Shell Houston Open: Saturday's play
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
THIRD ROUND CALLED (8:33 p.m.): Just as the UConn-Michigan State Final Four game was coming to its conclusion -- Michigan State upset the top-seeded Huskies -- third-round play in the Shell Houston Open was called for the day with darkness descending upon the course.
Bo Van Pelt has the lead for now at 11 under, but he has plenty of company with five players just one shot back -- including Houston's adopted son, Fred Couples, who birdied his final hole of the day moments before the horn blew. Greg Norman, meanwhile, is the leader in the clubhouse at 6 under after completing his third round just as play was being suspended for the day.
The third round will resume at 7:30 a.m. local time Sunday with no re-pairing taking place once players complete their third round. They'll go out in the same threesomes they were in today. -- Brian Wacker
VAN PELT MAKES A MOVE (8:15 p.m.): Bo Van Pelt has moved into a tie for a second here in the third round after making his third birdie of the round on No. 7.
Van Pelt, now just one back, you might recall was in a similar position last year in Puerto Rico, where he held the 18-, 36- and 54-hole lead before eventually finishing second to Greg Kraft. Van Pelt missed an eagle putt on the last hole that would have tied Kraft.
At last year's Buick Open, Van Pelt held the 18- and 36-hole lead before shooting rounds of 73-72 on the weekend to finish T17. -- Brian Wacker
FIVE ALIVE (7:55 p.m.): Three players -- John Mallinger, J.B. Holmes and Jason Bohn -- have rounds of 5 under going here in Round 3, which is getting close to being suspended for the day as daylight starts to fade.
Mallinger got there most recently with three birdies and an eagle in his last six holes. The eagle came on the par-5 eigth, where Mallinger hit his approach to just 3 feet, 4 inches before sinking the putt.
J.B. Holmes, meanwhile, is, like Mallinger, bogey-free and has five birdies on the round. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIES CONTINUE TO FALL (7:28 p.m.): Colt Knost just moved to 11 under with his third birdie in four holes. He's not the only one out fast, however. John Senden is right behind him after his second birdie in four holes, while three other players, including Paul Casey, sit just two back. Of the top 15 names on the leaderboard, only two are not under par in Round 3. -- Brian Wacker
BOHN CONTINUES TO BE HOT (7:14 p.m.): Jason Bohn continues his stellar play here in Round 3, where he's 5 under after making his sixth birdie of the day with a chip-in from 67 feet away on No. 10. A bogey on the par-3 seventh is the only blemish on Bohn's scorecard today.
Bohn's been accurate off the tee and on his approach shots, hitting 7 of 8 fairways and 8 of 10 greens in regulation to go with just 14 putts. -- Brian Wacker
Follow Bohn's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here, or check out his scorecard below:
KNOST IN THE LEAD (7:00 p.m.): Colt Knost just took the outright lead at 10 under with his second birdie in three holes.
Knost is a rookie on the PGA TOUR after finishing sixth on the Nationwide Tour money list last season. His best finish on the TOUR came earlier this year at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, where he tied for 25th. The 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Public Links champion is no stranger to success, however.
He shot a final-round 65 last year to erase a six-shot deficit at the Fort Smith Classic and got his second win of the Nationwide Tour season at the Price Cutter Charity Championship. During a steallar amateur career, Knost also led the U.S. to a win at the Walker Cup in 2007, calling it his biggest thrill in golf.
If he keeps it up, he's going to have an even bigger one this week. -- Brian Wacker
GARCIA PLUMMETS (6:48 p.m.): Sergio Garcia, who began the third round tied for 24th at 4 under, has since tumbled down the leaderboard thanks to a double bogey and two bogeys in his first seven holes.
The double bogey came on the par-5 fourth, where Garcia hit his tee ball into a hazard before finding the greenside bunker on his fourth shot. He then two-putted from just over six feet for an 7. Garcia added two more bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7 when he missed putts from 7 and 12 feet, respectively. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD UPDATE (6:35 p.m.): The lead has now moved to 9 under at Redstone, where Colt Knost, Paul Casey and John Senden are all 1 under after each of them birdied the opening hole.
Senden, who like Casey, could move as high as sixth in the FedExCup standings with a victory this week, has had perhaps the most interesting year of the three. In his eight starts, he has just as many top-25 finishes (3) as he does missed cuts. Much like he has all season, Senden's been doing it with solid iron play this week. Coming into Houston, he was 12th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation. This week he's tied for 15th. -- Brian Wacker
SUNDAY'S PLAY (6:30 p.m.): Players are in for another long day Sunday. The field will not complete 54 holes Saturday and the third round will resume at 7:30 a.m. local time Sunday.
In order to try to get the tournament finished in the original television window Sunday, officials have made the decision not to re-pair the field for the fourth round. Players will remain in their third-round pairings and fourth-round tee times will run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. -- Melanie Hauser
HARRINGTON IN THE HUNT (6:18 p.m.): Add Padraig Harrington's name to the list of contenders here at the Shell Houston Open. Harrington has birdied his last two holes and is now 7 under for the week, just one off the lead.
Harrington, who rolled in a 29-footer for the first of his two birdies, is hoping to round into form heading into the year's first major. The winner of golf's last two majors hasn't been too happy with his results this year and has admittedly struggled with his iron play -- something he seems to be doing better with this week with 30 of 40 greens in regulation.
As for the Masters, Harrington matched his career-best finish there last year with a T5. His only other top 10 at Augusta came in 2007. -- Brian Wacker
BOHN GRABS SHARE OF LEAD (6:05 p.m.): Jason Bohn just added his name to the top of the leaderboard with his fourth straight birdie.
The native Pennsylvanian opened the third round at 4 under, but climbed the leaderboard by rolling in four straight birdie putts -- all from within 9 feet -- on Nos. 2-5. He hasn't missed a green or fairway yet today and for the week is tied for 11th in the field in putts.
Bohn, whose best finish this year is a T25 at at the Northern Trust Open, is looking for his first win on the PGA TOUR since 2005 at the now defunct B.C. Open. His best finishes last year were a third at the Wachovia Championship and a sixth at the Verizon Heritage. -- Brian Wacker
Track Bohn's round live with Shot Tracker.
TOUGHEST AND EASIEST HOLES (5:40 p.m.): With the first two rounds finally complete and the third round under way, here's a quick check of the toughest and easiest holes at Redstone. It's still playing considerably difficult with the wind continuing to blow even harder than it did earlier in the day, especially on 18, which has seen its share of water balls. -- Brian Wacker
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NORMAN CONTINUES TO PLAY WELL (5:20 p.m.): Greg Norman began his third round a little while ago with a birdie on the 401-yard first hole by rolling in a 19-foot, 9-inch putt. That brings him to 5 under for the week and within three of the lead.
So far, Norman's been doing it with accuracy off the tee and good ballstriking -- he hit 18 of 28 fairways and 27 of 36 greens in regulation through the first two rounds and is 3 of 4 in both categories in Round 3.
If Norman can continue to stay in contention in Houston, the expectations for next week are going to be racheted up a few notches to say the least. -- Brian Wacker
A GOOD ADDITION (5:00 p.m.): Henrik Stenson put the Shell Houston Open on his list at the end of last year. After all, the Swede played the week before the Open Championship and the week before the PGA Championship and finished T-3 and T-4, respectively.
Saturday, he found himself one shot off the 36-hole lead. Hmmm.
Padraig Harrington has been tinkering with drivers all week. He's been wavering between a 10 and a 10.5-degree and settled on the 10 for Saturday. One thing's sure, he won't pull a Phil Mickelson and put two in his bag.
This week, the draw made a difference. The wind played havoc with the players who drew early tee times Thursday in what became a wind-delayed opening round. And it carried over. Fourteen of the top 18 players after 36 holes started in the afternoon. And over all? Of the 79 players who made the cut, 49 of them had late-early tee times. -- Melanie Hauser
THIRD ROUND UNDER WAY (4:40 p.m.): Even with a quick turnaround to get the players who made the cut back on the course, the third round won't finish today -- the final group doesn't tee off utnil 5:20 p.m. local time.
It'll be interesting to see how two of the players -- Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy -- in that last threesome fare. The last time the two played against each other, Ogilvy got the best of his Arizona buddy, beating him in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. -- Brian Wacker
THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS (4:25 p.m.): Fred Couples, Houston's favorite adopted son and the 2003 Shell Houston Open champ, is back in the hunt. Even though he bogeyed the 18th hole, he's just one shot off the lead after two rounds.
The key? Could be his cranky back. Couples, who finished T4 here last year, hasn't had to play more than 18 holes in a day all year. Now, he's facing doubling up today. And, yes, he was stretching and swaying while he stood talking to reporters after his second-round 69.
"There's a long way to go, but so far, so good,'' said Couples, who played college golf here at Houston. "I've played two rounds in three days with 8:30 a.m. tee times. It was a blessing the greens were soft. This afternoon, they'll be different. I have yet to play an afternoon round.
"They'll be quicker, much firmer, and with the wind they'll be faster. We'll have to adjust.'' -- Melanie Hauser
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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MICKELSON'S EARLY EXIT (4:05 p.m.): To put it in his kids' terms -- dad got his ya-yas out. At least he hopes he did.
Phil Mickelson missed the cut after rounds of 77-76, but isn't heading down the road just yet. He planned to work with coach Butch Harmon Saturday before flying over to Augusta Sunday to finish prep work for the year's first major.
"I made some big mistakes,'' Mickelson said. "It was really good that I played here because I made some mistakes in the first two rounds that you just can't do competitively. I drove two balls in the water off the tee for stroke and distance. Stuff that I needed to get out of my system here.
"I expect to play a lot better than I did. I certainly am struggling on the greens, too. I can't see the break for whatever reason. They're immaculate. They roll perfect. I'm not able to make many putts on them.
"It doesn't feel like my game is far off. I'm not overly concerned with what the numbers showed.' -- Melanie Hauser
'SHARK SIGHTING (3:50 p.m.): Greg Norman -- the caddie -- noticed something last night on the putting green.
His dad -- Greg Norman the Hall of Famer -- wasn't holding his stroke all the way through on those pressure putts. So they went to work and fixed it.
Three less putts in the second round meant three shots lower on the scorecard -- a second-round 69 that left him four shots off the lead going into the final 36 holes. We'd say the weekend, but we're well into it now thanks to early-week weather delays.
"It felt a lot better,'' Norman said. "Stroking a putt under pressure -- even a two-footer for par at 18 -- is stressful until the end. You have to focus in.''
The Shark is circling at 140 and playing his way into next week's next chance at Augusta National. The last time he was there was 2002. Long after the 1996 meltdown, which often overshadows his brilliant career. -- Melanie Hauser
Below is a look at Norman's second-round scorecard from Saturday:
STROUD STEPS UP (3:36 p.m.): Looking to avoid missing the cut for the second week in a row, Chris Stroud just rolled in a short birdie putt on the par-5 eighth hole -- his 17th of the day -- to sneak inside the cut line at 1 under. That helped erase an otherwise forgettable front nine for the native Texan, who just two holes earlier made a quadruple-bogey 8 after twice hitting his tee shot into a hazard.
Making pressure putts is nothing new to Stroud, who for the last three years earned his TOUR card via q-school. After hitting his tee shot to 66 feet on No. 9, however, he'll need to make one or two more putts to stick around for the weekend. -- Brian Wacker
FIVE TIED (3:25 p.m.): There are still a couple of groups finishing up their second round, but how weird is it that Paul Casey, one of five players tied for the lead at 8 under, hasn't hit a shot all day? That's because Casey was one of the few players to finish his second round yesterday.
Speaking of the leaders, another five players, including Fred Couples, are just one stroke off the lead and seven players are two off the lead. -- Brian Wacker
SECOND ROUND NEARING CONCLUSION (3:10 p.m.): The second round of the Shell Houston Open is finally nearing its conclusion and at the moment the cut line is at 1 under, which is where it will likely stay.
After the cut is made players will have a quick turnaround and be re-paired in threesomes for the third round. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHANGE (2:52 p.m.): Good news for Daniel Chopra and anyone else at 1 under. The cut line has dropped to 1 under, meaning that a total of eight players just jumped inside the cut line. Don't be surprised if it continues to oscillate, however, between 1 and 2 under the rest of the second round. -- Brian Wacker
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (2:37 p.m.): Phil Mickelson's week at the Shell Houston Open came to an abrupt end a little while ago when he finished his first two rounds in 9 over.
While Mickelson said he was glad he played here to get some of the bad shots out of his system after not playing for the last month, there were some startling numbers put up by Mickelson.
On the week, he hit just 13 of 28 fairways and 21 of 36 greens in regulation. He also found the water twice on No. 5 today and had to take a drop on No. 3 after blowing his tee shot left. Both of those holes, by the way, were triple bogeys for Mickelson, who had two triples, one double and six bogeys -- compared to just five birdies -- on the week. He also took 31 putts in each round. -- Brian Wacker
FEDEXCUP UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): There could be some significant changes to the FedExCup standings this week, especially if Paul Casey, who is tied for the lead at 8 under for the moment, wins. Currently 31st, Casey could move as high as sixth with a win this week. He finished 74th last year.
Meanwhile, the current leader in the FedExCup standings, Geoff Ogilvy, would extend his lead to about 650 points with a win. Ogilvy earned 1,050 points for his two wins this year -- the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Mercedes-Benz Championship -- and just 154 points in his four other starts.
For more on the FedExCup and who else could make some big moves this week,click here. -- Brian Wacker
Casey could move as high as sixth with a victory this week. • Casey finished 74th in the FedExCup standings in 2008. • 315 of Casey's 354 points were earned for his second-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Geoff Ogilvy FedExCup Rank: 1 FedExCup Points: 1,204 • Already atop of the FedExCup standings, Ogilvy could widen his lead to about 650 points with a victory this week. • Ogilvy has earned 1,050 points is his two victories, while earning a combined 154 points in his other four starts. • Ogilvy ranks first on the PGA TOUR in putting average and is third on putts from 15-20 feet in length.
DANGER ZONE (2:10 p.m.): As the second rounds marches toward its conclusion, there are some notable players in danger of missing the cut.
Davis Love III is 2 under through 16 holes today, but just 1 under for the week and unless he birdies No. 8 or 9 (he started on the back) or the cut line drops a stroke, he'll be headed home. Outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Love's only chance to get into next week's Masters is with a win here this week.
My sleeper pick, Daniel Chopra, also appears to be headed home unless he makes a couple of late birdies. For the week, Chopra is even par. So much for that momentum from the final round at Bay Hill.
Jason Gore and David Toms, both 1 over for the week, are as good as gone. Ditto Luke Donald, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, who will stick around to get in some work with Butch Harmon before flying to Augusta a little earlier than normal. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH FINISH (1:50 p.m.): As if the wind wasn't enough to deal with, the finishing hole at Redstone, a 488-yard par-4, is playing as the toughest hole on the golf course today. That could make for some interesting finishes for players trying to make the cut. That said, it's one of nine holes currently playing over par right now.
With water all down the left side of 18 -- 21 balls have found the drink so far -- and a tricky pin, here's a look at how the tough finishing hole is playing. -- Brian Wacker
| The 18th hole at Redstone | ||||||||||||||||||
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COUPLES IN CONTENTION (1:40 p.m.): Former University of Houston star and fan favorite Fred Couples has moved up the leaderboard thanks to five birdies and just one bogey today.
Couples, who absolutely loves playing in Houston, just lagged his eagle attempt on No. 15 to kick-in distance, giving him his second straight birdie. On the day, he's been extremely accurate off the tee and into the green, hitting 8 of 12 fairways and 14 of 15 greens.
With Couples now at 8 under for the week, we've got a total logjam atop the leaderboard with seven players tied for the lead. -- Brian Wacker
BOMBER'S PARADISE? (1:22 p.m.): All you have to do is look at the list of past champions here to figure out that players who hit it a long way off the tee generally have success at Redstone. The wind has clearly negated some of that this year.
Of the five players currently tied for the lead, only John Senden and Paul Casey would be considered bombers. Tommy Armour III and Colt Knost don't even rank in the top 135 on the PGA TOUR in driving distance -- they both average less than 280 yards off the tee. Geoff Ogilvy's a bit better than that at 289 yards, but that barely cracks the top 50 on TOUR. -- Brian Wacker
CASEY, OGILVY SHOWDOWN? (1:05 p.m.): If Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy -- both at 8 under and tied for the lead at the moment -- can break away from the pack, we'll have Round 2 of the duel between these good friends.
The last time they went head-to-head -- literally -- was at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where Ogilvy beat his buddy and fellow Whisper Rock member, 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final.
That March day, Ogilvy led from the start and never looked back. Casey had his share of struggles with the putter -- always the one thing that's hurt his game -- and Ogilvy took advantage by making some big shots.
It's unlikely we'll get a one-on-one situation like that in Houston, but Casey's putting is worth watching. Already, he missed five putts from inside 10 feet today. He missed four more from 16-19 feet. And that's what separates Casey from being on the same level as a player like Ogilvy. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHECK (12:50 p.m.): There's still plenty of golf to be played in today's second round, but at the moment the cut line is at 2 under and probably won't deviate much from that, certainly not downward, anyway, as the wind picks up here in Houston.
A total of 71 players are within the cut line right now, but the PGA TOUR does reserve the right to cut to the nearest number less than 70 should the number of players inside the cut line swell to, say, 80, in an effort to finish the tournament on time.
As it stands, they'll re-pair after the second round is completed today and send everyone out in threesomes again. They also have the option of not re-pairing for tomorrow's final round. Since they'll be finishing the third round tomorrow, that would save some time in an effort to finish on time. Stay tuned, more updates on the cut and the pairings will follow.
As for the wind, it'll be in the 20-25 mph range today and could kick up as high as 30 mph tomorrow. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD, ROUND UPDATE (12:30 p.m.): Thanks to a wind-suspended first round, everyone's been playing catch-up ever since. As a result, five players are tied for the lead at 8 under through two rounds, but there's still plenty of golf to be played this afternoon.
Once the cut is made later this afternoon, players will go right back out for Round 3, which will begin at approximately 3 p.m. local time and almost certainly have to be finished tomorrow morning.
All those players teeing it up to use Redstone as a prep for next week's Masters can't be happy about having to cram in so much golf over a three-day period with the year's first major looming. -- Brian Wacker
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