Day 3 recap: Could it be another young gun?
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
DULUTH, Ga. -- There they are again, one of those 20-something guys sitting atop the leaderboard. Except this time, it's only after 54 holes, so the young guns can't celebrate just yet, can't crowd around some table at the nearest 19th hole and boast over big cigars about how they rule the PGA TOUR world.
Sure, it could still happen. Charles Howell III -- one of the older young guns who'll turn 29 in a month -- enters the final round of the AT&T Classic with a one-shot lead and a slick bag of pin-seeking irons. If no one can pass him, Howell would be the 10th winner under 30, and the seventh in the last eight TOUR events, to raise the trophy on Sunday afternoon this year.
But there is hope for the, ahem, "old" guys. Kenny Perry, age 47, sits just one shot back of Howell. David Toms, age 41, is among the group of three players another stroke back. They may not have gray hair, but they have experience -- and that could prove pretty valuable if Sunday becomes a birdie fest and the nerves get tight on the back nine at TPC Sugarloaf.
It may even be more valuable than the flat stomachs and fearless attitudes that seem to be winning all the tournaments lately.
"I've never bought into the young guns' advantage," said 45-year-old Steve Elkington, sitting at 8 under after his solid 68.
Of course, those 22 years of TOUR experience didn't help Perry last week at THE PLAYERS Championship. He was in the final group going into Sunday, a stroke back of Paul Goydos, and ended up shooting 81. Meawhile, Sergio Garcia -- that would be the 28-year-old Garcia -- surged into contention and eventually beat Goydos (age 43) in a playoff.
"You know, if you're playing good golf, you're going to play good golf," Perry said. "Doesn't matter if you've got experience or not."
Still, plenty of trouble spots may develop to throw guys off their game Sunday. There's the unusual final-round start from the first and 10th tees in order to avoid the bad weather forecast for the afternoon. There's the windy conditions; gusts could reach 30 mph. There's the crowded leaderboard and a bunch of players who don't usually dot the first page after 54 holes.
It's all very unpredictable. So you'll need calm nerves, the ability to adapt, and the knowledge to play within yourself and, more importantly, not play the leaderboard.
"You can watch us -- we don't get ahead of ourselves out there on the golf course," Toms said about himself and Perry. "You just kind of play what's in front of you.
| 75 | Make that 75.44 -- the percentage of the time the field has found the fairway in regulation this week, second-highest mark since the start of 2007. |
| 40 | Percent chance of rain afterr 4 p.m. on Sunday. That's why the tee times and pairings were altered. |
| 4 | Rounds in the 60s. That's what Charles Howell III, Kenny Perry, Heath Slocum and David Toms could accomplish in Sunday. |
"It's hard to make it happen in golf. You have people out there cheering for you and say, 'Go get 'em.' ... What does 'Go get 'em' even mean? I wish you could hit a button and go get 'em."
But the facts say that, in 2008, the 20somethings have been getting them more than the 40somethings; just two tournaments have been won by players in their 40s, Steve Lowery at Pebble Beach and Greg Kraft in Puerto Rico.
Of course, it didn't use to be that way. The old guys ruled just a few years ago. But then Tiger came, the Tiger wannabees followed and ... well, you know the rest. What comes around, goes around.
"We've been pretty hard on them the last few years," said Perry, who will be paired with Howell in the final group Sunday. "There in the mid-2000s, all you heard about were guys our age. I'm glad to see the younger generation starting to play how they're capable of playing."
Howell isn't buying any of this age talk, however. Although he's still in his 20s, he knows golf is not a game defined by your birthdate. The game itself might be simple -- hit a little white ball into a round cup -- but the ability to achieve that at the highest level requires a complexity of skills. Some of those skills may be more youth-oriented; some may be a by-product of experience.
"Age makes a heck of a story," Howell said. "But at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything.
"The golf ball sure doesn't know how old you are or how much experience you have or what you did last week or what you're going to do next week."
And it probably doesn't know what the players atop the leaderboard will do Sunday. And because of that, the final round should be a thrill ride ... for both young and old.
THE NO-RAINCOAT EXPLANATION
On Thursday, Ryuji Imada played his first round in rainy conditions just like everybody else did that afternoon. Only problem was, he was the only one not wearing a rainsuit. Considering that rain had been predicted that day, it seemed odd that Imada would not have one. Was he trying to show his toughness? Did he like the feel of raindrops on his skin? Or did he just forget it.
It was the latter, as he explained Saturday.
On the Tuesday prior to THE PLAYERS Championship last week, Imada's caddie suffered food poisoning. So Imada called his agent, Jeremy Elliot, to become the fill-in caddie. Since Elliot had never caddied before, Imade thought he'd make it easier on him by taking most everything out of his bag -- yes, including his rain gear -- and putting it in storage. That way, the bag wouldn't be as heavy.
Even though his caddie came back for the second round, Imada didn't re-stuff his bad. Then, when he missed the cut on Friday, he wanted to "get out of there as soon as possible. So I forgot my rain gear. And I didn't notice it until Wednesday afternoon."
Still time to buy some new rain gear, though, right?
"I did (think about it)," Imada said. "But I got there on Thursay and guys in the morning played and finished (with no rain) and I didn't think it was going to get that bad."
But it did. And he got wet. Really wet.
But he's dry now and sitting pretty at 10 under, three shots off the pace.
PUT IT ON YOUR LIST
The 18th at TPC Sugarloaf may not get the same attention as the 16th at TPC Scottsdale or the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, but Steve Elkington considers it "the best spectator hole on the PGA TOUR."
It's a par-5 finishing hole -- a true risk-reward hole, explained Elkington. Players can go for the green in two -- the hole is all downhill -- but they'll have to deal with the body of water to the front and left of the green, and the pins often are enticingly close to the front edge. In the first three rounds, no hole on the back nine has produced more eagles or birdies ... or more double-bogeys.
Plus, the spectators surround the green, with the stands on the left jutting out into the water, offering a true arena-type feeling.
"It's a great hole," Elkington said after his 4-under 68 on Saturday. "I may just go back up there and watch some golf myself."
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ROUND OF THE DAY
Omar Uresti shot himself back into contention with the low round of the tournament, a 7-under 65 that was just two strokes off the tournament course record. It was an accurate round to say the least -- Uresti hit 13 of 14 fairways, and 16 of 18 greens in regulation. His only stumble was a bogey on 16 when he ran his birdie putt nearly nine feet past the hole and couldn't drain the par putt coming back. But fortunately for the University of Texas grad, who has made just eight starts this year after earning exempt status on the Nationwide Tour last year, he made several impressive shots with his short irons, none more so than ...
| Omar Uresti's scorecard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SHOT OF THE DAY
Since TPC Sugarloaf first hosted the AT&T Classic in 1997, no player has ever made eagle on the 434-yard par 4 12th hole. But Uresti ended that drought by holing out from 136 yards with a 9 iron, a shot that gave him a big lift. In fact, he proceeded to birdie the next two holes after his eagle.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It's kind of funny -- when you start shooting good scores, it tends to ease the pain a little bit." -- David Toms, discussing his back problems -- or lack of them this week
| What the leaders said... | ||||||||||||||||||||
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THREE THINGS TO WATCH SUNDAY
1. Windy conditions -- The wind was relatively calm Saturday, but it could pick up in the final round, which would make things much tougher at TPC Sawgrass. "This golf course is tough with the wind," said Charles Howell III
2. First-time winner -- Of the top seven players going into Sunday's final round, only Ryuji Imada has yet to record a win on the PGA TOUR. He almost won here last year before losing in a playoff to Zach Johnson. But several players below the top portion of the leaderboard -- such as Justin Bolli, Omar Uresti, Craig Kanada and Camilo Villegas -- are also seeking their first TOUR wins
3. David Toms -- His last top-10 finish on TOUR came at the Travelers Championship 11 months ago when he finished tied for sixth. If his lower-back problems don't flare up, he should be able to end that drought Sunday.
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