Molder and Reifers know what they need to do

text size

McKINNEY, Texas -- At least Bryce Molder knows the score. Well, sort of anyway.

Bryce Molder will play to win on Sunday and see where the chips fall. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

"Kinda depends on what happens,'' he said of his chance to move into 'The 25' on the final Nationwide Tour money list and earn his second taste of life on the PGA TOUR. "Maybe it's a third or a sixth. But I'm not going to be out there spinning numbers. I'm going to play to win and not focus on the other stuff.''

A victory would work wonders for Molder, who entered the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch on the outside looking in at the players set to graduate to The Big Show in 2009. Not only would be earn his playing privileges, he'd likely leap from his current 32nd spot inside the top five, giving him much better status to start the year.

The good news is, Molder has the opportunity to do just that. His third-round 64, highlighted by a brace of five birdies in the last seven holes, moved him to the top of the 54-hole leader board in this $1 million season finale, a spot he shares with Matt Bettencourt, who went one lower, matching the competitive course record with an 8-under-par 63. The leaders, in at 15-under-par 198, will carry a three-shot lead over Darron Stiles, Kyle Reifers and Peter Tomasulo, who posted a 63 about 15 minutes before Bettencourt.

While Stiles and Tomasulo can free-wheel it without feeling the heat, with their places on the PGA TOUR already secure, Reifers, No. 51 on the money list, has two choices if he wants a second opportunity at making it at golf's highest level in 2009. He must win or finish solo second and hope. Otherwise, the crapshoot also known as the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., beckons.

"All I need is one more (good round),'' said Reifers, who followed a second-round 64 with a 65 in perfect scoring conditions Saturday. "I'm playing good, putting well and I'm confident.

So it's pretty simple, isn't it? I need to win the damn tournament.''

At least Molder has a little more wiggle room. And he has done it before. He grabbed the last graduation spot available in 2006 thanks mainly to a timely victory in the Miccosukee Championship, the last full-field event prior to the Nationwide Tour Championship. He's pushing it to the 11th hour this season.

"I might not be good, but I'm always going to make it exciting,'' Molder said, laughing.

Kyle Reifers knows a win on Sunday would remove all doubts about his 2009 plans. (Badz/PGA TOUR)

The excitement was running out for Molder, a four-time All-American from Georgia Tech, on Saturday. It appeared he was going to squander a great ballstriking round by making nothing on the greens. He had a pair of tap-in birdies through 11 holes, but missed a bunch of opportunities from inside 15 feet.

As he waited to hit his approach on the 12th, Molder spied his wife, Kelley, near the fairway. He walked over and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Now I'm going to start making some birdies,'' he said to her.

On cue, he holed a 25-footer from off the 12th green. He followed with a 20-footer, a three-footer and a 15- footer. He capped the round with a tap-in birdie following a beautiful bunker shot on the par-5 18th to join Bettencourt in the lead.

Kelley Molder wore a wide smile afterward.

"I did what I could,'' she said.

Now it's up to Bryce to finish the deal. He'll begin the round with confidence, thanks to what he called his "most consistent season'' as a professional. This followed his rookie season on the PGA TOUR that he said was "no fun at all.''

Simple reason why. Molder didn't cash a check until late July and finished 185th on the money list. He said he got caught in the trap of believing he had to hit fairways and greens and play pretty golf.

Trouble was, Molder's game is built on his scrambling and his ability to make something out of nothing. He carried a hangover to the Nationwide Tour, making just over $11,000 in his first seven events.

"To be honest, I didn't know what was happening,'' he said. "It seemed like I was trying to make pars.''

Molder had a long talk with Bruce Helper, his coach at Georgia Tech, at the end of April. His mindset changed and he decided to become "more aggressive.'' It didn't hurt that Molder received immediate positive reinforcement with a tie for second at the South Georgia Classic the next week. The light apparently went on.

"I figured if the first hole was easy, why not make try to make birdie,'' he said. "It was amazing how many times I birdied the first hole after that.''

Molder will have one more opportunity at No. 1 on Sunday, but no one is sure what the golf course, benign through the first three rounds, will throw at the field. The forecast calls for the winds to switch, blowing out of the south, with gusts to 25 mph. That will turn holes like nine, 14 and 18 that produced easy birdies through the first three rounds into stern tests. Molder doesn't mind.

"I'll go in with no expectations score-wise,'' he said. "Maybe it'll be a tough day. Maybe it won't. I'll be ready for whatever comes my way.

"It's a big day tomorrow. I'm ready to continue on an upward path.''