Daily Wrap-up, Saturday: Shell Houston Open
HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- Bo Van Pelt moved to 11-under par to take a one-shot lead through eight holes of his third round at the Shell Houston Open just before play was suspended Saturday because of darkness.
Fred Couples, Paul Casey, Colt Knost and Tommy Armour III were all at 10 under when the horns sounded at 7:34 p.m. CT. The players will resume the round early Sunday, then immediately tee off for the final 18.
Van Pelt, winless in eight-plus years on the PGA TOUR, shot a 67 in the second round, then birdied three of the first seven holes in his third round.
Knost, playing with Van Pelt, was leading at 11 under until a three-putt bogey at the par-5 eighth. Van Pelt hit a pitch to 3 feet and sank the birdie putt to switch places with Knost and take the outright lead.
Couples, fourth at Redstone last year, had birdies on both par 5s on the front nine, then sank a 6-foot birdie putt on the 10th to join the group at 10 under.
"I'm glad we stopped right there," Couples said. "It's a good thing, because we're going to play a lot of holes (on Sunday). If I play well, that will be a good thing."
When play resumes on Sunday, 16 players will be within three shots of Van Pelt's lead.
"Tomorrow will be a lot of fun," Couples said. "It's not an easy course, so I've got to go out and be sharp."
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
WILD FINISH AWAITS WINDSWEPT SHELL HOUSTON OPEN
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
HUMBLE, Texas -- This one is as unpredictable as Thursday's gnarly winds.
We're 24 hours from the conclusion of this Shell Houston Open and we won't even venture a guess about who'll be holding the Waterford Crystal Sunday night.
There's no Tiger-esque front-runner. No short list. No way to guess what twists and turns -- like those plots on Lost or Heroes or a week on Wall Street -- will come flying out of nowhere.
Yes, this event has a history -- of first-time winners, of big-name winners, of out-of-nowhere winners, of playoffs and of Australian champs. It just depends on what part of what decade pops up in your browser.
After all, this event has been around since 1946 when Byron Nelson beat Ben Hogan and Sam Snead to win the inaugural event. It's gone through Curtis Strange and Vijay Singh phases, as well as Mike Sullivan and Jim Govern and Fred Funk moments where that trio came out of nowhere to win. And there have been 19 playoffs in 61 events.
Whew.
The current course -- Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course -- has given us a pair of Aussie winners in Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott and fresh-faced Johnson Wagner last year, who played his way into the Masters with his first PGA TOUR win.
This year? We double-dog dare you to come up with a logical conclusion to tomorrow's final round. Throwing a dart does not count.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
| Top 5 notables at Shell Houston Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Round 2 Best |
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The par-5, 590-yard 13th was the easiest with a Round 2 scoring average of 4.664.
The par-4, 488-yard 18th was the toughest with a Round 2 scoring average of 4.229.
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Greg Norman canned a 63-foot putt for birdie at the par-3 14th Saturday as he finished up his second round. 
John Mallinger was on a birdie tear until he bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18, but he came away with a 65. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Mark Carnevale offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Well, we finally got 36 holes completed and now it will be a race to the finish. The cut came at 1-under par as conditions got difficult when the second round was finishing. With only seven shots separating the players in the field anything could happen with two rounds to play. A player who needs to have a good final two rounds is Davis Love III. He did birdie his final hole of the second round to get to 2 under, thinking at that time he needed to make it to make the cut. As it was, he didn't have to. But he does need two sizzling rounds to win the tournament, which would earn him a spot in the Masters.
It was certainly a disappointing week for Phil Mickelson in his preparation for the Masters. Phil carded rounds of 77 and 76 and missed the cut. He had two triple bogeys in his second round, but was in a good mood, taking time to talk with me on his walk from the ninth green to the 10th tee, and also behind the 13th green, which he triple bogeyed before greeting the 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush and his wife Barbara. Phil, despite his poor play, spent over an hour signing autographs after his round. He truly understands his place out here on the PGA TOUR.
One player who will be playing the final two rounds is Greg Norman, who shot rounds of 71 and 69. He was playing in front of the threesome of Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard and Charles Howell III. Greg was the Greg of old, receiving applause as he walked to every tee and green. You could sense and feel the desire that he wanted to perform for them. The expectations and adulation are deserving of a champion like Norman. It was good to see and it gives me hope that they might not have forgotten me as I get ready to make the trek to the Champions Tour.
| What the leaders said... | ||||||||||||
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SECOND/THIRD-ROUND NOTEBOOK: SHELL HOUSTON OPEN
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff
HUMBLE, Texas -- The second round started at 2:55 p.m. on Friday and was suspended due to darkness at 7:43 p.m. with 65 players on the course and 72 players yet to start their second round. Second-round play resumed at 7:33 a.m. on Saturday and was completed at 2:51 p.m.
• The round ended with five players tied at 8 under: Paul Casey, John Senden, Geoff Ogilvy, Colt Knost and Tommy Armour III.
• When Senden began playing on the European Tour, his wife, Jackie, caddied for him. As a qualified hairdresser, she also provided haircuts to players and caddies on occasion.
• Armour has played the opening 36 holes of this tournament without recording a bogey. He is the only player in the field without a bogey on his scorecard.
The third round began at 3:10 p.m. off the first and 10th tees. Play was suspended due to darkness at 7:34 p.m. with 73 players still on the course. The third round will resume at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Pairings will remain the same and tee times for the final round will be 9:30 - 11:40 a.m.
• Bo Van Pelt has held the lead/co-lead a total of nine times in his career (four times in Round 1, three times in Round 2, and twice in Round 3), most recently at the 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic (first in Round 1, tied for first in Round 3), where he eventually finished tied for 28th.
• Van Pelt's best career PGA TOUR finish is a tie for second at the 2008 Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.
• Colt Knost is a rookie on the PGA TOUR after placing sixth on the 2008 Nationwide Tour money list with $329,509. He won twice last year, at the Fort Smith Classic and the Price Cutter Charity Championship.
• To read the remainder of the Round 2 notes, click here. To read the remainder of the Round 3 notes, click here.
KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Shell Houston Open.
The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 488-yard par-4 18th.
Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.
• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |||
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-4 18th at Redstone GC | |||||||||||||||||||||
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