Round 4, Quail Hollow Championship

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May. 3, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in today's final round of the Quail Hollow Championship. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
11:40 am ET
No. 1
Geoff Ogilvy, Joe Ogilvie
How could we not spotlight the pairing of Ogilvy and Ogilvie? Underdog Ogilvie should feed off his fellow Duke alums in the gallery. Track 'em
1:00 pm ET
No. 1
Y.E. Yang, David Toms
Nobody was hotter on Moving Day than Yang (66) and Toms (67). Toms has been stellar off the tee, Yang in hitting greens in regulation. Track 'em
1:40 pm ET
No. 1
Zach Johnson, Lucas Glover
Both men in the final pairing excel on tough tests like Quail Hollow. Johnson's got the lead, but Glover has a strong record here. Track 'em

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Sunday's final round:

Sirius-Stevens.jpg

In the heart of NASCAR Country, maybe it was appropriate that Saturday took "Moving Day" to an entirely new level that would make the folks at nearby Lowe's Motor Speedway proud. By my unofficial count, at least nine different players can claim to have had a share of the lead at some point Saturday, so there were plenty of lead changes. There were some wrecks, too, most notably from Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, and after one final pit stop, we'll see who'll display some fresh rubber on Sunday.

Sunday's forecast

Cloudy
Temp: 83 high/67 low
Morning showers likely will be followed by scattered afternoon thunderstorms, some of which might be severe. Chance of rain during the round is 50 percent, with winds out of the south-southwest at 15 to 25 mph.

To take the analogy one step further, Tiger's still got the fastest car, but will he blow a tire like he did at 17 and 18 Saturday (or at 16 and 18 Friday, for that matter)? Hey, they call the three finishing holes the "Green Mile," and it wrecked any number of excellent rounds Saturday, including those from Lucas Glover, George McNeill and Danny Lee that were bogey-free until their late stumbles. No lead will be safe with the travails of those last laps to complete.

So who's going to win (besides Tiger)? Five of the previous six Quail Hollow champs were multiple winners the same year, so that would bode well for Zach Johnson (or Woods). But don't count out the "other" members of the final twosomes, McNeill and Lucas Glover.

McNeill told me earlier in the week that he really hasn't played his best golf yet, but his putter felt awfully good. Glover and his caddie told me after his Saturday round that he'd really started to play with some confidence midway through the Verizon Heritage a couple of weeks ago in Hilton Head and it has carried over. It was only a year and a half ago that Glover was a captain's pick for the U.S. Presidents Cup team.

Folks around here would never admit that they had this as a goal, but Tiger himself agreed with the opinion that Quail Hollow has played more and more like the "old" Augusta National this week, giving players numerous options from the light rough but requiring caution on the incredibly quick greens that you had to put yourself in the proper quadrant to putt.

Quail Hollow also had something going for it Saturday that the folks at Augusta are only now getting back: the roars. I was holes away from Tiger, Phil and the other big-name groups, and could hear roars from across the course when big putts went down. Look for more of the same from the great crowds on Sunday.

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Stat of the day
The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 14 of 17 events (82 percent) on the 2009 PGA TOUR. Last year, the third-round leader/co-leader only won 22 of 46 events (48 percent). The three players who've come from behind to win this year are Nick Watney at the Buick Invitational, Retief Goosen at the Transitions Championship and Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

NOTEWORTHY NUGGETS:
• In the first six years of the Quail Hollow Championship, the third-round leader has gone on to victory three times (David Toms in 2003, Jim Furyk in 2006 and Anthony Kim in 2008). The third-round leader/co-leader at this event has not finished worse than tied for third (Rory Sabbatini in 2007).

• Y.E. Yang turned in Saturday's round of the day with a 6-under 66 and is tied for ninth after the third round. Yang opened with his only bogey of the day on No. 1 before recording five birdies and an eagle.

• Four residents of Greenville, S.C. (100 miles south of Charlotte) are performing well this week. Lucas Glover is 9 under and tied for second, while Charles Warren and Bill Haas are 5 under and tied for 18th, and Matt Bettencourt is 2 under and tied for 37th.

• Five of the first six champions at Quail Hollow have won multiple PGA TOUR events in the same season that they won in Charlotte. Joey Sindelar (2004) is the only past champion not to post a second win in the same season. Anthony Kim (2008), Jim Furyk (2005) and David Toms (2003) also won twice, while Vijay Singh won four times and Tiger Woods (2007) won seven times.

Thus far at Quail Hollow
Round Leader Low round (par 72) Key links
Tiger Woods (-7) 65: Tiger Woods Daily Wrap-Up | Live Report
Helen Ross column | Notebook
Retief Goosen, Bubba Watson (-8) 65: Bubba Watson Daily Wrap-Up | Live Report
Helen Ross column | Notebook
Zach Johnson (-11) 66: Y.E. Yang Daily Wrap-Up | Live Report
Helen Ross column | Notebook
The Film Room
PGA TOUR Today
Win McMurry updates action from the third round of the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship and previews what to watch for in the final round. Watch it
Shot of the day
Ian Poulter chips in from the rough on the par-4 finishing hole at Quail Hollow. Watch it
Round 3 highlights
Zach Johnson edges out a host of challengers including Tiger Woods to take the lead into Sunday's final round. Watch it

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