Wyndham Championship, Round 3
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| Wyndham Championship | |||
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
THIRD ROUND SUSPENDED DUE TO DARKNESS (8:11 p.m.): With multiple weather delays on Saturday, there was absolutely zero chance the third round was getting finished today. At 8:11 p.m., it became official with play suspended due to darkness. Play will resume at 7:30 a.m. Sunday before moving on to the final round. That's the bad news. The good news is that the weather forecast for Sunday is good and play should finish close to, if not on time. -- Brian Wacker
MARINO MOVES WAY UP (8 p.m.): Some players can be negatively affected by long and schizophrenic rain delays. Steve Marino apparently isn't one of them.
Marino made six birdies in an eight-hole stretch on his way to a 7-under 63. That gets him to 12 under and within one of the lead, which is now shared by Sergio Garcia and Chris Riley, after starting the round in a tie for 31st.
For Marino, the 63 represents the second-best score of his career -- he shot a 62 at Colonial earlier this year. It also has him in the best position he's been in since the British Open, where he opened with rounds of 67-68 before disappearing on the weekend with scores of 76-75. Since then, he hadn't played much better, withdrawing from the RBC Canadian Open (though he was 5 under at the time) and missing the cut at the PGA Championship.
One other important thing comes out of today's round for Marino. Unlike the guys ahead of him on the leaderboard right now, he'll get to sleep in, having completed all three rounds. With darkness fast approaching, Garcia and Riley will be back out early Sunday. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Marino's scorecard from today:
EXTENDING THE LEAD (6:54 p.m.): When play was halted just before 4 p.m. ET, Chris Riley had a slim one-shot lead. A few minutes after it resumed nearly three hours later, he extended it to two with a birdie on the par-5 fifth hole.
Riley has some pretty good company behind him, though, with Sergio Garcia and Fred Couples both two shots back. Couples is 4 under through his first eight holes in the third round. -- Brian Wacker
AND THEY'RE OFF (6:42 p.m.): How eager were officials to resume the third round? Well, they moved up the re-start time three minutes. The third round has resumed and with sunny skies overhead there will be golf until darkness, right around 8:15 p.m. They won't finish the third round, but with a good forecast and an early start tomorrow, this tournament might just end on time. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE III (5:43 p.m.): There will be more golf played today. The range will re-open at 6 p.m. and players will resume the third round, in position, at 6:45 p.m.
With only about 90 minutes of daylight after that, the third round won't be completed today -- the last groups are only through five holes -- but that's not as bad as it sounds. The forecast for Sunday is good and the third round should be completed early Saturday and the final round, possibly, completed on time. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE II (4:41 p.m.): The rain has let up some at Sedgefield, but the damage may have been done. Nearly 3/4-of-an-inch has fallen in about 30 minutes. The greens and fairways look more like ponds and rivers right now. Playing golf again today is going to be very, very difficult. There's no official word yet, but with only three or so hours of daylight left, more rain in the forescast and players already playing lift, clean and place, the clock is ticking. -- Brian Wacker
RAIN HAS ARRIVED (4:24 p.m.): The weather we've been waiting for has finally arrived at the Wyndham Championship, where heavy rain and high winds are pounding the course. Officials expect about 30-40 minutes of the heavy stuff, but who knows. Forecasting is a fickle business. Whenever it stops raining, lightning has moved out of the area and the course is worked on, they'll get players back out to warm up. When that will be exactly, though, we don't yet know. Right now, Sedgefield is taking on a lot of water and greens and fairways are flooded. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY HALTED (3:53 p.m.): With some dangerous weather in the area, the horn just blew, suspending play here in the third round. Players are also being brought in from the golf course, meaning the delay could be a lengthy one. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE (3:38 p.m.): We're still playing golf, and even if play was stopped right now, there's a good chance the tournament would still end on Sunday. There is weather on the way, however, with a pretty serious cell just to the west of Greensboro.
How soon will it get here? Well, the blimp has left the building (or the golf course in this case). That's never a good sign. The heavy stuff should be here by 4:15 p.m. and word is that there's a decision pending as to when to blow the horn. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker
MAGGERT BOUNCES BACK (3:02 p.m.): Jeff Maggert nearly shot himself out of contention when he made a couple of mistakes on the par-4 second hole, where he made a double bogey after finding the water on his approach shot and two-putting from 13 feet. Maggert bounced right back, however, making a birdie on the par-3 third, where he rolled in a 25-footer to get back to 10 under, just three shots back. -- Brian Wacker
THE DONALD AND CAROLINA (2:42 p.m.): Sedgefield Country Club is one of 23 Donald Ross-designed courses in North Carolina. His most famous -- Pinehurst No. 2 -- can be found about 90 minutes south of Greensboro in the Sandhills area.
No. 2 hosted the 1999 U.S. Open won by the late Payne Stewart and the 2005 renewal won by Michael Campbell. Ross, who enjoyed tending to his roses as well as building golf courses, also once owned the Pine Crest Inn in Southern Pines. There's a portrait of Ross at the registration desk in the lobby, not far from where people can often be found chipping into the fireplace.
