The Live Report: Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Saturday
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
WRAPPING UP SATURDAY (8:41 p.m.): The third round wasn't able to be completed -- it was suspended due to darkness at 8:41 p.m. -- but more golf was played than anyone thought would be at the start of the day given the early weather forecast.
The third round will resume 7:30 a.m. local time Sunday and when it does, Jason Bohn will be in the lead by three. The biggest question is if he'll be able to ride the momentum he had in the first and second rounds when play starts back up. Bohn is ninth in the field in greens in regulation and second in putting. If he keeps that up, he'll have his second career PGA TOUR title. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD UPDATE (7:54 p.m.): Jason Bohn is back to a three-shot lead thanks to a bounce-back birdie on the par-4 second hole here late in the day in Round 3. Greg Owen, meanwhile, is in second by himself, while Josh Teater heads a group of five players 8 under and four shots back of Bohn. Teater is having the best day of that bunch, playing his first 12 holes in 5 under. -- Brian Wacker
MICHEEL MAKING THE BEST OF IT (7:20 p.m.): This season has been a difficult one for Shaun Micheel. The former PGA Championship winner doesn't have any status on TOUR and off it his mother has been battling cancer.
Micheel is 7 under and tied for sixth, though, right now, but he'll have now have to overcome an injured wrist, which he hurt on the 18th hole, where he made birdie from the bunker.
"I hit it up against the lip of the bunker," Micheel said. "In typical Pete Dye fashion, I didn't have much of a shot.
"I hurt it pretty bad. My hand's numb right now. It's a little bit feels on the weak side. I'm pretty aggravated. I'm not a big fan of those types of bunkers and that's the reason why."
So far, Micheel is hanging in, playing his first three holes of the third round in even par. -- Brian Wacker
SHRINKING LEAD (7:04 p.m.): What began as a four-stroke lead for Jason Bohn is now down to just two. Bohn opened his third round with a bogey on the par-4 first hole at TPC Louisiana, where he missed a 7-footer to save par on the opening hole. It's the second straight round, by the way, Bohn has bogeyed No. 1.
Meanwhile, Greg Owen went birdie-birdie to start his round and he is now just two back with about 90 minutes of daylight left. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIES FOR DOLLARS (6:45 p.m.): Farmers Insurance Group, a subsidiary of Zurich, will donate $50 for every birdie made during the weekend rounds of the Zurich Classic on behalf of the Fore!Kids Foundation. The donation will go to the March of Dimes via the Birdies for Babies program. Farmers made a similar contribution during the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego earlier this year. -- Mark Williams
THE HOLE STORY (6:20 p.m.): Here's a look at how TPC Louisiana has played through the first two very wet, very windy rounds. -- Brian Wacker
| Scoring average: TPC Louisiana | ||||||
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THIRD ROUND ROLLS ON (6 p.m.): With good weather and nearly 3 hours of daylight left today, there's a lot of golf still to be played. That should lead to things getting back on schedule at some point Sunday.
In the meantime, Daniel Chopra is off to the best start in the third round with three birdies in his first five holes. Meanwhile, Josh Teeter and Jason Dufner are 2 under in their early stages of their round. -- Brian Wacker
SENDEN STRONG IN NEW ORLEANS (5:45 p.m.): John Senden missed the cut in his first appearance at the 2002 Zurich Classic. Since then, though, he's made six consecutive cuts in New Orleans (2003/T56, 2004/T20, 2006/T15, 2008/T12, 2009/T34, 2010/TBD).
Including Senden's 6769 start here, his last nine rounds at TPC Louisiana are at par or better. The last time he shot over par at this venue was 2008 (a 74 in the first round).
Senden's best finish this season is a tie for 11th at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. His last top-10 finish was his final TOUR event in 2009, the Turning Stone Resort Championship, one of seven top-10s in 2009. -- Mark Williams
LOOK AT THE LEADER (5:25 p.m.): Jason Bohn, who leads by four, is not unfamiliar with being in front after two rounds. He was the 36-hole leader at the 2008 Quail Hollow Championship, where he eventually finished third.
