Saturday, August 10, 2013

PGA Championship Day 3

Here is the leaderboard at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, N.Y.:

1.  J. Dufner:  -8 (45 holes)
2.  J. Furyk:  -7 (45)
T3.  J. Blixt (SWE):  -6 (54)
T3.  H. Stenson (SWE):  -6 (45)
T3.  A. Scott (AUS):  -6 (44)
6.  S. Stricker:  -5 (46)

By the way, Rory McIlroy finally got going today.  He shot a 67 with birdies on the very-difficult 17th and 18th holes, and he is now 3-under par, in a tie for 7th place.

Meanwhile, lots of other folks are having very poor days.  Justin Rose shot a 7-over par 42 on the front nine, so he's back to 1-over for the tournament.  Matt Kuchar is 4-over for the day (and 3-under for the tournament) through nine holes.  Webb Simpson, who shot a 64 yesterday, is 1-over for the day (and 3-under for the tournament) through 12 holes.  So unless something really surprising happens, the winner of the 95th PGA Championship will be Dufner, Furyk, Blixt, Stenson, or Scott.

26 comments:

  1. The scoreboard on PGATour.com is way behind the action, for some reason. It turns out that Furyk now leads at 9-under par through 48 holes. Dufner is 8-under through 47 holes. Stenson is 7-under through 48. Scott is 6-under through 47. And Blixt is 6-under through 54. I still think one of those five will be your winner.

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    1. Sorry. Stenson is 7-under through 49 holes. He just birdied the 13th.

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  2. Stenson has been playing very well for the last month or so. Given the poor form of American golfers in recent major titles, you have to think he has a good chance to overtake Furyk and Dufner -- both of whom have blown major titles in the last few years.

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  3. There's not a whole lot to say about Oak Hill, by the way. It's another one of those courses that used to host the U.S. Open back in the 1950's and 1960's -- a beautiful old clubhouse, lots of deciduous trees, and a whole bunch of very long par fours with narrow fairways and lots of rough. Unlike Augusta National, Merion, and Muirfield -- all of which reward aggressive play -- Oak Hill forces you to grind, and grind, and grind. It's the golf equivalent of playing clay-court tennis. I think it would be extremely impressive for Adam Scott to win at Augusta and Oak Hill in the same year.

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    1. On the other hand, Scott does use that silly long putter, which (to me) is the moral equivalent of cheating.

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  4. As I expected, Stenson birdies the 14th hole to move to 8-under par. At this point, and given that I just cannot see Furyk or Dufner lifting the trophy tomorrow, I'm pretty sure that Scott is the only player who can beat Stenson.

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  5. On the other hand, I am happy for the people of upstate New York, which is one of my favorite regions in the country. They are great sports fans up there -- as we know from years of watching Syracuse basketball and Buffalo Bills football -- and they have turned out in huge numbers for this tournament. Good for them.

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    1. I, too, love that area of the country. I saw that Peter King this past week wrote about the minor-league baseball team in Jamestown, N.Y. I, too, happened on a game of the Jamestown Jammers once, when, in my wilderness period, I took out one weekend to go searching in the hometown of the 10,000 Maniacs. It was a good trip, and I enjoyed the game. (But it wasn't there.)

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  6. Here's the latest leaderboard:

    T1. J. Furyk: -8 (51 holes)
    T1. J. Dufner: -8 (50)
    T3. H. Stenson (SWE): -7 (52)
    T3. A. Scott (AUS): -7 (50)
    5. J. Blixt (SWE): -6 (54)
    6. S. Stricker: -5 (53)

    In my mind, this is now a battle between Stenson and Scott for the title. There's no way Furyk or Dufner will hold up for another 20 holes.

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  7. Scott is suddenly having all kinds of trouble on 16. He played the entire par-4 in the rough, and it's taken him four shots just to get on the green. Now he's got a 20-foot putt for bogey.

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  8. Scott misses the bogey putt, and takes a double bogey. He falls to -5.

    Meanwhile, Furyk birdies the almost impossible 17th hole to move to 9-under par. He has the outright lead over Dufner, who pars 16 to remain at 8-under.

    Personally, I still think Scott is more likely to win than Furyk or Dufner. I don't see either of those guys breaking 72 tomorrow.

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  9. So here's the leaderboard:

    1. J. Furyk: -9 (53 holes)
    2. J. Dufner: -8 (52)
    3. H. Stenson (SWE): -7 (53)
    4. J. Blixt (SWE): -6 (54)
    T5. S. Stricker: -5 (54)
    T5. A. Scott (AUS): -5 (52)

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  10. Furyk hits a terrible drive on the par-4 18. He's in the rough, and will not be able to reach this in two shots.

    Meanwhile, Stenson finishes with a 69 that leaves him at 7 under par. He is in a very strong position for tomorrow.

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  11. OK, now Scott's in real trouble. He has hit a tree with his drive on 17, which means he's probably looking at a bogey at best.

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  12. Furyk lays up on 18, and he's looking at a probable bogey . So Stenson will be no more than one shot off the lead going into tomorrow's round.

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  13. Scott reaches the 17th green in three shots, and he'll have a 15-footer to save par. That is a huge putt.

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  14. Here's Furyk with his pitch shot to the 18th green. He leaves himself with an 8-footer uphill putt to save par.

    Meanwhile, on CBS, Nick Faldo is telling the story of how he saved par on 18 at Oak Hill to beat Curtis Strange and win the 1995 Ryder Cup for Europe. I remember that very well, because it was one of the worst days of my life as a sports fan, and it was the last time I watched the singles matches in the Ryder Cup. Thanks, CBS!

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  15. Scott has a long consultation with Steve Williams, who used to be Tiger Woods's caddie. Tiger hasn't putted well in majors since breaking with Steve Williams, while Adam Scott has become one of the best players in the world with Williams on his bag. Sure enough, Scott rolls in the par putt to remain at 5-under par.

    But hold the phone! Furyk rolls in his par putt to finish at 9-under par. Good for him.

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  16. So now all that's left is for Scott and Dufner to play the last hole. Scott makes a pretty straightfoward par to finish with a 72 and a score of 5-under.

    Dufner drives into the rough, lays up short of the green, pitches to within about 7 feet of the hole, and hits a putt that looks as though it is definitely going past the hole -- but which then suddenly turns and goes in the back of the cup! That's a dramatic par, and he finishes with a 71 and a score of 8-under.

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  17. So Furyk and Dufner will be in the last pairing tomorrow, with Stenson and Blixt just ahead of them.

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  18. Here's the leaderboard:

    1. J. Furyk: -9 (54 holes)
    2. J. Dufner: -8 (54)
    3. H. Stenson (SWE): -7 (54)
    4. J. Blixt (SWE): -6 (54)
    T5. S. Stricker: -5 (54)
    T5. A. Scott (AUS): -5 (54)

    I think Furyk and Dufner will both blow up pretty quickly, and it will come down to Scott, Stenson, and Blixt.

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    Replies
    1. Are you going to start telling us next that we just don't understand soccer?

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    2. It's not that they can't score; it's that they're not trying to score.

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