Graeme McDowell started play on Sunday 6 shots off the lead, playing with the new Srixon equipment he has changed to, so he just decided to relax, shoot at pins and have some fun..
Well if you missed it he made 5 birdies in his first 6 holes then birdies at 15 and 16 to get to -23 and into a tie for the lead with Jonathan Byrd and Robert Garrigus..
He parred 17 but couldn't birdie the par 5 18th eventually falling a shot short of the playoff that Jonathan Byrd won on the second playoff hole when Garrigus missed a 3 footer.
McDowell ended up with the course record -11 62 set by KJ Coi back in 2003." I’ve just proven to the world I’m not naive enough to switch to inferior equipment," McDowell said. "I’m very confident in Srixon. … All I’ve done is gone from one great company to another."
Earlier in the week commentator Mark Rolfing hosted a golf clinic that Byrd put on for the fans. Rolfing said he "threw the kitchen sink" at Byrd asking him to play all kinds of shots and Byrd pulled them all off easily. Rolfing said " I thought after that that this guy will do well here this week !!"
How right he was. Byrd was steady if unspectacular all week, plodding along
As for the playoff, both he and Garrigus parred the 18th. The second playoff hole was the 520-yard par-4 first. Garrigus hit his trademark booming drive; Byrd was well behind him . Both players ended up with long birdie putts on similar lines. Byrd just about made his big breaker from nearly 50 feet and left himself a simple tap-in. Garrigus from 30' ran his putt 3 feet past the pin.
He pushed it a smidge to the right and it lipped out
Never a pretty way to win, but Byrd played well all week making just three bogeys, fewer than anybody else and importantly none on Sunday. His last event was last year when he won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in a playoff as well. Do you remember,.. he made that hole in one in almost dark conditions in Vegas ..
So McDowell (62) ends up 3rd, Carl Pettersson (68) T4 along with Steve Stricker (71).. Look at Ian Poulter (66) and Matt Kuchar (69) in a T6 and Jim Furyk (70) with yet another T10 finish at this Plantation course.
Of note Big Ernie, after his 64 on Friday had a poor weekend 74,71 to T17..
1 1 Jonathan Byrd -24 F 66 68 67 67 268
2 1 2 Robert Garrigus -24 F 69 63 69 67 268
3 3 3 Graeme McDowell -23 F 71 68 68 62 269
T4 4 Carl Pettersson -20 F 66 67 71 68 272
T4 3 4 Steve Stricker -20 F 69 67 65 71 272
T6 2 6 Ian Poulter -18 F 70 68 70 66 274
T6 1 6 Matt Kuchar -18 F 69 70 66 69 274
8 2 8 Bill Haas -16 F 68 70 69 69 276
T9 4 9 Dustin Johnson -14 F 71 66 73 68 278
T9 1 9 Jim Furyk -14 F 68 68 72 70 278
T9 1 9 Jason Day -14 F 73 66 69 70 278
Next week
Sony Open in Hawaii
Thursday Jan 13 – Sunday Jan 16, 2011
Waialae Country Club · Honolulu, Hawaii
I expect to see 3 Canucks in ths first full field.. Chris Baryla, David Hearn and Matt McQuillan.
Bryan Angus bryanangus4@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment