PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 3, Transitions Championship

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 3, Transitions Championship.

Justin Rose has quickly snapped back into form after a terrific 2010 season, and will be looking to break through in 2011 on Sunday. Rose fired an impressive round of 6-under 65 on Saturday to take sole possession of the lead, at 13-under par. Brendon de Jonge and Webb Simpson are only a shot back at 12-under. Scott Stallings and Gary Woodland are two shots back at 11-under. And after a solid round of 6-under 65 on Saturday, Nick Watney finds himself only 3 shots back and certainly within reach to go back-to-back consecutive weeks, after his impressive win last week at the WGC Cadillac Championship. Watney is currently at 10-under par, along with Chris Couch, Garrett Willis, and Brandt Snedeker.

The Golf Channel will offer early coverage of the Transitions starting at 1:00, and NBC will take over the coverage starting at 3:00 p.m.

Should be a good finish!

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Transitions Championship

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Transitions Championship.

I’d like to say that I caught some quality action of the tournament today, but all I saw for 2-and-a-half hours on my television was guys stalking 10 footers on the greens. 125 putts… I’m still miffed!

I cut away from March Madness for this crap?

Up Next: WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship

The first World Golf Championship of the season – the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship – kicks off this Wednesday, beginning at 12:00 noon (EST) on the Golf Channel.

The event has been tweaked over the past season, as the finals match has been shortened to 18 holes on Sunday.

For those interested in scouting the brackets, I’ve listed them below. So who do you see prevailing? Can Ian Poulter go back-to-back?

JONES BRACKET

PLAYER BRACKET

SNEAD BRACKET

HOGAN BRACKET

Woods Continues Pace at Chevron

Tiger Woods credited the way he managed the par5’s for the first two days as being the key component in his improved scoring this week. Sherwood Country Club has 5 par5’s on the layout, and through the opening 2 rounds Tiger played them at 10-under par. But on Saturday the par5’s wouldn’t be as friendly for Woods as they’ve been the first two days, as Tiger was only able to manage them at 2-under par. But he picked up the slack with 4 other birdies, and some clutch par-save putts to boot. His third round score of 4-under 68 maintained his pace over his nearest competitor Graeme McDowell, who also posted 4-under 68 on Saturday. With the next nearest competitor, Paul Casey, a whopping 8 shots back of Woods heading into Sunday, Tiger essentially finds himself only having to worry about one player.

While Woods is finally savoring an opportunity to finally get a win under his belt for the season, he also knows that the layout at Sherwood is conducive to a dramatic swing in scoring. It can be a very penal golf course off the tee, and some of the hazards in play around some of the greens certainly factor into the equation. But with a 4-shot lead heading into Sunday, Woods appeared to be ready for what awaits tomorrow. “As I said, I got 18 more holes and it’s a process. I know that we potentially could have some weather coming in here tomorrow, so got to be ready for that. You know, I’m excited. I’m excited to go out there and go head-to-head against Graeme.”

You can check out the rest of the scores on Saturday HERE, courtesy of PGATOUR.COM

Woods Maintains Lead at Chevron World Challenge

About a month or so prior to the Ryder Cup, Rory McIlroy left nothing to be said about the state of Tiger Woods’ golf game. When asked about his thoughts of drawing Tiger in the singles matches for the event, the young Irishman didn’t hold back. “I would love to face him. Unless his game rapidly improves in the next month or so, I think anyone in the European team would fancy his chances against him.” McIlroy wouldn’t get that opportunity in the Ryder Cup, but he would get his shot to go mano a mano against Woods on Friday at the Chevron World Challenge.

Coming off of one of his best ball striking rounds of the season on Thursday, where Woods took full advantage of the five par5’s on the layout in route to an impressive round of 7-under 65, Tiger continued his solid play on day two at Sherwood Country Club, firing a bogey-free round of 6-under 66. Woods set the tone for the day early by carding an eagle on the par5 second hole, then added two more birdies on the 4th and 5th. He made the turn at 4-under 32. McIlroy responded with three birdies of his own on the front side, but would run into some trouble on the inward nine. Bogeys on the 10th and the 16th, and a nasty double bogey at the end on the 18th resulted in a 1-over par 37, leaving McIlroy at only 2-under on the day, five shots back of Woods heading into the weekend.

When asked about his round today with McIlroy, Woods played the role of the gracious host. “It was fun. I enjoy playing with Rory. He’s a great kid. We were chatting about just all different types of subjects. You know, he’s one of the best players in the world. He’s got so much talent. It’s just fun to watch, and unfortunately he made a mistake on the last hole, but I would love to play with him again.”

