Children's Miracle Network Classic, Round 4
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| Children's Miracle Network Classic | ||
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
PLAYOFF PLAY-BY-PLAY, SECOND HOLE (4:39 p.m.) -- The par-3 15th is playing at 198 yards. George McNeill has the honors and hits his tee shot onto the right fringe. Ames' tee shot is in the center of the green but 30 feet from the flag. Ames putts first; he lags to tap-in range. McNeill elects to use a putter from the fringe; he runs his effort four feet past the hole. McNeill's par putt rolled into the cup ... and popped right back out. Bogey for McNeill. Ames' par-par wins the playoff; he scores his second victory in this event in three years. Ames' victory gives him the final spot in the season-opening SAS Championship at Kapalua in 2010.
PLAYOFF PLAY-BY-PLAY, FIRST HOLE (4:20 p.m.) -- Play will begin at the 484-yard 18th hole. Justin Leonard has the honors; he hits driver down the center of the fairway. George McNeill is next; he hits driver well into the trees on the right side. Stephen Ames, also with driver, hits down the left side of the fairway. Ames' approach shot is first; he hits it 30 feet below the hole. Leonard is next; he hits a 5-iron well short and right of the flag. McNeill punches out of the woods; he ends up short of the green. McNeill steps up chips to five feet. Leonard lags his bidie put well short of the hole. Ames' birdie putt also finishes well short of the hole. Leonard steps up and leaves his par putt well short. Bogey for Leonard. McNeill holes his par putt, eliminating Leonard. Ames sinks his par putt, sending the playoff to second hole, which will be contested on the par-3 15th.
THREE-MAN PLAYOFF (4:11 p.m.) -- Justin Leonard's 16-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole spun out of the cup -- he finishes with a 67. Leonard, McNeill and Ames will head to a sudden death playoff, our fourth in four Fall Series tournaments.
MCNEILL FINISHES AT 18 UNDER; LEONARD NEEDS BIRDIE TO WIN (3:56 p.m.) -- George McNeill lagged up on 18 for a par and a final-round 67; he will join Stephen Ames (64) in a playoff unless Leonard birdies the 484-yard final hole. Leonard, a medium hitter, hit his drive well back in he fairway on No. 18.
Justin Rose birdied the 71st hole to pull within one; he can join a four-man playoff if he birdies and Leonard pars.
AMES BIRDIES 72ND HOLE TO GET TO 18 UNDER (3:45 p.m.) -- Stephen Ames is in with a 64, tying the best round of the week at the Magnolia Course, to finish 18 under and tie George McNeill and Justin Leonard at 18 under. If either Leonard and McNeill fail to birdie the 18th hole, we'll go to a three-man playoff.
WALKER PROJECTED AT NO. 125 (3:30 p.m.) -- Jimmy Walker made things interesting. He double bogeyed the 17th hole and missed the green on the par-4 18th, but he got up-and-down for par and finishes with a 69. Right now, he's tied for 15th, which puts him squarely on the 125th spot on the money list.
AMES IN POSITION TO WIN (3:21 p.m.) -- Stephen Ames has racked up four birdies on the back side to pull within a shot of George McNeill and Justin Leonard, but the Canadian is running out of holes at Disney. Unless Ames pulls out a victory, he will finish at under $2 million for the season for the first time since 2005.
LEONARD, MCNEILL TIED (3:07 p.m.) -- The top two are still deadlocked at 18 under after Justin Leonard avoided costly bogey on the final par-5 of the day.
McNeill used his length to birdie the par-5 14th, but Leonard was unable to reach the green in two and had to settle for a two-putt par. Leonard ran his birdie putt eight feet past but made the comebacker to stay at 18 under.
MAGGERT LIKELY OUT OF THE TOP 125 (2:45 p.m.) -- Jeff Maggert's putt for a 69 on the final hole slipped by the cup, leaving him in a tie for 25th and 128th on the projected money list, $8,000 behind No. 125 Nicholas Thompson.
BIG DAY FOR POINTS, O'HERN (2:30 p.m.) -- D.A. Points finished bogey-par for a 65, but it still should be good enough to get him into the top 70 on the money list for the first time in his career. Nick O'Hern is 4 under on the day and is solo third, and he is also projected to move into the top 70.
The top 70 on the money list gain automatic entry into several invitational events in 2010, such as the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, the Verizon Heritage and the the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley.
