Steve Stricker, Johnathan Byrd and Robert Garrigus share the lead at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii. They all sit at -18 for the tournament. Unless someone else in the field shoots a serious lights-out score, one of these three should be collecting the winner’s check and the ticket back to this tournament in 2012.
Steve Stricker
Having watched all three rounds so far I have to say that Steve Stricker’s short game is as good as it gets. I’d love be have the simplicity of his swing and the accuracy he has under 100 yards.
Garrigus and Byrd both are obviously solid. It may come down to the player who makes one fewer bad swings. Just one.
Top 15 leaderboard through three rounds at Kapalua
| T1 |
S. Stricker |
F (-8) |
-18 |
| T1 |
J. Byrd |
F (-6) |
-18 |
| T1 |
R. Garrigus |
F (-4) |
-18 |
| 4 |
C. Pettersson |
F (-2) |
-15 |
| 5 |
M. Kuchar |
F (-7) |
-14 |
| T6 |
G. McDowell |
F (-5) |
-12 |
| T6 |
B. Haas |
F (-4) |
-12 |
| T8 |
J. Day |
F (-4) |
-11 |
| T8 |
B. Lunde |
F (-3) |
-11 |
| T8 |
I. Poulter |
F (-3) |
-11 |
| T8 |
J. Furyk |
F (-1) |
-11 |
| 12 |
A. Atwal |
F (-5) |
-10 |
| T13 |
C. Hoffman |
F (-6) |
-9 |
| T13 |
R. Palmer |
F (-5) |
-9 |
| T13 |
A. Scott |
F (-3) |
-9 |
At the Tournament of Champions, low numbers abound for most of the field, as the greens continue to be very soft and receptive, and the winds have yet to pick up at Kapalua.
Robert Garrigus Leads
Robert Garrigus has a one shot lead at -14 over steady Carl Pettersson. Garrigus shot an amazing 63, which is -10 on the par-73 track at Kapaula. His back nine was completed in 31 shots, six under the par of 37 for that side. Garrigus hit ALL of his greens in regulation and had a putts per green in regulation of 1.556. Both stats are truly off the charts.
Bubba Watson Shot Encore
Bubba Watson hit the same shot he hit yesterday on #18, but was a few yards farther out. He hit driver off the deck for his 2nd shot again, carving it with the shape of the hole and nearly reaching the green again from roughly 315 yards. Despite a less-than-stellar chip, Bubba still made birdie. He’s -3 for #18 in two days so far.
Camilo Villegas Disqualified
While watching the first round live, I remember the shot Camilo Villegas hit from a divot. The ball rolled up the hill close to the green, stopped, then rolled back down to him. While the ball was rolling back to him, he brushed away some loose pieces of grass and dirt from his divot. I thought it was odd that he’d mess with the ground while the ball was rolling right toward him. The ball rolled right over, if not within inches of where he brushed away the loose impediments.
By rule, that action is illegal. Villegas did not penalize himself for moving loose impediments which could effect a ball in motion. By not penalizing himself, he turned in an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified. Ouch. Tough thing to have to swallow on your 29th birthday. That birthday present was delivered by a fan who called in the violation.
| Hyundai Tournament Of Champions Leaderboard |
| 1 |
R. Garrigus |
F (-10) |
-14 |
| 2 |
C. Pettersson |
F (-6) |
-13 |
| 3 |
J. Byrd |
F (-5) |
-12 |
| T4 |
E. Els |
F (-9) |
-10 |
| T4 |
S. Stricker |
F (-6) |
-10 |
| T4 |
F. Molinari |
F (-6) |
-10 |
| T4 |
J. Furyk |
F (-5) |
-10 |
| T8 |
D. Johnson |
F (-7) |
-9 |
| T8 |
B. Crane |
F (-3) |
-9 |
| T10 |
I. Poulter |
F (-5) |
-8 |
| T10 |
B. Lunde |
F (-5) |
-8 |
| T10 |
B. Haas |
F (-3) |
-8 |
| T13 |
J. Day |
F (-7) |
-7 |
| T13 |
G. McDowell |
F (-5) |
-7 |
| T13 |
M. Kuchar |
F (-3) |
-7 |
Birthday wishes to LPGA golf babe Natalie Gulbis.
I really need to add the “golf babe” category one of these days. I think it would be a big boost to traffic.
It was nice to finally watch the PGA Tour yesterday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Kapalua was playing fairly easy with soft receptive greens due to rainy conditions. The wet conditions did make some approaches a little longer.
Johnathan Byrd (#1 in greens in regulation) sits atop the leaderboard at -7 (66, par-73) with Carl Pettersson.
Shot Of The Day – Bubba Watson
On the long par-5 18th hole, Bubba Watson was over 300 yards out for his 2nd shot after hitting a 349 yard drive. 18 curves severely right to left. Bubba hit driver off the deck and intentionally carved a banana ball right with the curvature of the hole. It hit about 50 yards short of the green, rolled onto the surface to about 15 feet. Amazing shot. Bubba capped it off with his first eagle of the year by making the putt.
Top 15
|
|
|
| T1 |
J. Byrd |
-7 |
| T1 |
C. Pettersson |
-7 |
| 3 |
B. Crane |
-6 |
| T4 |
B. Haas |
-5 |
| T4 |
C. Hoffman |
-5 |
| T4 |
J. Furyk |
-5 |
| T7 |
R. Garrigus |
-4 |
| T7 |
S. Appleby |
-4 |
| T7 |
A. Kim |
-4 |
| T7 |
F. Molinari |
-4 |
| T7 |
S. Stricker |
-4 |
| T7 |
M. Kuchar |
-4 |
| T13 |
B. Lunde |
-3 |
| T13 |
H. Slocum |
-3 |
| T13 |
I. Poulter |
-3 |
Tiger Loses Another Endorsement Deal
Due to their inability to settle on a new contract, Tiger Woods will no longer be providing articles for Golf Digest after 13 years. That contract was his 2nd longest endorsement deal behind Nike, beginning in 1997.
I’m not a big magazine reader and I can honestly say I’ve never read one of these articles.
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