Two solid rounds certainly doesn’t qualify a “He’s Back” moment, but there’s no denying that Tiger feels comfortable at this venue. And better yet – he’s starting to once again feel comfortable on the greens. Interestingly enough, the Nike Method putter that he gamed earlier in the season at the British Open has resurfaced this week at Sherwood, and his putting this week has surprisingly resembled the old Tiger. In his post round interview today, Woods added that he was putting the ball pure again and making the important putts – the five and six footers.

It remains to be seen whether or not Tiger can continue his assault on Sherwood Country Club over the weekend, as there will be some added pressure as he attempts to do something he hasn’t done in over a year – win a golf tournament. With 5 par5’s on the layout, it’s definitely a scoring course for players who are hitting and rolling the ball well, and Tiger knows that one off day brings a lot of players back into the picture heading into Sunday. A few of whom have won multiple times this season at that.

Notables

Graeme McDowell – 2nd place: McDowell wasn’t quite as sharp on Friday as he was yesterday in the opening round, but finished with a 3-under 69 to go to 9-under for the tournament, 4 shots back of Woods.

Luke Donald – T-3: Donald struggled to get anything going on Thursday, but got back into the mix on Friday with some stellar playing. He was 8-under on his round through 16 holes, until a double bogey on the par3 17th brought him back to 6-under on the round. But he heads into the weekend in good position for the tournament at 8-under par.

Rory McIlroy – T-3: Despite the disappointing finish on Friday, McIlroy’s 2-under 70 was good enough to keep him in the conversation heading into the final two rounds. Sherwood is the type of course that a player like Rory McIlroy can feast on if he’s making some putts, so he’s certainly not out of the picture at 8-under par.

Paul Casey – 5th place: Casey had the low round of the day, thanks in due part to his second career ace on the par3 12th. That eagle and 5 birdies led to a bogey-free round of 7-under 65. He’s at 6-under for the event.

For the rest of the scores via the PGATOUR.COM website, click HERE.

 

 

 

Rory McIlroy Adds Name to Growing List of European Players to Snub PGA Tour

The PGA Tour used to be considered the world’s biggest stage in golf, and in most circles still is. And that’s saying a lot, especially considering that the PGA Tour schedule remains very active, not to mention increasingly lucrative, despite a global economy that continues to struggle untangling itself from the financial tailspin from a few years ago.

Indeed, Commissioner Tim Finchem has been very active behind the scenes shoring up the tour’s longstanding title sponsorship partners, as well as taking the lead in ushering in new ones. Only one tournament from this season will not be back next year – The Turning Stone Resort Classic. And that had more to do with scheduling than anything else. Overall, Finchem has meticulously navigated his tour through some of the choppiest financial waters that the tour has faced in decades, and done so amazingly well. Matter of fact, maybe too well…. as in running the risk of saturation.

A month or so back, the world’s top ranked player Lee Westwood wasted little time declining an invitation to join the PGA Tour on a full-time basis. Westwood cited family obligations first and foremost, but also admitted that he was a better fit for the European Tour overall. Then shortly after winning the PGA Championship, Martin Kaymer became eligible for PGA Tour membership as well, but Kaymer’s agent recently hinted that a rigid PGA Tour schedule wasn’t something that his player would look forward to… and would most likely follow Westwood’s lead in declining the offer and maintaining his allegiance to the European Tour. Then two weeks ago another ominous rumor was circulating that Rory McIlroy was considering doing an about-face on the PGA Tour next season, a rumor that came to fruition last week as the young Irishman announced he would be playing golf full-time on the European Tour in 2011.

Cause and Effect?

One could make a weak argument that the Ryder Cup has spurred this sudden sense of tour allegiance… Englishman Paul Casey was ranked well inside the top 10 in the golf world rankings this season, but was snubbed by Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie as one of his captain’s picks. Another Englishman – Justin Rose – had arguably one of the best seasons of his career this year, winning twice on the PGA Tour. But like Casey, Rose was overlooked as a potential pick to play in this year’s Ryder Cup. No offense to Miguel Angel Jimenez, but there was no logical reason for Monty picking the aging 46-yr-old over two of the season’s top European stars, other than the fact that Jimenez has remained one of the biggest loyalists of the European Tour throughout his entire career.

But the strongest argument to be made goes well beyond tour loyalty. What we effectively have now, especially with the infusion of the four World Golf Championships, is a global tour where the top stars can pick-and-choose to play in the biggest events of the season. And they can do so without running the risk of losing status on one particular tour, while at the same time accruing tons of prize money and world ranking points. This “double-dipping” has essentially enabled players from all over the globe to earn enough money playing in golf’s biggest 4-5 non-major events to maintain a comfortable existence back home on their own tours.

The fact that these three world-class players would forgo the opportunity to win $10 million in the season-long FedEx Cup Points Race leaves nothing to be said about just how good the money has become in professional golf. That’s something that Commissioner Finchem is going to have to come to grips with in the coming years, as we will begin to see fewer and fewer top stars in the game opting out of the PGA Tour Rat Race… at some point more money becomes the problem and not the solution.

I fear that we might already be there.

 

Furyk Takes Lead, Eyes Tour Championship Lottery

The trademark stare of Jim Furyk has one eye closed and the other eye fixated on the ball heading to his intended target. Sunday could reveal two potential targets for Furyk, with the first and foremost being his third win of the season, which could give him the points needed to walk away with the $10 million FedEx Cup prize, and a potential shoe-in for PGA Tour Player of the Year honors.

But it won’t be easy. Furyk needs a little help to win the cup money. And here’s how it pans out for him. For starters, obviously he has to win tomorrow. Then he needs Matt Kuchar to finish in a four-way tie for fourth or worse, which might end up happening. The Georgia Tech grad has struggled this week at the friendly confines of East Lake, and goes into the final round tomorrow 12 shots off the lead, currently tied for 23rd place. After that, he needs Dustin Johnson to finish tied for 4th or worse, of which looks more than likely to happen. DJ is having a dismal showing this week in the Tour Championship finale, unable to break par in each of his first three rounds. He’s +7 for the event, tied for 27th.

But here’s where things start to get a little uncertain, where the ebb and flow of the final round really becomes the pressure cooker. Charley Hoffman’s round of 1-under 69 on Saturday moved him to 3-under for the event, 5 shots back of the lead. He goes into tomorrow’s round in solo 7th place. Furyk needs Hoffman to finish tied for 3rd place or worse. If Hoffman puts together a nice round Sunday, then obviously that makes things that much more iffy for Furyk.

Then Furyk also has to concern himself with Steve Stricker. Strick had his troubles in the opening round, but has battled back with 2-under par rounds on Friday and Saturday to get back to even par for the event. He’s currently 8 shots back of Furyk, but still tied for 12th overall. If Strick can somehow manage a round of 5 or 6 under par on Sunday, Furyk’s shot at $10 million dwindles considerably. If Stricker finishes in a 3-way tie for second or worse, Furyk clears the Stricker hurdle.

At that point there’s only one guy left standing to deal with – the guy who would love to take advantage of Monty’s Ryder Cup snubbage with a cool $10 million to spend over the next couple of weeks while on vacation – Paul Casey. Furyk needs Casey to finish in a tie for 2nd or worse, but Casey’s not entirely out of this himself. He’s 4 shots back of the lead heading into tomorrow’s final round, and it’s not out of the question that Casey comes away with the money, even if he doesn’t put a great Sunday round together and win. Get this – if Furyk wins the tour championship at East Lake, and Paul Casey finishes solo-second, and Charley Hoffman finishes solo third – Paul Casey wins the $10 million. How’s that for a tricked up finish?

Wow, I tell ya… this is confusing. But that’s for another discussion. If you’re really interested in reading all about the different scenarios and how it could all play out tomorrow, click HERE.

Just take my word for it  – while we might not know what exactly needs to happen tomorrow for someone in particular to win the FedEx Cup, trust that a handful of those guys who are still eyeing the prize do. Hoffman, Casey, Stricker, and Furyk will somehow each play a part in who wins. And it’s worth noting that Luke Donald isn’t out of the picture either, not by a long shot… nor is Retief Goosen.

My own observations: Finchem and company might think that their tweaking has created quite the scenario for an exciting finish of the PGA Tour season, and maybe it has. But it sure as hell hasn’t been easy to cover or explain. I might add that for me personally – give me 36 holes of matchplay… two players, the two best players from the field of 70 onward. Matchplay format at the BMW, and again at East Lake. They could do this. They could work this out. We don’t see enough matchplay on tour, and I couldn’t think of a better time for it to play out. Keep all of the confusing formulas and scenarios out of it, just work it to where you have two guys competing for the money. Tomorrow I will be so wrapped up in trying to figure out how in the hell the story is gonna end, that I’m not going to be able to fully enjoy watching the plot unfold.

Someone’s gonna say, “watching Ben Crane play Martin Laird for $10 million just ain’t gonna reel in the ratings.” Well, oh well…. Where’s Tiger this week? He’s not here. How about Mickelson? He’s here, but doesn’t have a chance in hell. He’s not gonna get much coverage on Sunday. The two top players in the world and they’re non-factors. What’s the difference? Give us something we can at least appreciate as fans of the game, not fans of one or two players. Well, that’s my take anyway.

SATURDAY ACTION AT EAST LAKE, PGATOUR.COM RECAP