The leaderboard has shaped up to produce what should be an interesting final round at the Sony Open in Hawaii. With only two of the top ten players in the Official World Golf Rankings (#6 Geoff Ogilvy, #10 Ernie Els) in the field for this week's PGA Tour event, I would say that the tournament has shaped up for about as exciting a final round as we could have hoped for.
The story of the day was certainly 18-year-old, 5'1" 110 pound spark plug, Tadd Fujikawa going on a birdie bender en route to a magnificent 8-under-par 62 in today's 3rd round. He is just two shots back and is currently tied for sixth place. I think the Sony Open is Fujikawa's Holy Grail, and wish him the best heading into tomorrow's final round. He played great two years ago, in making the cut as a 16-year-old and finishing T-20, but shooting 62 in a PGA Tour event is entirely different, putting him in position to take a run at winning the tournament! I think it's safe to say that the entire population of Hawaii is pulling for their hometown hero to pull it out and capture the $972,000 first place prize!
The cream has risen to the top following the third round, as several of the more well-known players in the field began to make their way up the leaderboard. While names like Zach Johnson (1st; -10) and David Toms (T-2; -9) don't exactly make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, they are both major winners, who have been there before and know how to get the job done down the stretch.
Boo Weekley shot his third straight round in the 60s (66-69-67; -8; T-6) and could be a serious threat tomorrow should his putter heat up. Boo hits the ball as well as anyone on Tour and when he's making putts, he is tough to beat.
Former can't-miss prospect Charles Howell III is apparently still playing on the PGA Tour and is also tied for sixth, as he also shot his 3rd consecutive round under par. CH3 cut ties with longtime swing coach David Leadbetter recently and apparently the work he's been doing with new coach Todd Anderson is paying off. We'll see if he can find his way back to the winner's circle for the first time since his playoff victory over Phil Mickelson at the 2007 Nissan Open. Howell will turn 30 in June of this year, and only has two PGA Tour wins to date, which I think is far below the total expected by most after his storied college career and first win at the Michelob back in 2002. His talent has never been in doubt, so maybe this will be the year he finally breaks through. I think we'll get a good idea based on his performance in tomorrow's final round...
Possibly invigorated by his time spent on the beach earlier this week with actress/super-hottie Kate Hudson, Adam Scott bounced back from an opening round 71 with back-to-back 66s to position himself just three shots off the pace heading into Sunday. Scott has fallen to 18th in the Official World Golf Rankings following a lackluster second half of 2008, but the young Australian is poised to get back to top form in '09. In January of last year, Scott fired a final round 61 to capture victory at the European Tour's Qatar Masters. He is obviously comfortable early on in the golf season and I would not be surprised to see his name on the big check come Sunday evening.
Geoff Ogilvy (T-10; -7) will play Sunday's final round with fellow Aussie Adam Scott, and there is no doubt that this is the pairing that I would want to follow if I were in attendance at Waialea Country Club. Whether you want to see two ultra-talented golfers or countless ultra-talented ladies in the gallery (or both!), following Scott & Ogilvy will be the place to be come Sunday. Ogilvy really showed an extra gear on the back nine last Sunday at Kapalua, and if he catches fire like that, I think the rest of the field is playing for second place.
Tomorrow is shaping up to be a great sports day for me, as I plan to hit the gym early to continue my offseason "Core Performance" fitness program, then catch the European Tour at 9:30AM on the Golf Channel, and then head off to the range before settling in to watch the Eagles-Cardinals. As a native Baltimorean, the main event will then follow as the Ravens take on the hated Steelers, and I'll wind down my day with the final round of the Sony Open on DVR. Life is good!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment