Bad bounce on 18 costs McDowell as round 3 wraps up

ArronOberholser Arron Oberholser
"As a player, I am embarrassed for Sawgrass for what just happened to McDowell. Ridiculous. That's why some players rip that place"

Graeme McDowell was cruising along at -6 on today's round, hit a perfect looking approach to 18, which landed short on the right side of the green as the crowd applauded, except the ball kept rolling, and rolling, caught a slope and rolled off the green into the water.. ridiculous, and that's why Arron tweeted the above...

As a result his lead of 3 at -14 has been reduced to 1 at -12..  He seemed to be coping with it well in a post round interview but we will see if that terrible break affects the final outcome of this event..

Guys were struggling this morning over the last few holes.. Luke Donald bogeyed 17 and 18, Steve Stricker bogeyed 3 of his last 5, Watney a double and 2 bogey's in his last 6 holes, just a struggle as they begin round 4...

I called for a 3 way playoff earlier today, and anyone within 5 shots can win this, so I'm sticking to that prediction..

Here is the leader board going into the final round..

1 2 11 Graeme McDowell -12 F -4 color info 67 69 68 204

T2 9 17 K.J. Choi -11 F -5 color info 70 68 67 205
T2 1 30 David Toms -11 F -1 color info 66 68 71 205
T4 13 22 Jason Dufner -9 F -4 color info 69 70 68 207
T4 3 77 Davis Love III -9 F -2 color info 68 69 70 207
T4 3 8 Aaron Baddeley -9 F -2 color info 70 67 70 207
T4 1 2 Luke Donald -9 F -1 color info 69 67 71 207
T4 1 29 Steve Stricker -9 F -1 color info 69 67 71 207
T4 2 5 Nick Watney -9 F E color info 64 71 72 207
T10 13 -- Alvaro Quiros -8 F -4 color info 67 73 68 208
T10 7 91 Paul Goydos -8 F -3 color info 69 70 69 208

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

It's a Cavalry Charge at Sawgrass.

For what it's worth here's what the leader board looks like as play gets set to begin this morning, and as you can see it's like the start of a marathon with all the leaders and the pack bunched at the starting line, or like my Dad would say "it's like a Cavalry charge'

McDowell, Watney, Stricker and Toms have only made it through 5 holes of round 3, the rest are scattered around the TPC Sawgrass.

The weather is scheduled to be 28*c with 86% humidity and a 15km breeze from the SW..

So on one day shootouts like this it comes down to who gets hot, and who makes the most putts of course.

Graeme McDowell has finally found his game after 2 weeks "getting back to the basics" with his coach, Martin Kaymer was hotter than anyone with 4 birdies in a row to start his round before cooling off with 3 bogey's on the back, Watney, Stricker , Toms and Glover are giving the Yanks a chance to have a home grown winner for the first time in 4 years..

Like I said, it's a cavalry charge, looking forward to see who gets to the finish line first.

My bet, there will be a 3 man playoff..


T1 2 11 Graeme McDowell -11 5 -3 color info 67 69 136

T1 1 1 Nick Watney -11 5 -2 color info 64 71 135

T3 21 Steve Stricker -10 5 -2 color info 69 67 136
T3 2 35 David Toms -10 5 E color info 66 68 134
T5 6 28 K.J. Choi -9 10 -3 color info 70 68 138
T5 2 23 Lucas Glover -9 6 -1 color info 65 71 136
T7 10 -- Martin Kaymer -8 12 -3 color info 67 72 139
T7 10 22 Jason Dufner -8 12 -3 color info 69 70 139
T7 4 6 Rory Sabbatini -8 10 -2 color info 67 71 138
T7 4 105 Robert Karlsson -8 9 -2 color info 71 67 138
T7 4 3 Luke Donald -8 6 E color info 69 67 136
T12 22 132 Sean O'Hair -7 F -5 color info 71 71 67 209
T12 11 -- Alvaro Quiros -7 14 -3 color info 67 73 140
T12 11 40 Ryan Moore -7 13 -3 color info 71 69 140
T12 5 31 Jason Day -7 10 -2 color info 69 70 139
T12 1 73 Greg Chalmers -7 9 -1 color info 73 65 138
T12 5 36 J.B. Holmes -7 7 E color info 68 69 137
T12 5 94 Davis Love III -7 7 E color info 68 69 137
T12 5 9 Aaron Baddeley -7 7 E color info 70 67 137

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Play under way at the Players

Play got underway at 5.40pm for round 3

Here is a note from pgatour.com

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Here are the updated tee times for the 20 players who have yet to tee off in Saturday’s third round. The final group of the day, 36-hole leader David Toms and Nick Watney, should be able to get in at least four holes.

Martin Kaymer has started with 3 straight birdies and is now -8


5:30 p.m. ET – Paul Goydos, Jason Dufner
5:40 p.m. ET – Kevin Streelman, Jason Day
5:50 p.m. ET – K.J. Choi, Rory Sabbatini
6 p.m. ET – Greg Chalmers, Brian Davis
6:10 p.m. ET – Chris Stroud, Robert Karlsson
6:20 p.m. ET – J. B. Holmes, Davis Love III
6:30 p.m. ET – Hunter Mahan, Aaron Baddeley
6:40 p.m. ET – Luke Donald, Lucas Glover
6:50 p.m. ET – Graeme McDowell, Steve Stricker
7 p.m. ET – David Toms, Nick Watney

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Rain and wind hit Ponte Vedra, play suspended temporarily..

 PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. —  Heavy rain and wind hit TPC Sawgrass around 1pm, though the cells appears to be fast-moving. Lightning, of course, is the bigger concern. There’s no word, however, when play will resume. Based on the forecast, it might be a couple of hours.

Only 6 players have completed round 3. Peter Hanson the Swedish Ryder Cupper was standing on the 17th at -7 when play was halted.

I looked up the local weather and the system gets better later this afternoon around 5pm. The leaders have not hit a shot yet today and obviously there will be anything up to 36 holes to be completed.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

Wood stretches lead to 4 shots in Mallorca

europeantour.com...Chris Wood remains on course for a first European Tour title at the Iberdrola Open after extending his lead to four shots with a third round 69.


But two very familiar faces are sure to be chasing hard in the final round at Pula GC - with Darren Clarke and José Maria Olazábal forming the penultimate group on Sunday.

Wood's one under par effort took him to nine under for the week, four ahead of Clarke and Irishman Shane Lowry, who matched Grégory Bourdy's course record 63 from the opening round.

Olazábal is one further back at the course he designed on Mallorca after a 66 - and all this after the Spaniard missed any tournament preparation to attend the funeral of close friend Seve Ballesteros on Wednesday.

1 WOOD, Chris -9 18 -1 67 65 69 - 201


T2 LOWRY, Shane -5 18 -7 72 70 63 - 205
T2 CLARKE, Darren -5 18 Par 65 70 70 - 205
4 OLAZÁBAL, José Maria -4 18 -4 71 69 66 - 206
T5 BOURDY, Grégory -3 18 -3 63 77 67 - 207
T5 JAMIESON, Scott -3 18 -1 67 71 69 - 207
T5 LYNN, David -3 18 +1 68 68 71 - 207
T8 AIKEN, Thomas -2 18 -4 70 72 66 - 208
T8 FORSYTH, Alastair -2 18 -2 68 72 68 - 208
T10 STORM, Graeme -1 18 -3 71 71 67 - 209
T10 GUERRIER, Julien -1 18 -3 71 71 67 - 209
T10 SIEM, Marcel -1 18 -3 70 72 67 - 209
T10 DEL MORAL, Carlos -1 18 Par 71 68 70 - 209
T10 LAWRIE, Paul -1 18 +2 68 69 72 - 209

T10 THORNTON, Simon -1 18 +2 72 65 72 - 209

Wood leads in Iberdrola Open in Mallorca

europeantour.com..Chris Wood holds a three shot lead at the halfway stage of the Iberdrola Open as the Englishman put himself on course for a maiden European Tour title in Mallorca.

Play is well under way in round 3, he won't tee off for another hour


Breezy conditions made for tough scoring at Pula GC, and the 23 year old - who has twice finished in the top five at The Open Championship - recorded a five under par 65 to advance to eight under.

Leading the chase are Wood's compatriot Matthew Nixon and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, who not surprisingly was enjoying the links-style conditions as he signed for a second round 70.

"You just have to keep it in play and think your way round a bit more," said Wood, who picked up six birdies before dropping his only shot at the 16th after his drive finished behind a tree.

Wood has had 14 top-ten finishes on The European Tour, and the closest he came to winning was a play-off defeat in the Africa Open at the start of the current season.


1 WOOD, Chris -8 13:15 - 67 65 - - 132


T2 CLARKE, Darren -5 13:06 - 65 70 - - 135
T2 NIXON, Matthew -5 13:15 - 65 70 - - 135
T4 LYNN, David -4 12:57 - 68 68 - - 136
T4 LEVET, Thomas -4 13:06 - 71 65 - - 136
T6 LOWRY, Shane -3 11 -5 72 70 - - 142
T6 LAWRIE, Paul -3 1 Par 68 69 - - 137
T6 WILLETT, Danny -3 1 Par 64 73 - - 137
T6 THORNTON, Simon -3 12:57 - 72 65 - - 137
T10 WHITEFORD, Peter -2 13 -4 72 70 - - 142
T10 DAVIES, Rhys -2 7 -2 66 74 - - 140
T10 FASTH, Niclas -2 4 -1 71 68 - - 139
T10 LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo -2 2 -1 69 70 - - 139
T10 CANETE, Ariel -2 2 Par 70 68 - - 138
T10 WIEGELE, Martin -2 2 Par 68 70 - - 138
T10 JAMIESON, Scott -2 12:30 - 67 71 - - 138

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles

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Toms leads the crowded pack into the weekend

David Toms 66,68 -10 takes a slender 1 shot lead into what should be an exciting weekend at the Players in Ponte Vedra.

It was Nick Faldo that suggested that anyone who made the cut at E has a chance of winning, and that may be a bit far fetched, but unless you are accurate off the tee at this TPC Stadium course like Toms has been, you can roll a big number in a heartbeat.. Just ask Aussie Mark Leishman 81,80 and he has been playing some decent golf this year.

By the way, despite a birdie,birdie finish that included a gimme on 17 and a superb 160 yard pitch and run under a tree  to 6 feet on 18, Stephen Ames 77,68 +1 just missed the cut.

There are 26 players within 6 shots, 4 at -8, 4 at -7, 6 at-6, 6 at -5 and 5 at-4 so Toms is on very thin ice.
Nick Watney is another of the young guns that is set to take center stage if the Tiger's knee problems are going to continue, and while some of the hysteria about his career being over is premature, there is at least cause for concern. Remember he is training and according to reports, running up to 7 miles a day on it.

Luke Donald 69,67 -8 is an automatic T10 this year, and Graeme McDowell 67,69 -8 is almost back playing like last year. Lucas Glover 65,71 -8 has carried last week's winning form over and now has a twitter site called "the beard"

Alvaro Quiros 67,73 -4 is typical of what danger lurks for these guys on this course. Playing the back nine first he was sailing along T2, until he made bogey at 18, then 4 bogey's in a row from 4 thru 7 turned a 68 into a 73 and as I mentioned yesterday Mickelson 71,71 -2 is another, out in 31, back in 40, just when he looked like contending for the lead..

Charlie Hoffman 72,7 -1 will need a new putter for the weekend. In a slow burn, Charlie snapped his in half as he walked off the 18th. A double bogey 6 doomed the offending flat stick to a sudden and I hope painless death...

So lots of stoylines to unfold this weekend on a fun course for watching... if not for playing.

Follow it all right here, and as always your comments are welcome..

1 2 11 David Toms -10 F -4 color info 66 68 134

2 1 3 Nick Watney -9 F -1 color info 64 71 135
T3 2 36 Graeme McDowell -8 F -3 color info 67 69 136
T3 10 23 Steve Stricker -8 F -5 color info 69 67 136
T3 10 2 Luke Donald -8 F -5 color info 69 67 136
T3 1 20 Lucas Glover -8 F* -1 color info 65 71 136
T7 18 14 Hunter Mahan -7 F -5 color info 70 67 137
T7 18 9 Aaron Baddeley -7 F* -5 color info 70 67 137
T7 3 33 J.B. Holmes -7 F* -3 color info 68 69 137
T7 3 86 Davis Love III -7 F -3 color info 68 69 137
T11 33 110 Robert Karlsson -6 F* -5 color info 71 67 138
T11 33 114 Chris Stroud -6 F -5 color info 71 67 138
T11 71 72 Greg Chalmers -6 F* -7 color info 73 65 138
T11 2 58 Brian Davis -6 F* -3 color info 69 69 138
T11 6 7 Rory Sabbatini -6 F -1 color info 67 71 138
T11 14 30 K.J. Choi -6 F -4 color info 70 68 138
T17 4 31 Jason Day -5 F -2 color info 69 70 139
T17 8 88 Kevin Streelman -5 F -3 color info 70 69 139
T17 4 102 Paul Goydos -5 F -2 color info 69 70 139
T17 4 24 Jason Dufner -5 F* -2 color info 69 70 139
T17 12 -- Martin Kaymer -5 F* E color info 67 72 139
T17 8 22 Justin Rose -5 F* -3 color info 70 69 139
T23 10 69 Jeff Overton -4 F* -1 color info 69 71 140
T23 20 196 Mark O'Meara -4 F* 2 color info 66 74 140
T23 21 42 Ryan Moore -4 F* -3 color info 71 69 140
T23 18 -- Alvaro Quiros -4 F* 1 color info 67 73 140

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles