HP Byron Nelson, Round 4
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
SABO SLAMS THE DOOR (5:50 p.m.): It was an anticlimactic finish with a bogey on No. 18, but Rory Sabbatini's first win in two years is no less satisfying. He shot 19 under for the week, setting a new tournament record, and is now one of 14 men to have won here and at Colonial.
The only time Sabbatini took his foot off the gas pedal today was on the 18th, where he hit a utility wood off the tee to take the water or any other trouble out of play. The rest of the day, not surprisingly, he floored it, firing at one flag after another on his way to making four birdies in a five-hole stretch down the stretch. Think about this: Sabbatini shot a back-nine 31 and that included making a bogey on the final hole.
"We're gonna party tonight," Sabbatini told CBS afterward. And that he should. That was one of the best rounds of golf, especially over the final half-dozen holes, of the season so far. -- Brian Wacker
DAVIS' DAY (5:48 p.m.): Brian Davis is on a roll. As in three top-five finishes in his last three events. He finished solo-second here on the heels of a pair of ties for fifth at THE PLAYERS and the Valero Texas Open.
"I was more pleased with today than the last two to three weeks because I put myself in position but I just hadn't holed the putts,'' Davis said after a closing 64 Sunday. "You know, today I holed the putts under pressure coming down the stretch, and to me that was a good sign, and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks.''
Davis actually shanked his tee shot at the seventh hole, but scrambled -- hacked it up the fairway, wedged to 10 feet, made the putt -- for birdie. It took off from there. He turned in 33 and eagled the 16th to come home in 31.
"I thought if I can just hang in there and maybe have a shot,'' he said. "To be honest I didn't look at the scoreboards the last few holes because I knew I was going to have to make birdies and eagles to have a shot, so I thought, let's not get disheartened by making an eagle and a birdie, looking at the leaderboard and still seeing you're three back.
"So I just decided not to look at the leader boards last few holes, which is somewhat unusual because I always watch leaderboards. Round 1 to round 4, it doesn't matter, I still watch leaderboards. I thought, I'm just going to have to make as many birdies as I can and just hope nobody else can do the same.''
He said he took a lot from playing with triple-major winner Padraig Harrington at the Shell Houston Open.
"You can't control what other people do, you can only control what you do,'' he said. "I've learnt that. I've been at this game long enough where I should have learnt it anyway. It's just one of them things where I mentioned earlier in the week about Harrington. He finished about second 12 times in Europe, and everybody was saying, he's not winning, and then he won three majors.
"It's only a positive really for me. I can't do any more than that. I played great, stuck in there, and I'm ecstatic with that. Hopefully I'll get a week where nobody else does it.'' -- Melanie Hauser
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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STREAKING TO VICTORY? (5:40 p.m.): No, this has nothing to do with Rory Sabbatini going Henrik Stenson, but a streaker -- who had on light blue boxer shorts -- dashed across the 17th tee box Sunday afternoon just before Brian Davis teed off. No word whether they caught the man, but he ran into the housing development adjacent to the course. -- Melanie Hauser
'ROR'ING WEEK (5:30 p.m.): He just missed an eagle attempt of his own on the par-5 16th, but Rory Sabbatini had a tap-in birdie to extend his lead to two shots over Brian Davis with two holes to play. The 17th and 18th holes here aren't exactly that difficult, either. They rank as the 10th and 12th toughest holes on the course and Sabbatini's played them in a collective 1 under this week.
If Sabbatini pars his way in, he'll not only likely win for the first time in two years and move up to seventh in the FedExCup standings, he'll set a tournament record for the lowest four-day total at 19 under. With soft conditions and the greens rolling absolutely perfect, it's not surprising to see the record fall, but you can't take anything away from Sabbatini, who's been spot on from start to finish. -- Brian Wacker
MORE ON MCCARRON (5:20 p.m.): Scott McCarron is no stranger to going low -- as in Sunday's closing 62. He closed with a course-record 61 at the 1999 Air Canada Championship.
McCarron birdied the final three holes at TPC Four Seasons -- including a 12-footer at the 17th -- and is the leader in the clubhouse at 15-under, though Rory Sabbatini is closing in on the possible win.
McCarron's tee shot at 17 was typical of his day. "It was a perfect 8-iron,'' he said. "I felt it. I trusted my swing.''
Normally a top-10 finish gets you into next week's event, but not next week since the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is an invitational. McCarron is seventh alternate. -- Melanie Hauser
NOT SO FAST (5:07 p.m.): So much for a three-shot lead. Brian Davis just rolled in a 26-foot, 5-inch eagle putt on the par-5 16th. That cut Rory Sabbatini's lead to just one and sent the crowd in a frenzy. Sabbatini, standing on the 16th tee, heard the roar and surely must have realized by the volume of it that it was for an eagle in front of him. Unfazed, Sabbatini gathered himself and found the fairway off the tee. Still, he's probably going to need a birdie or two somewhere over the next three holes to wrap this one up. -- Brian Wacker
SABBATINI IN STRIDE (5 p.m.): You know it's your day when you hit a 7-iron from 191 yards to just over 6 feet on the precarious right side of the hole on the par-4 15th. That's what Rory Sabbatini just did, setting up what should be his sixth birdie of the day. As it stands now, he's got a two-shot lead with the holes running out quickly. There will be no Sunday slide here, it appears, for Sabbatini, who is now set up to win for the first time in two years. -- Brian Wacker
MCCARRON IN WITH A 62 (4:40 p.m.): Wow. That's about the only way you could describe Scott McCarron's 8-under 62 today, which was just one stroke off the course record.
McCarron, who made the turn in 30, had it rolling early, making putts of 27, 16, 34 and 11 feet all in his first nine holes. He didn't need to do that on the back -- he just hit it closer on his way to making four birdies, including three in a row to close out the round.
That gets McCarron to 15 under and though he's two back of Rory Sabbatini right now, he's in the clubhouse and will sit and watch for the next hour or so as the one player ahead of him tries not to falter.
Brian Davis is also at 15 under and still has more holes to play, along with Sabbatini, but we saw it happen last week when James Driscoll finished some 2 hours ahead of Zach Johnson only to find out the two would be in a playoff. Word of advice to McCarron: Stay loose. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at McCarron's scorecard from today:
THINKING PINK (4:30 p.m.): Players went pink -- as in breast cancer ribbons on their visors and caps this week to support Amy Mickelson's fight with breast cancer. Next Saturday, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial is having a "pink out" day and has requested that players and fans wear pink or at least wear a pink ribbon for Amy and breast cancer awareness. Phil is the defending champ there, but will not play. -- Melanie Hauser
MORE FROM LEE (4:25 p.m.): If Danny Lee doesn't finish in the top 10, he'll be close -- In only his third tournament as a pro.
Lee double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to close with a 66 that left him at 9-under 271 -- and 5 off the lead when he walked off the course.
"I'm really just so angry about the last hole,'' Lee said. "I had a perfect last putt that just went straight. I played really good today, and I got some lucky bounces, a couple of lucky bounces, and just the last hole really let me down. But that's golf. So I have to learn, and hopefully I don't do that next week.''
Lee, who will also play at Colonial next week, just bought at house at Las Colinas -- on Hogan Drive -- and said he'll be practicing at the Sports Club.
As for the comparisons to a young Tiger Woods?
"When I stood on the first tee box I don't think I'm some 18-year-old boy,'' Lee said. "I'm just the same player like these guys out here, and I always try my best and see how it goes. So I don't really care about what they're saying about me. It's good, what they think about me, next Tiger Woods. That's really special.'' -- Melanie Hauser
PUTTING WOES? (4:15 p.m.): The hot putting that helped put Rory Sabbatini in the lead through the first three rounds of the HP Byron Nelson Championship seems to have vacated him, at least somewhat anyway.
Despite hitting a higher percentage of greens in regulation today, Sabbatini is not getting it done with the flat stick. He hadn't made a putt over 8 feet all day -- until just now, when he rolled in a 14-foot, 9-inch putt for birdie on the 11th hole to regain the lead.
Sabbatini will need to do a little more of that if he wants to win for the first time in two years. -- Brian Wacker
TIE AT THE TOP (4 p.m.): Sure enough, someone has emerged from the pack of chasers behind Rory Sabbatini and that someone is Brian Davis, who now shares the lead at 15 under.
Despite hitting just 3 of 9 fairways, Davis has birdied 4 of his last 5 holes to erase the two-shot deficit he began his round with. Who will win this tournament remains anyone's guess, though, since there are five others within three shots of their lead. Fred Couples also isn't entirely out of it. He's five back with five holes to play. -- Brian Wacker
SABBATINI STICKING TO LEAD (3:45 p.m.): Say what you want about Rory Sabbatini, but one thing you can't dispute is the enormous amount of fight he has and today that's paid dividends -- so far.
"The way I look at it, it's kind of fourth quarter," Sabbatini said last night. " I've got to go out there and finish it off."
Through his first nine holes, Sabbatini is 2 under and for the tournament is 15 under, clinging to a one-shot lead right now with Brian Davis putting on a charge.
One thing Sabbatini wanted to do today was do a better job of keeping the ball in the fairway and hit on the green in regulation more often, which would give him more opportunities to continue to ride his hot putter. He's done just that, hitting 6 of 9 greens in regulation and 5 of 7 fairways.
As for what it would mean for Sabbatini to win here, well a lot would be an understatement. Sabbatini is more complex, insightful and generous than some might give him credit for and winning the HP Byron Nelson would certainly hold special meaning for this Dallas resident via South Africa.
"I don't think there's any name that you get in golf that's more highly regarded than Byron Nelson's," Sabbatini said. "Just an absolute gentleman, wonderful philanthropist, just an amazing citizen for north Texas. Winning a golf tournament associated with the name of Lord Byron Nelson is something that would be an honor, and you know his legacy is so great, it's going to be a long time I foresee before somebody can step in his shoes of that regard, the ambassador that he was and the gentleman he was. He did a lot for the children in north Texas here, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and him and wife Peggy are just wonderful people. Byron was a wonderful person." -- Brian Wacker
LEE GOES LOW, THEN STUMBLES (3:30 p.m.): Danny Lee has played in just three tournaments as a professional, so shooting a "career-low" round might not seem all that impressive, until you take a look at his scorecard from today to see that the 18-year-old shot a 4-under 66. But it could have been much better.
Playing on sponsor's exemptions, Lee had a chance to finish in the top 10 and earn a spot in the St. Jude Championship in a couple of weeks without needing a precious exemption. He had 5 feet for par that would have meant a closing 64 and a certain top 10 at 11-under par. Then Lee tried to jam the putt and raced it by some 4 feet. Missing the comeback putt for bogey, he dropped to 9 under and in a tie for 14th.
It will be his best finish as a professional, but it won't be the climb on the money list that it could have been. Lee won't have to simmer very long, though, since he's already in the field for next week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
This is the third time Lee has faltered at the finish, stumbling down the stretch when he missed the cut at the Masters with a second-round 81 (as an amateur) and hitting it into the water on the 17th at Quail Hollow. Below is a look at Lee's scorecard from today, which features seven birdies, including four in a row at one point. -- John Maginnes and Brian Wacker
SUNDAY SHOOTOUT (3 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini still has the lead right now, but things can change quickly at TPC Four Seasons, where the greens are soft and rolling perfect.
John Mallinger is one back after a bogey by Sabbatini, while four others, including Dustin Johnson, are three back. Johnson bounced back with a birdie after an early bogey, while Fred Couples has even climbed into contention with birdies on three of his last four holes to get to 10 under and within four strokes of Sabbatini.
If Sabbatini can hang on, though, he'll become the 14th player to win here and down the road at Colonial. -- Brian Wacker
BAIRD, JOHNSON SLIPPING (2:50 p.m.): Briny Baird may have to wait a little longer for his first career PGA TOUR win. That's because Rory Sabbatini just made another birdie to get to 15 under and because Baird is 1 over through his first six holes today after a bogey on No. 3. Dustin Johnson is in the same situation after also making a bogey on No. 3 to fall to 1 over on his round.
Johnson had a ridiculously low round going yesterday with birdies on six of his first eight holes, but he ended it on a sour note with bogeys on two of his last three holes. So far, he seems to be carrying that negative momentum with him today. -- Brian Wacker
SABBATINI ALONE IN THE LEAD, FOR NOW (2:25 p.m.): John Mallinger had a moral victory on the third hole, saving bogey after hitting his tee shot in the water, but he still dropped out of the lead, which now belongs to Rory Sabbatini alone.
Sabbatini's been in this position before -- he won the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in a playoff after beginning the final round in a tie for the lead -- and so far looks poised, playing his first three holes in even par. He's only hit one green in regulation, but managed to get up-and-down to save par at Nos. 2 and 3.
With rain falling, though, players are going to be able to take dead aim at a lot of flags. In fact, the rain has come down hard enough that officials had to close one of the cart paths because it was too slippery. On the upside, still no electricity in the air. Sabbatini has plenty of pursuers, though, with nine players currently double digits under par. -- Brian Wacker
MCCARRON IN THE MIX (2:10 p.m.): Scott McCarron has added his name to the cluster of four players who are two shots back at the moment thanks to a run of four straight birdies.
McCarron, who last won on the PGA TOUR in 2001 and who had an injury riddled couple of years in 2006 and 2007, hasn't missed a green in regulation today and has taken just 12 putts through his first eight holes. On the year, he has just one top 10, but he's hit it straight here all week, leading the field in GIR and ranking second in fairways hit.
And with John Mallinger having just found the water off the tee at No. 3, at least one name above McCarron will slide down the leaderboard a stroke or more. -- Brian Wacker
FINAL GROUP OFF (1:48 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger, the day's final group, just teed off, with both getting quite an enthusiastic introduction from the marshal on the first tee.
Sabbatini is trying for his fifth career PGA TOUR victory, while Mallinger, who has five career third-place finishes in two years, is seeking his first. Normally, you'd have to like Sabbatini's experience in this spot, but both players have shown flashes of brilliance at times this week, and both have shown at times in their career that they can struggle. We'll know in a few hours -- or less -- which will happen today. In the meantime, follow their every shot live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker
LEE ON THE MOVE (1:40 p.m.): Danny Lee appears to be headed toward the best finish of his young career. The 18-year-old, who turned pro following this year's Masters and who became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur last year, has birdied his last four holes to get to 4 under on the day and 9 under for the week. That brings him, at least for now, into a tie for 10th in what is just his third tournament as a professional.
Lee, who missed the cut at the Masters, also missed the cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, his first event as a professional, and finished T38 at Quail Hollow. In February, Lee won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, as an amateur, becoming the youngest ever winner on the European Tour, surpassing Dale Hayes, and only the second amateur winner after Pablo Martin.
You can follow Lee's final round today live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
SHOWING SUPPORT (1:32 p.m.): Players at this week's HP Byron Nelson Championship are wearing pink ribbons in a show of support for Amy Mickelson and her battle with breast cancer, but the support for the wife of Phil Mickelson goes far beyond Dallas.
John Daly, playing in the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, wore bright pink pants in today's final round, saying, "I had a pair, so I figured I'd do that for her today. I thought it would be a good gesture. She's a great lady. She has always been a sweetheart to everybody."
For the complete story, click here. -- Brian Wacker
RAINY DAY IN DALLAS (1:20 p.m.): The rain has arrived in Dallas, though the good news is that there doesn't appear to be any immediate threat of thunderstorms. The players and the course can handle the wet stuff, but electricity in the air would bring play to a halt for a second straight week. The other thing the rain will do is keep the greens soft and the pins accessible, meaning that we could see a second straight day of low scoring. Yesterday, the course played to a stroke average of 68.149, more than two strokes lower than last year's third-round scoring average. -- Brian Wacker
MALLINGER'S CHANCES (1:10 p.m.): With a little overnight rain and the air humid and heavy -- and the possibility of a late afternoon thunder shower -- the greens at TPC Four Seasons remain pretty receptive. That's been the key to success all week: Hit it to 15 feet and make your birdies. Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger have done just that. Mallinger, in fact, ranks in the top 10 in the field in proximity to the hole, putting from 15-20 feet, birdie-to-bogey ratio and par-4 and par-5 scoring average. If he keeps pace with the numbers in the chart below, he'll be right there with Sabbatini all day. -- Brian Wacker
| John Mallinger: Key stats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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LEADING MEN (12:50 p.m.): In 15 of 20 events on the PGA TOUR season, the third-round leader or co-leader has gone on to win five times. Meanwhile, this is the ninth time in Sabbatini's career that he will carry a lead or share of the lead into the final round, the most recent of which came at last year's Valero Texas Open, where he ultimately finished in a tie for eighth after a final-round 2-over 72 ... after shooting a 63 the day before. Only three times has Sabbatini been able to convert when in this position.
That's been the hallmark of Sabbatini's career with 12 runner-up finishes and eight third-place finishes. Sure, he's won four times on the PGA TOUR, but closing the deal has sometimes been a problem. Which Sabbatini will show up today? The one who rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt to win a playoff at the 2007 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, or the one that shot 74 and got lapped by Tiger Woods and his 5-under 65 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational later that year? We'll find out soon. -- Brian Wacker
'ROR'ING WEEK ON THE GREENS (12:35 p.m.): Rory Sabbatini lives just down the road from the TPC Four Seasons, yet he's only finished in the top 10 of the HP Byron Nelson Championship once in his career. That was in 2007 when he finished in a tie for third.
But the biggest reason he has a share of the lead entering today's final round is because he's putting the ball better than just about everyone else in the field. He's also putting better this week than has at just about any point in his career.
Sabbatini is averaging 1.43 putts per hole here, which ties for best in the field, and just under 26 putts per round. That means that when Sabbatini is hitting green, he's not wasting too many shots. It also means that he's been able to get up-and-down pretty well, too, since he's hit just 64.8 percent of greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
| Rory Sabbatini: Key putting stats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CALC GOES LOW (12:15 p.m.): If some of the scores already turned in this morning are any indication of things to come, we're going to see more red again today. Mark Calcavecchia, who shot a 75 yesterday, carded a 64 with seven birdies and just one bogey.
Calcavecchia won't win, but he did move up 20 spots, for now, on the the leaderboard. The 64 also matches his lowest round of the season -- a 64 in the third round of the Northern Trust Open, where he also had his one of his best results of the year with a tie for sixth.
With the leaders not set to tee off until 90 minutes from now, you have to figure scoring in the afternoon will be somewhere between Calc's 64 and par, which is 70. Nonetheless, this figures to be Calcavecchia's best finish in more than two months. He is coming off a tie for 70th at the Quail Hollow Championship and before that missed the cut or withdrew from his previous four tournaments.
Calcavecchia has had his share of injuries of late -- he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee last fall -- but when he turns 50 next summer, something tells me this guy is going to tear up the Champions Tour. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Calcavecchia's scorecard from today:
EARLY OPPORTUNITY (11:45 a.m.): Jimmy Walker, a PGA TOUR rookie who won three times on the Nationwide Tour, has birdied seven of his first 10 holes here at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and is four shots back. His best previous finish this year was a tie for 24th last week at the Valero Texas Open.
Walker is a participant in this year's Citi Mentor Program. The program is led by 2008 victorious U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger and includes three other TOUR rookies: James Nitties (tied for ninth after Round 3), Derek Fathauer (missed cut) and Brian Vranesh (missed cut). -- Melanie Hauser
LOOKING AT THE LEADERS (11:15 a.m.): Co-leaders Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger are both in a good position to make a move in the FedExCup standings this week.
Let's take a look at where they rank now and what a win could do for their standing:
Sabbatini
FedExCup Rank: 29 | FedExCup points: 581
• Sabbatini could move as high as seventh with a victory this week.
• With six top-25 finishes this season, Sabbatini is averaging about 48 points per start on the season.
Mallinger
FedExCup Rank: 40 | FedExCup points: 489
• Mallinger could move into the top 10 with a victory this week.
• Tying for third at THE PLAYERS, Mallinger earned his highest point total for the season -- 180 points
• In 14 events this season, Mallinger is averaging about 35 points per start.
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