contention here this week. He's also had three top 10s this season.
That said, this is the first time he's played Harbour Town since 2004 -- when he missed the cut, which he's done twice in three appearances here.
As for Donald's wrist, which he had surgery on last year, it's been hit or miss this season. He tweaked it at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play and withdrew mid-round.
In the weeks since, however, it's been mostly fine with Donald saying the only time it does bother him is when he's not swinging the club well. That's when he tends to get to flippy with his hands and wrists, which doesn't seem to be a problem this week. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Donald's scorecard from today:
EARLY MOVERS (12:55 p.m.): The leaders are still a little over 40 minutes away from teeing off, but a number of players are moving up the board at Harbour Town today. Luke Donald, Bo Van Pelt and Justin Leonard are all at 5 under in their rounds and 4 under for the tournament.
None of those three is particularly long, but all share one common and very important trait: accuracy. Donald, Van Pelt and Leonard are three of the better ballstrikers you'll find on the PGA TOUR and that's paying off today as each shot a front-nine 33 before adding more birdies on the back. -- Brian Wacker
HOLDING THE LEAD (12:45 p.m.): Brian Gay has a PGA TOUR victory on his resume, but this is the first time that he's ever held the lead by himself heading into the weekend -- in 2001 he had a share of the 36-hole lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he eventually finished T5.
A win for Gay would go a long way this week and, among other things, would move him to sixth in the FedExCup standings.
One of the reasons he's played so well this week? Statistically, Gay is fourth in driving accuracy, third in proximity to the hole and 10th in scrambling -- all of which are extremely important at Harbour Town, where the fairways are tight and the greens small. -- Brian Wacker
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