The competition heated up Saturday afternoon as the race to the top of the leaderboard grew fiercely. The most exciting part of the day was when the tournament saw a nine-way tie for first place amidst a gorgeous but extremely windy backdrop. The wind gusts were heavy, with some reaching 24mph, and affected play all day. The greens ran fast, and the fairways were unpredictable. Throughout the day, commentators noted fairway shots as “hitting a wall” as strong winds disrupted flight patterns to the point where balls would just drop.
By 4:00 PM, the leaderboard was scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle, with the round’s top players falling victim to wonky winds and unpredictable greens.
Heavy rains, cold temperatures, and wind have been factors each day, with the latter two working in tandem today. Watching Mother Nature do her dirty work in real-time was a sight. The greens wreaked havoc on several players, including Angel Cabrera, whose putt unexpectedly went right when he had hoped for an easy birdie. The same happened with Cameron Percy and Vijay Singh, with Percy’s go at a birdie falling just short of the hole due to wind gusts, and Singh’s putt from a short distance danced around the pin and back on the green.
The fairways were quick to claim victims as well. Cabrera, Percy, Stewart Cink, and Phillip Archer all hit errant shots due to gusts. Cabrera’s shot on 18 went left into the rough, Cink and Percy fought for their lives out of high grass (with Percy grabbing his back after his swing), and Archer battled hard to make it out of a bunker.
“The greens were getting a bit slippy out there and the wind was blowing hard so there was a couple of short putts missed on 5 and 6,” said Archer. “But them two birdies gave me that cushion.”
Jason Caron hit a birdie putt on 16 to climb into a three-way tie for first with Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera. “It was very difficult, very demanding. If you don’t keep the ball in play, it gets very hard out there.”
With Retief Goosen having shot one of the two sub-70 scores, a 4-under 68, to get to 5-under 211, he is tied for the lead with Angel Cabrera (70), Jason Caron (71), and Phillip Archer (71).
Two players are tied for fifth at 4-under 212: Lee Westwood (68) and Cink (71).
To keep things interesting, here’s a five-way tie for seventh at 3-under 213: Padraig Harrington (73), Vijay Singh (75), Y.E. Yang (75), Robert Karlsson (73), and Thomas Bjorn (73).
Tomorrow will see the players going for glory. One person will win the Championship and $500,000 of a $3 million purse. It’s anyone’s game, and the weather has shown no prejudice.
The first pairing, Billy Andrade and Birk Nelson, will tee off at 7:40 AM. Leaders Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera will tee off at 1:40 PM.
You can watch the final round of the Senior PGA Championship on NBC this Sunday.
Third Round, Saturday, May 24: NBC 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Fourth Round, Sunday, May 25: NBC 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
-Jon Jones
Photo: Richard Randolph