Ogilvy overcomes 'bad day', fires a 63 on Saturday
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
DUBLIN, Ohio -- When he was younger, Geoff Ogilvy might have reacted to a bad round by kicking a few trashcans in his hotel room and generally just moping around all night.
After Friday's 74, though, the Aussie went to the practice tee for what he later called "alone" time and took out his frustration on the range balls. That double bogey-bogey finish that made Ogilvy feel like he came home in an "ambulance" soon was forgotten.
"I guess I'm just getting a lot better at realizing that one or two bad days really doesn't mean a whole lot in the big scheme of things," he said.
Truer words were never spoken. Ogilvy played much more like the man who already has two PGA TOUR victories in 2009 on Saturday as he fired a 63, which was the low round of the week, to soar from a tie for 57th to the top of the Memorial leaderboard at 7 under.
"Just a nice 63," Ogilvy said with a wry smile. "Obviously all 63s are nice, but it was just a nice comfortable round."
Tiger Woods, who shot 68 on Saturday and is 5 under for the tournament, couldn't help but notice Ogilvy climbing the scoreboard.
"I didn't quite see (a 63) out there -- did he play all 18?" the game's No. 1 player said, grinning broadly.
Ogilvy was finished 45 minutes before Jim Furyk and Jonathan Byrd teed off in the final group of the day. In stark contrast to the way he played in the first two rounds, the six-time TOUR winner hit 10 fairways and 15 greens, then used just 27 putts once he got on the slick but smooth surfaces.
The first birdie putt was one of two Ogilvy made on the front nine from inside 2 feet. His other birdies came from 20, 3, 3, 20 and 5 feet before he closed out the stellar round with a flourish -- holing a bunker shot at the 18th hole.
"It's one of those days that makes you wonder why you find it so hard sometimes," Ogilvy said. "But then you wake up tomorrow, and it's back to normal. And it's days like this that kind of frustrate you. It's just nice to have one every now and then.
"It's nice when you do have one of those days to capitalize on that and shoot a really, really low score, which I did. So it's nice."
Ogilvy, who ranks third in the FedExCup but could regain the No. 1 spot with a win on Sunday, was at a loss to explain his visible frustration in the second round. While many felt the stumbling finish was his breaking point, Ogilvy said the "crescendo" actually came at the 15th hole as his second shot sailed well left of the green.
"I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess," Ogilvy said with a shrug. "It was one of those days. I don't know. Everything was getting to me. No real valid reason. I've had a lot worse days than yesterday. I was just getting real frustrated for some reason.
"I guess every now and then you have a day like that that makes you realize, what are you doing?"
With six victories and nearly nine years on TOUR under his belt, Ogilvy knows the key is not to let one bad day lead to a bad week. The 2006 U.S. Open champ wasn't pleased with the way he handled himself on Friday but he was able to shake it off and rebound Saturday.
"I guess the longer you play on TOUR, the more you realize that you're probably going to have a lot more 74s than you're going to have 63s," Ogilvy said. "So just realize that it is what it is. You've just hit 2 over. It doesn't mean you play horribly at the moment.
"You've just had one of those days. Don't try too hard to fix it. Just got to do what you just just go through your normal stuff on the range and come out here with a good attitude again tomorrow and try to shoot a good one."
Ogilvy certainly accomplished that goal in the third round. If he can do it again on Sunday, he could become the TOUR's first three-time winner of the season.
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