BOGEY-BOGEY FOR MCNEILL (2:20 p.m.) -- George McNeill has racked up 19 birdies and three eagles this week, but the third-year PGA TOUR member can't keep the big numbers off his card. He's missed his last two greens and failed to get up-and-down both times. Meanwhile, on the par-4 11th, Justin Leonard stuck his approach to three feet to get to 18 under.
WAIT AND SEE FOR THOMPSON (2:13 p.m.) -- Nicholas Thompson bogeyed his final hole of the year to finish with a 66. He's currently tied for 11th, which has him 124th on the projected money list as he tries to retain his card for 2010.
Thompson holed a gritty nine-footer for bogey after driving into the rough on the 72nd hole, and that nine-footer could very well determine his playing status for next year.
The past 30 minutes has seen some tightening around the money list bubble. As it stands right now, Jimmy Walker is 125th, $2,000 behind Thompson, and $8,000 ahead of No. 126 Robert Garrigus.
TOUGH BREAK FOR LEONARD (2:02 p.m.) -- Justin Leonard is playing right behind George McNeill, but his birdie attempt on the par-5 10th spun around the cup, leaving him one shot back at 17 under.
MCNEILL BACK IN THE LEAD (1:51 p.m.) -- George McNeill is the first player to reach 18 under. He got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 10th and now leads Justin Leonard by one. Brian Davis is 8 under on the day, but he's three shots back and has yet to play the brutal 17-18 finish.
BEEM FINISHES WITH 68, PROJECTED 124TH (1:42 p.m.) -- Rich Beem shot 2 under on the back to finish 10 under, good for a tie for 23rd. He's projected to finish at $674,431 for the year, good for 124th on the money list.
LEONARD, MCNEILL TIED AGAIN (1:20 p.m.) -- There has been three playoffs in three Fall Series events in 2009, and there might be a fourth on Sunday.
Justin Leonard is tied with George McNeill again at 17 under; Leonard rolled in an 18-footer for the birdie on the long par-5 eighth.
TOP 125 UPDATE (1:15 p.m.) -- The projected money list in the final round:
In: Rich Beem (119th), Ricky Barnes (120th), Jimmy Walker (122nd), Roland Thatcher (123rd), Nicholas Thompson (125th).
Out: Robert Garrigus (126th), Jeff Maggert (127th), Joe Ogilvie (129th), Chris Riley (130th), David Duval (131st), Tim Herron (132nd), Chris DiMarco (133rd).
POINTS WORKING ON CAREER ROUND (1 p.m.) -- D.A. Points has birdied six of his last seven holes to get to 15 under, two behind McNeill, who is still sitting at 17 under.
Points has only made four bogeys all week and appears certain to clinch his first top-10 since his solo third at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in May.
Points' low round this year came at the AT&T National when he shot 64 in the first round, and his career low came in 2005 when he shot 63 at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
MCNEILL, LEONARD BREAKING AWAY (12:42 p.m.) -- George McNeill still has a two-shot lead as the leaders approach the turn in the final round, but Justin Leonard is hanging tough with a pair of birdies in the early going.
There are a pair of par-5s in a three-hole stretch around the turn, so expect some fireworks in about an hour.
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TWO-SHOT LEAD FOR MCNEILL (12:19 p.m.) -- George McNeill is doing his best to take some of the drama out of the final round. McNeill just eagled the par-5 fourth after sinking a 25-foot putt. It's his third consecutive eagle on a par-5 -- he eagled both of the par-5s on the back nine on Saturday.
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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GRONBERG, ROSE FALL BACK (12:08 p.m.) -- On a final round littered with birdies, Justin Rose and Mathias Gronberg lost ground by each going par-par-bogey to fall to 12 under. There are eight players at 12 under, including D.A. Points, who is 4 under after eight holes.
RICH BEEM UPDATE (11:55 a.m.) -- Since his bogey on the second hole, Rich Beem has reeled off five birdies to move into the top 15 and into position to regain the TOUR card he lost after the 2008 season.
TIM HERRON UPDATE (11:50 a.m.) -- Tim Herron has never finished outside the top 125 during his decade-long career on TOUR, but he's facing that reality after he made double bogey on the 18th hole (his ninth of the day).
Herron dropped back to even on the day and into a tie for 35th in the tournament. He is currently projected to finish 134th on the money list.
• To track Herron with Shot Tracker, click here.
THOMPSON SURGING TOWARDS PGA TOUR CARD (11:40 a.m.) -- Nicholas Thompson, 132nd on the money list heading into this week, is projected to be 119th after birdies on four of his first eight holes. The run of birdies has him in a tie for seventh, and if he can maintain that position, Thompson can avoid q-school.