The Pine Crest Inn is now owned by the most hospitable Barrett family. The massive white inn with the sprawling front porch remains one of the area's favored spots for libations, family-style dinners and comfortable accommodations. Among the many guests staying there have been UNC basketball coach Roy Williams, NBA great Michael Jordan and the legendary Jack Nicklaus. -- Helen Ross
RILEY ROLLS ON (2:30 p.m.): The leaders are on the golf course, though now there's only one leader. Chris Riley holed out eagle from 164 yards on the par-4 first, moving him to 13 under, two shots clear of Jeff Maggert.
Meanwhile, Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples has moved to 10 under with two birdies in his first three holes. Three others are at 10 under, too, including a resurgent Sergio Garcia and Ryan Moore, who has shown at times this year that he can make birdies in bunches.
In all, there are 17 players currently within five shots of the lead. Somehow you get the feeling there's going to be a lot of movement today, though for how long, who knows, because there is lightning 27 miles away and headed this direction. -- Brian Wacker
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INTERCOSTAL OUTBREAK (2 p.m.): There seems to be a lot of intercostal injuries going around these days. Actually, just two, but it's an injury that's affected Paul Casey and Jeev Milkha Singh.
In laymen's terms, your intercostal is your rib muscles. Casey hurt his while preparing for the British Open and it ultimately forced him to withdraw from the PGA Championship. His status for next week's PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup remains a game-time decision. Singh, meanwhile, hurt his at the European Open, though he seems to be fully recovered and playing better now, too.
"I went back home and I thought my ribs were gone," said Singh, who is 7-under, four shots back of the lead entering the third round. "I was worried I had a stress fracture off the rib, but the doctor said, 'no, you'll be able to bear the pain.' But the pain was quite bad and I made the mistake of playing the U.S. Open, coming back too early. But I'm happy everything is behind me now and look forward to good things."
Those good things could also include a trip to San Francisco for the Presidents Cup. Singh is 12th in the current International Team standings and he's one of the player Captain Greg Norman has his sights on.
"I'm getting my confidence back in the game," Singh said. "I still need to work on a few things, honestly, but I'm happy that things are turning around." -- Brian Wacker
RILEY ON A ROLL (1:44 p.m.): Chris Riley has always been able to roll the rock -- each of the last five years, including this one, he's ranked in the top 20 on the PGA TOUR in putts per round. He's been incredibly consistent, too, averaging somewhere between 28.23 and 28.61 putts in that span.
So what's the difference this week for a guy who hasnt finished inside the top 150 on the money list since 2004? For one, he's hitting more greens in regulation. He's also making the putts that count with a dozen birdies through two rounds, which ranks fourth in the field. See the chart below for more. -- Brian Wacker
| Inside the numbers: Chris Riley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MCCARRON MAKING A MOVE (1:26 p.m.): How quickly things can change. Scott McCarron began the third round in a tie for 31st. After making birdies on three of his first five holes, though, he's climbed into the top 10, currently tied for seventh. That brings him to 8 under for the week and just three off the lead.
McCarron, in case you were wondering, is safely in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup at 79th in the standings coming into this week. This will be the second year in a row he'll make it to the postseason after missing all of 2007 following elbow surgery. On the year, McCarron has three top-10s, including a tie for fourth at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. -- Brian Wacker
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ON THE BUBBLE (12:55 p.m.): While Chris Riley, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Stadler have done a nice job this week of taking control of their playoff destiny, others this week haven't been as fortunate.
Adam Scott and Heath Slocum both missed the cut here, but both might still sneak into the postseason. Troy Mattesson and Charles Warren, perhaps not. Then there's Andres Romero, who entered the week right on the bubble at No. 125 in FedExCup points, but didn't even enter the tournament, choosing rather to go home to work on his game instead. Judging by the projections, he's going to have a long time to work on his game. -- Brian Wacker
| On the Bubble - Top 120 to 125 Projected Through 2 Rounds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MOVING DAY (12:35 p.m.): Now that the second round is finally complete, we can move on to the third round -- at least as much of it as they'll be able to get in with more weather on the way. For now, though, they're playing golf, with players going off split tees.
Saturdays are usually known as moving day on the PGA TOUR and today that takes on a whole new meaning with a lot of FedExCup scenarios playing out. The biggest of those involves leaders Chris Riley and Jeff Maggert. Both were outside the top 125 coming into the week and both are projected to finish well inside it now. They're not the only ones making a jump , as you'll see in the chart below. -- Brian Wacker
| Started / Projected Leader board - Through 2 Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WEATHER UPDATE (12:15 p.m.): The range at Sedgefield opened shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Saturday after a delay of about 2 hours. The first tee times are scheduled for 12:09 p.m. ET off Nos. 1 and 10.
The skies should remain clear for several more hours, although showers are re-developing to the west. There is a 50 percent chance of rain Saturday afternoon but the cold front that is slowly moving through the Piedmont area of North Carolina should reach the coast by tonight.
Drier, less humid weather is expected for Sunday but there is enough upper level energy to produce showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs both days are in the mid-80s. -- Helen Ross
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