The Starter: Round 3, Farmers Insurance Open
Round 3 of the Farmers Insurance Open is set to begin on the twin courses at Torrey Pines. Here's a look at Saturday's round:
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EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Saturday's third round:
How much difference can two inches make? Michael Sim told us a move of just that much in the ball position in his stance helped turn an opening 73 on the South Course into a career-best 62 on the North, capped by an eagle at his final hole. Sim admits the two courses might be "four or five shots" different, but not 11. You'd think he'd have some trepidation going back to the South for the weekend, but he's still excited. He was 4 over (bogey/double/bogey) after the first three holes on Thursday and rallied for that 1-over 73 so he feels some good vibes, and on a leaderboard full of players who've struggled for victories, those three he rang up on the Nationwide Tour look pretty good.
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Phil Mickelson should feel just fine about his position in the field, even though he's four shots back with four groups playing behind him on Saturday. That's because those 12 players behind him have only one PGA TOUR win between 'em in the last year and that was John Rollins opposite-field win in Reno late last season. Seven of the 12 have never won on TOUR, and the last time San Diego had a first-time winner was Jay Don Blake in 1991.
Will the last person leaving Murrieta, Calif., (about an hour northeast of San Diego) this morning please leave on a light? Favorite son Rickie Fowler and favorite dad Tom Pernice Jr. will be in back-to-back groups Saturday. The 50-year-old Pernice will be paired with Mickelson, right behind the 21-year-old Fowler, who'll have a tough task in outdoing his "poinsettia" color-coordinated outfit from Friday. Rickie told me last fall that Pernice had taken him under his wing when they spent time in their shared hometown to teach him the ropes of becoming a TOUR pro. We'll see if the baton is passed today, or if the already-Champions-Tour-winning Pernice still has another "kids" TOUR win left in him.
INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER: Alex Fisher, head instructor at the TOUR Academyat TPC Las Vegas, analyzes the playing conditions at Torrey Pines.
Players took advantage of the fine weather on day two of the Farmers Insurance Open. D.A. Points surged to the top of the leaderboard with a 7-under round on the difficult South Course. Through two rounds, he ranks fifth in putting and leads the field in driving accuracy.
The final two rounds will be played on the difficult South Course, and look for the greens to firm up and play faster as the tournament progresses. Look for the players that are leading the short game stats for the week to be in the hunt on Sunday.
PGA TOUR players spend countless hours on their putting during the season. One drill we often see the best players in the world do is done with just two tees. Find a 6-foot putt that is relatively flat and set two tees in the ground that are just wider than your putter head. Place your golf ball in the center of the two tees and create a putting stroke that hits the ball without hitting either tee. This is a great Tour Academy drill that we do with many of our students, and it trains them to get their putting stroke on a consistent path. It will not take you very long to master this drill and start to make more putts.
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