The Live Report: Arnold Palmer Invitational, Round 4
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
TICKETS GOOD FOR MONDAY (6:05 P.M.): The final round will resume Monday at 10 a.m. ET and be shown live on GOLF CHANNEL. Also, any badge or ticket for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard will be honored on Monday. -- Helen Ross
MONDAY FINISHES (5:41 p.m.): The last Monday finish on the PGA TOUR was two weeks ago at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.
The last Monday finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard came in 1982. The final round finished on Monday and Tom Kite went on to beat Jack Nicklaus and Denis Watson with a birdie on the first playoff hole. -- Helen Ross
DONE FOR THE DAY (5:30 p.m.): With bad weather hammering away on Orlando and no immediate end in sight, play has been called for the day at Bay Hill. The final round will resume 10 a.m. Monday. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY STILL HALTED (5:20 p.m.): Play has been suspended for nearly three full hours here at Bay Hill. With the weather forecast looking like it is, and the course looking like it is, it is questionable whether they will finish today. Ernie Els still leads and is on the 15th hole. -- Brian Wacker
RAIN HAS ARRIVED (3:08 p.m.): The rain has arrived at Bay Hill ... and it's coming down hard. With a not-very-good forecast for the rest of the day, it's fair to wonder whether they will play golf again today. Whether they do or not, we should know soon. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY SUSPENDED (2:32 p.m.): With bad weather fast approaching, the horn just blew at Bay Hill, stopping play for now. Players have been removed from the course with lightning in the area. Stay tuned. Leader Ernie Els was on No. 15 when play was halted. -- Brian Wacker
NOT SO FAST (2:28 p.m.): So much for that big lead. Ernie Els found the water on the 13th hole, where he went on to make double, then bogeyed the next hole. That drops Els to 11 under -- and only two shots clear of Kevin Na late in the final round here at Bay Hill. -- Brian Wacker
AND THE BEAT...DOWN GOES ON (2:02 p.m.): The only thing that might stop Ernie Els from winning today is the weather, and so far it's holding off. Els just made his sixth birdie of the day -- compared to just one bogey -- to get to 14 under. He's now five strokes clear of the field with six holes to play.
Should Els go on to win, it would be the South African's second straight win. He also won the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in his last start two weeks ago. Not surprisingly, Els is again doing it with great ball-striking -- he's hit 75 percent of his greens in regulation -- and putting -- he's taken just 16 putts through 12 holes today. -- Brian Wacker
STRANGE WEEK (1:35 p.m.): Davis Love III's bizarre week continues. Through a dozen holes Sunday, he's made as many birdies (4) and bogeys (4) as pars. For the week, Love has 23 birdies, 23 pars, 18 bogeys and one eagle. The most pars he's made in a single round this week is seven, which came Thursday. He hasn't made fewer than five birdies in a full round yet this week.
What does it all add up to? A week of 4 under and, for now, 13th place for Love. -- Brian Wacker
NO ONE 'ELS' (1:20 p.m.): It's starting to look like a battle for second place, or even third, with Ernie Els three shots clear with eight holes to go. Els made the turn in 34, holing out from the fairway for birdie, then he added another birdie on No. 10.
While Els is three shots clear of Chris Couch, Couch is three shots clear of anyone else and headed toward a much-needed runner-up and the earnings it will bring.
Behind Couch? That's where things are interesting with a half dozen players tied at 7 under. Among them are Retief Goosen and Edoardo Molinari. As is Ben Curtis, though he's the only player struggling at 2 over on his round. -- Brian Wacker
BIG DAY (1 p.m.): Chris Couch continues to hold sole possession of second place, two strokes behind Ernie Els.
Couch, who has been plagued by a shoulder injury the past two years, is playing the 2010 season on a major medical extension. He has 21 events to earn $796,087 and remain exempt for the rest of the year.
A win, of course, makes that a moot point. Couch, who won the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, would be exempt for the rest of 2010 through the end of the 2012 season if he overtakes Els Sunday.
If he finishes second, Couch will earn $648,000 -- which, when combined with his current earnings, will give him more than enough at $961,677. Third place money of $408,000 would leave him just $75,410 shy.
Couch would still need to finish among the top 125 at the end of the year to be exempt for 2011 but either way he'd be looking good. Last year Jimmy Walker held down that spot with $663,683. Two year ago the magic number was $852,752. -- Helen Ross
COUCH NOT GOING AWAY (12:40 p.m.): Ernie Els leads by two at the moment, but Chris Couch isn't exactly crumbling under the pressure of trying to catch the three-time major champion.
Couch is 3 under today with three birdies over his last four holes. That gives him nine birdies and just one bogey over his last 43 holes. One reason why he's been able to put together a run like that: Couch hasn't missed fewer than 83 percent of his greens in regulation since the opening round. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER COMING QUICKLY (12:20 p.m.): With the weather already worsening here at Bay Hill -- clouds gathering, wind picking up -- it will be important to make birdies sooner than later. That's what Ernie Els is doing. He just made his third one of the day and second in a row, on No. 6, to get to 12 under for the week and three shots clear of the field.
The lowest score on the course right now, by the way, is just 2 under. That should tell you something about how difficult the playing conditions are already. -- Brian Wacker
ELS UP BY TWO (11:53 a.m.): Ernie Els just made his second birdie of the day, on the par-4 fifth hole, getting him back to 1 under on the day and extending his lead to two strokes.
Els has shot in the 60s all week, but he has a career 70.2 final-round scoring average when holding the third-round lead/co-lead. Though he's also won back-to-back twice in his career (2003 SBS Championship and Sony Open in Hawaii and 1997 U.S. Open and Buick Classic).
Since 1980, only four players -- Tiger Woods, Tom Kite, Steve Elkington and Ray Floyd -- have won two events in the same year on the Florida swing. Els is 13 holes away from becoming the fifth. -- Brian Wacker
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CURTIS CLOSING IN (11:25 a.m.): Ben Curtis is now within a shot of Ernie Els, who has fallen back to 10 under. Curtis, by the way, has been much improved with his ball-striking this week and that's been a big part of the story. He's also rolled in some lengthy putts -- three of them over 20 feet through the first three rounds. Below is a look at some other numbers from Curtis, compared to the rest of his season. -- Brian Wacker
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ELS EXTENDS LEAD (10:50 a.m.): Well, that didn't take very long. Ernie Els just extended his lead to two strokes with a birdie on the first hole, where he stuck his approach inside of 6 feet and made the putt. He now leads Ben Curtis by two shots and his next closest competitors, Kevin Na and Chris Couch, by four. -- Brian Wacker
Click here to follow Els live with Shot Tracker
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (10:38 a.m.): This is the 17th time in Ernie Els' career that he has owned or shared the 54-hole lead in a PGA TOUR event, but the real story is how good the Big Easy has been this year compared to last. He had just one win since 2004 prior to this season. Now he's on the cusp of two in his last two starts. And much of his recent success, as you can see in the chart below, can be attributed to his putting and dominance on the par 5s. He's also done a very good job of avoiding big numbers when he has missed the green. -- Brian Wacker
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HAT TRICK (10:15 a.m.): Winning in consecutive starts on the PGA TOUR isn't easy. Ernie Els, though, has a chance to do accomplish that for the third time in his career on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
Els, who captured the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in his last start, won the 1997 U.S. Open and Buick Open in consecutive weeks. He did the same in 2003 at the Mercedes Championship and Sony Open in Hawaii.
Els is also a former champion at Bay Hill, winning the tournament in 1998. The field played 36 holes that Sunday and Els, who leads by one stroke this year, recalled opening a big lead in the morning.
"I remember shooting 65 and making a lot of putts ... and then just hanging on, shooting 73 in the afternoon," he said. "Nobody did anything in that afternoon.
"It was obviously a special win for me. But is it going to help me? Yeah, I think so. I think always when you have played well at a particular golf course, you know, I think you get good vibes."
The 40-year-old Els, who will be on the ballot for the World Golf Hall of Fame this year, will be looking for the 18th victory of his PGA TOUR career. Conditions could be iffy with tee times moved up due to approaching storms.
"I would like to keep working and just try and concentrate on playing good golf," Els said. "I think it's going to be a pretty tough day, and I think the wind is going to blow again. So I think conditions are going to be quite tough.
"I think I've got to concentrate on that, than thinking about winning. I think trying to just play as good as I can." -- Helen Ross
TOUGH TEST (9:57 a.m.): A championship golf course and a quality field that features five major champions among the top 11 players on the leaderboard will challenge the contenders on Sunday.
For Ernie Els, though, it should be old hat. He beat an elite group two weeks ago at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, though he thinks the carry-over will be minimal.
"It's a different site, different week," Els said. "I'm playing good. I've got to go out and trust what I do tomorrow and really let it happen, basically. I need to go and play the golf course. There's a lot more trouble lurking around this place. So you've got to be on your toes, so to speak."
In fact, Els said he'll basically play "major championship-type golf" on Sunday.
"There's so many doglegs here, there's so many trouble holes with hazards and all kind of stuff," the three-time major champ said. "Length is not always the way to go here. I might just play it a little bit more safe, get the ball in play and try and hit a lot of greens and make some putts." -- Helen Ross
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EARLY START (9:48 a.m.): In case you hadn't noticed, players are being sent off both tees in threesomes this morning. That's because of the threat of bad weather this afternoon. The forecast is calling for rain to start falling around 1 p.m. with thunderstorms around 4 p.m.
Because of the early start, though, the last group will tee off at 10:30 a.m., meaning there is an expected finish time of approximately 3:30 p.m. -- Brian Wacker
BENE ITALIA (9:40 a.m.): Edoardo Molinari got a big dose of confidence on Saturday when he played with Phil Mickelson and shot a 70 that left him tied for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Mickelson shot 75.
"It was very fun playing with Phil, and his big crowds, it's amazing," Molinari said. "I think everyone loves him out here. ... I knew it was going to be a big day for me and I think I stood up to the test quite well. I really enjoyed playing with him. I think any time you have a chance to play with great players, you have to enjoy it, because it's the best you can have."
Molinari, who won the U.S. Amateur in 2005, had a chance to play with world No. 1 Tiger Woods at the Masters the following year. His brother Francesco caddied for him that day -- and the two return this year, both as competitors.
"It was a dream," Edoardo said. "Maybe I wasn't ready to play that course because as an amateur, you don't play any course which is anywhere similar to Augusta National. The fact that I played with him on my bag I think helped me a little bit, and we had the time of our lives.
"I've worked very hard in the last four years and I think I'm a better player. I can't wait to go there and see how good I am."
Francesco, who started Sunday's final round of the European Tour event in Spain five shots off the lead, is ranked 46 th in the world while Edoardo is 49 th . The two teamed to win the OMEGA World Cup last year, and they will be joined by amateur Matteo Manassero at Augusta National in two weeks.
"I think last year, no one ever dreamt of having three players at the Masters," Molinari said. "Hopefully everyone is excited."
Playing at Bay Hill should be good preparation for the Masters, the younger of the two Molinaris said.
"The greens are not as quick as Augusta but they are very good and you have a lot of chip shots around the greens that are very similar to what you are going to get at Augusta National," he said. "I think it's a great week, and also the fact of playing with Phil in front of the big crowds, I think that's the best preparation you can have for the Masters." -- Helen Ross
LONG TIME COMING (9:30 a.m.): Chris Couch had written for a sponsor's exemption 18 times with no luck.
Now that he finally earned his way into the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard due to his standing in the FedExCup, the Floridian is making the most of the opportunity. Couch is 7 under through 54 holes and three strokes behind leader and three-time major champion Ernie Els.
"It was nice to get in being a local," said Couch, who lives in nearby Winter Haven. "I have a lot of friends around that love to come out and watch and it was enjoyable having them out there today, and hearing their screams and yells and having my wife out there. It's been fun."
Couch, who shot a 69 on Saturday, isn't intimidated by the star-studded leaderboard that boasts five major champs among the top 11, either. He's just glad to be playing after missing the better part of the last two years with a shoulder injury and having to withdraw last week with a twisted right knee.
"I try not to be a leaderboard watcher, but this tournament's got a lot of great players in it; always has," Couch said. "Any time you put Arnold Palmer's name on an event you're going to bring in the greatest players.
"I've been hurt for two years and sitting on the couch and matching my last name. But I'm just blessed to be out here every day that I'm out here. I know it can end at any time, and so I just take it for the most part right now."
Couch, who is playing the 2010 season on a major medical extension, has 21 events to earn $796,087. He already has a tie for fourth this season and he's looking forward to seeing how things play out Sunday -- and beyond.
"I've been playing well all year,'" Couch said. "... I think I'm going right along with God's plan. I'm going to keep traveling down that road and see what happens. I think that struggling for years made me a better person and a better player eventually. I hope to bring that out in the future." -- Helen Ross
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