Thompson had a monster sophomore season on TOUR in 2008, finishing 41st in FedExCup points with six top-10s, but his production fell in 2009. He failed to record a top-10 until the Frys.com Open, where he finished tied for eighth after a remarkable week in which he scored both an ace and a double eagle.
• To track Thompson with Shot Tracker, click here.
MCNEILL FIRES THE FIRST SHOT (11:28 a.m.) -- It didn't take George McNeill long to get his lead back. He stuck his pitch on the short par-4 second to 10 feet and made the putt, putting him back at 14 under.
• To track McNeill with Shot Tracker, click here.
LEHMAN CATCHING FIRE (11:20 a.m.) -- Tom Lehman can become the sixth-oldest person to win a PGA TOUR event with a victory today, and he's making things interesting.
Since Lehman's bogey on the sixth hole Friday, he's reeled off 10 birdies and no bogeys, and his par-birdie-birdie start on Sunday has him 11 under, two shots back. He leads the field in Greens in Regulation, having missed only seven greens all week.
Lehman is 149th on the money list, but a finish in the top five might be enough to earn full status for 2010.
FIELD REALLY BUNCHED UP (11 a.m.) -- Looks like scoring will be low for the final round, as the field is greeted by the lightest winds seen all week at Disney.
There are 10 players, including Zach Johnson and Tom Lehman, currently at 9 under, only four shots off the lead.
NO. 17 TO PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE AGAIN (10:42 a.m.) -- This hole is part of the Magic Kingdom in name only. Case in point: The only player in the final foursome for Sunday that didn't bogey the hole was Mathias Gronberg.
The brutal par-4 17th at Magnolia has water on the left, thick trees to the right, and a narrow green. All coupled with nearly 500 yards of wind-swept yardage. PGA TOUR officials moved the tees waaaaaay back in Round 3, making it play 486 yards, making it the toughest hole on the course. George McNeill's lead nearly disappeared when he dunked his tee shot left in Round 3 (it disappeared for good when he made double on the 18th).
The hole will play 468 yards today, shorter than in Round 3, but still with plenty of bite.
PGA TOUR officials added 20 yards to the par-18th today, making it play 484 yards, up from 462 yards in the third round. From the looks of it, anyone near the lead who can somehow birdie either of these holes will be in excellent shape to win this thing.
| Let's make it a par 4 (and a half) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The number of bogeys on the par-4 17th skyrocketed when the tees were moved back in the third round: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CHANCE OF A LIFETIME FOR GRONBERG (10:20 a.m.) -- Sweden's Mathias Gronberg has just six top-10s in 170 PGA TOUR starts, but he's experienced a career renaissance at the age of 39.
Gronberg shot a final-round 65 to win the Melwood Prince George's County Open on the Nationwide Tour in June against one of the strongest fields of the year on that circuit. That win, and a tie for second at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, gave him a spot in 'THE 25' in only nine starts, automatically giving him a PGA TOUR card for 2010.
Even so, when Gronberg was given a spot in the Children's Miracle Network Classic, he jumped at it, and his third-round 66 gave him a share of the lead at 13 under. Gronberg is 190th on the PGA TOUR money list, and a solo second place finish might be enough to move him into the top 125, which would give him a much better status on the PGA TOUR in 2010. A solo second would give Gronberg around $700,000 for the year, which is expected to be right around the bubble.
Even though Nationwide Tour graduates earn a PGA TOUR card for 2010, players near the bottom -- like Gronberg -- are never guaranteed starts for prime West Coast tournaments like the Northern Trust Open or the FBR Open. Last year's 25th-place finisher on the Nationwide Tour, Ricky Barnes, made it into 22 PGA TOUR events in 2009, about a half-dozen fewer than players who make their own schedules.
Obviously, a win is the ultimate goal. A win would put Gronberg into the best events on the schedule, including the final spot in the winners-only SBS Championship at Kapalua.
BEEM FIGHTING FOR HIS CARD (10 a.m.) -- Rich Beem knows he must shoot a round in the mid-60s today to keep his card, and he's already had an up-and-down day.
Beem missed the green on the par-4 second hole and failed to save par, but he stuck his approach to 13 feet on the par-3 third hole and made the putt.
It looks like Steve Flesch, who entered the event in 122nd place on the money list but missed the cut, will fall out of the top 125, which will open up another spot for someone to take. Flesch already is exempt for 2010 because he was a two-time winner in 2007.
• To track Beem with Shot Tracker, click here.
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