Bohn's 12 under start is pretty solid when looking at Zurich Classic history. Since 1958, only five winners of the Zurich Classic have been 11 under or better through 36 holes.
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Bohn is making his fifth appearance in New Orleans, having made the cut just once previously (T20 in 2008). -- Mark Williams
THIRD ROUND BEGINS (5 p.m.): The first groups of the third round teed off about 10 minutes ago as they try to get as much golf in as possible before darkness drapes New Orleans.
They're going off split tees (Nos. 1 and 10) in threesomes at TPC Louisiana. The final group of leader Jason Bohn, John Senden and Jeff Overton will tee off No. 1 at 6:50 p.m. ET, which means they'll have a round and change left to finish on Sunday.
For complete third-round tee times, click here. -- Nick Zaccardi
SECOND ROUND COMPLETE (4:30 p.m.): The second round is finally complete, nearly 24 hours after it was supposed to finish. Players will be re-paired immediately and sent back out for the third round, which should begin within the hour. -- Brian Wacker
WRAPPING UP ROUND 2 (3:57 p.m.): We're nearing the end of the second round -- finally. Once play is completed, the cut will be made and players will be sent right back out for the third round.
One of those players who will be sticking around is Tom Pernice Jr. That's because he rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th hole to make it on the number. The cut is 1 under. -- Brian Wacker
FINISHING STRONG (3:28 p.m.): What was once a one-stroke lead for Jason Bohn is now a four-shot advantage thanks to birdies on each of his final three holes. That's the biggest 36-hole lead on TOUR this year, by the way.
The strong finish was quite a turnaround for Bohn, who had made a bogey and five straight pars prior to that. The end result is a 67 that puts Bohn, whose only victory on TOUR came at the 2005 B.C. Open, in Position A.
"The most difficult thing was putting and I seemed to putt pretty well," Bohn told CBS.
Yes he did. Through two rounds, Bohn is averaging an extremely good 1.46 putts per green in regulation. He's also keeping it in the fairway, for the most part, making it a lot easier in these wet conditions to get the ball on the green sooner than later. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Bohn's scorecard. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker.
TOMS NEAR THE TOP (3:05 p.m.): Now that the second round is finally nearing its conclusion, the leaderboard is starting to have some clarity.
One of the players near the top is 2001 winner David Toms, who shot his second straight 69 a little while ago. That puts him at 6 under and currently just three shots back. Toms was particularly impressive Saturday, though, carding a bogey-free round.
One big reason: He's hitting a ton of greens -- 80 percent of them, second-best in the field. -- Brian Wacker
WAITING GAME (2:54 p.m.): How tough is it dealing with the start-and-stop nature of weather delays that have plagued this tournament so far?
"It's just frustrating all this," said Greg Owen, who finished off a 2-under 70 to get to 7 under for the week and into a tie for third at the moment. "Then coming out at 5:00 this morning to play one hole of golf. Now we have all day we don't know what's going to happen. So we're just hanging around. Probably head back to the hotel now, don't know there's much point in hanging about."
Owen shouldn't have to worry too much. The bad weather is staying away and they should be able to play until dark. Not that Owen would like to, per se.
"Just try and relax and get some energy," he said. "That would be my best scenario, just have today off now and play tomorrow." -- Brian Wacker
BOHN, SENDEN BATTLING (2:41 p.m.): Jason Bohn has hit a brick wall since making the turn in 3 under. Bohn has a bogey and four pars since then and his lead is down to just one with John Senden 3 under in the second round and playing his final hole of Round 2. -- Brian Wacker
WEATHER UPDATE (2:27 p.m.): The forecast just keeps getting better. It looks like there won't be any thunderstorms this afternoon and we may even start to see some sun. About the only thing that's been constant is the wind, which is blowing in the 20-mph range. Even that should decrease, though, as the afternoon goes on. -- Brian Wacker
DUVAL STUMBLES IN (2 p.m.): The bad news for David Duval was finishing bogey-bogey to shoot 72 after rinsing a 7-wood on the par-5 18th hole. The good news? He'll get a chance to erase those bogeys by turning around and going right back out in a couple of hours for the third round.
"With my history of my back and shoulders and hips, it gets hard and tiresome warming up and sitting down, warming up and sitting down," Duval told GOLF CHANNEL.
Still, Duval is in decent shape thanks to a bogey-free 68 in the first round. He's currently tied for 19th. -- Brian Wacker
CUT CHECK (1:45 p.m.): Usually, Saturday is moving day. Today, it's cut day because of all the weather delays. Right now, the projected cut is 1 under.
Among those in danger of missing the cut? Defending champion Jerry Kelly, who is right on the number at 1 under with four holes left in his second round.
Mike Weir? He's certainly headed home after finishing his first two rounds in 4 over.
Once the cut is made, the hope is start the third round after 3 p.m. local time. The forecast is also better than originally thought, meaning we could be in for a Sunday finish after all. -- Brian Wacker
BOHN ON A BIRDIE RUN (1:24 p.m.): Not many guys take a day off after a hot round and continue that momentum two days later. That's what Jason Bohn has done, though, playing his first nine holes (the back nine at TPC Louisiana) in the second round in 3 under.
As a result, Bohn is 10 under and in the lead. He's made just one bogey this week and has been making everything with the putter, averaging 1.476 putts per green in regulation, which is tops in the field. That's something that become easier when you're hitting nearly 80 percent of your greens in regulation, which is what Bohn has done. Remember, this was the one tournament all of last season in which the winner led the field in greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
INSIDE SERGIO'S STRUGGLES (1:05 p.m.): At No. 23 in the world, Sergio Garcia is the highest ranked played in the field this week. And thanks to a second-round 69 that gets him to 3 under through 36 holes, he'll be around for the weekend.
This season, however, has not been a good one for the Spaniard. Garcia has just one finish in the top 40 in his last five events and for the year he has just one top-10. He's also dealing with an injured hand that's forced him to change his grip.
Check out the numbers below -- particularly Garcia's greens in regulation and par-3 performance. Those are not good when the strength of your game is considered your ball-striking. -- Brian Wacker
| Sergio Garcia -- 2010 statistics (coming into this week) | |||||||||||||||
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KODAK UPDATE (12:45 p.m.): The 215-yard, par-3 17th hole at TPC Louisiana is this week's Kodak Challenge hole for the second year in a row. Last year, there were just 33 birdies recorded there all week, including only two in the final round.
In the opening round, there were eight birdies made, including one by Jimmy Walker, moving him into a four-way tie for second in the Kodak Challenge at 6 under, one stroke behind leader Rickie Fowler. -- Doug Milne
EIGHT IS ENOUGH (12:37 p.m.): The number of players to withdraw just reached eight at TPC Louisiana, where Pat Perez has pulled out of the tournament. Perez did not give a reason for pulling out.
With one hole left in his round when Friday's delay hit, Bill Lunde withdrew from the tournament, citing a shoulder injury. Vance Veazey also pulled out during the weather delay with a shin injury, while Tim Wilkinson withdrew during the weather delay with a finger injury.
Others to withdraw earlier in the week included Brett Wetterich, Matt Every, Steve Stricker and Ian Poulter. -- Brian Wacker
ROUND 2 UNDER WAY (12:30 p.m.): Up, down, start, stop. That pretty much sums up the Zurich Classic of New Orleans since Friday afternoon. The good news is the second round is under way at TPC Louisiana. The bad news is more thunderstorms could be coming in the 5 p.m. local time hour.
None of this seemed to affect Jason Bohn, though. He didn't hit a shot on Friday, but he picked up here in Round 2 right where he left off on Thursday, making two birdies in his first five holes to get to 9 under for the week and keep his two-stroke lead. Not a bad way to start your birthday. Bohn turns 37 Saturday. -- Brian Wacker
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