The Live Report, Round 4: WGC-CA Championship
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
ELS WINS (6:49 p.m.): With his kids getting older -- ages 10 and 7 -- and Ernie Els turning 40 last year, the Big Easy knew he needed to make some changes. He moved his family to Palm Beach, cut back on the international travel and re-dedicated himself in his practice habits. Sunday, he enjoyed the fruits of his labor with a four-shot win at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.
It's Els' second win in the event and third at Doral, but it's his first victory since at the 2008 Honda Classic. Just as important as the win, though, is the fact that Els is healthy again, feeling refreshed from staying at home more often and playing his best golf in a a few years.
Els will enjoy this victory, but he's also looking forward to the majors. He feels like he has one more big run in him and this could be the year with Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Whistling Straits on the calendar. He finished second at the Masters, U.S. Open in British Open in 2000 and certainly could do one better than that this year. -- Brian Wacker
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (6:31 p.m.): This in from Paul Symes, the European Tour press officer here at Doral this week: If Ernie Els goes on to win or finish second, he would move past Colin Montgomerie on the Tour's career money list.
If Els were to win, his check for ?1,022,353 would take him to ?24,473,052, and therefore comfortably past Montgomerie's ?23,915,783. If he were to finish second, his cheque for ?620,714 would take him just past Monty with ?24,071,413. -- Helen Ross
GETTING CLOSER? (6:24 p.m.): Phil Mickelson knows he isn't hitting on all cylinders right now. After Sunday's closing 68, though, he said "it doesn't feel as far off."
Of primary concern for Mickelson is his putting, but the 24 he took in the final round were his fewest of the week. He made five birdies and eliminated the mistakes, dropping just one shot to par.
"I feel like if I make a couple of key putts, stop letting these 3-, 4-, 5-footers go, I think that it will take a lot of stress off of the rest of my game," Mickelson said.
Lefty plans to take next week off, then play Bay Hill and Houston heading into the Masters, where he is a two-time champion. The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, which he won in 1997, was a late addition to Mickelson's schedule.
"I am not playing -- or scoring, I should say -- as well as I need to heading into Augusta, which is why I'm adding Bay Hill," he said. "I need to get into contention in one of these events to really give myself the best chance heading into Augusta."
Still, Mickelson isn't ready to sound any alarms. He'll likely work with Dave Stockton or his son on his putting stroke this week and then see what happens in the next two tournaments.
"It can flip on a dime," Mickelson said. "Last year I've gone from missing the cut to winning. It's just a matter of finding one little thing to get it to click. I think it might be my set-up is off with the putter and I'll see if I can get it dialed in this week." -- Helen Ross
TWO UP, TWO TO PLAY (6:15 p.m.): There are still two holes to play, but Ernie Els appears to be closing in on his first win since the 2008 Honda Classic. He leads Charl Schwartzel by two and has done the one thing he needed to do today -- avoid any major mistakes. In fact, Els has yet to make a bogey and he has five birdies. He's also putted well for the most part -- something he didn't do well late on Saturday. It looks like putting in some extra practice on the putting green, where Els was until nightfall Saturday, is paying off. -- Brian Wacker
ELS, SCHWARTZEL SEPARATE THEMSELVES (5:51 p.m.): The final round is starting to wind down with just four holes left for the final group. This much we know: A South African is going to win. Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel have pulled clear of the field with Els holding a one-shot lead on Schwartzel and Schwartzel five clear of Matt Kuchar and Martin Kaymer. -- Brian Wacker
FINCHEM ON WOODS (5:26 p.m.): PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem told NBC's Dan Hicks on Sunday that he gets the question about 300 times a day. And while he doesn't know when Tiger Woods is going to play again, he's glad the speculation had begun.
"Everybody's done looking back at the circumstances that resulted in him stepping away from the game, and now focused on when he's going to play golf," Finchem said.
The Commissioner said he thought Woods' statement three weeks ago resonated with fans around the world. And Finchem said he thinks the PGA TOUR is prepared for whatever date he chooses.
"It's going to be huge when he comes back," Finchem said. "It's going to be an interesting thing to watch, how he re-enters the game, how he plays, how he deals with the reaction to his statement.
"But I do feel this huge change in the atmosphere, because of what he said, and I was impressed not only about him talking about personal issues, but about talking about the game, which you guys have talked about, and when he comes back, a renewed respect.
"I thought he set the bar for himself, and we all know what happens when Tiger sets the bar for himself. I'm as excited as everybody else to see him back this spring, but my sense is, we'll know pretty soon." -- Helen Ross
BACK AND FORTH (5:15 p.m.): Not so fast on Charl Schwartzel. He just bogeyed the par-4 11th hole, dropping him a stroke back of Ernie Els with seven holes to play. Also, the 18th, which was playing a lot easier this morning, has toughened up quite a bit since then and is now the fifth-most difficult hole on the golf course. -- Brian Wacker
SCHWARTZEL PULLS EVEN (5 p.m.): The final group is through 10 holes today and Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel are right back where they started -- tied for the lead. Els has been solid all day, posting four birdies while hitting nine of 10 greens in regulation. Schwartzel has been perhaps more impressive, though, bouncing back from an early bogey with four birdies over the next five holes. Schwartzel has also taken just 15 putts.
Padraig Harrington is lurking three shots back and 2 under on his round but you have a feeling this is going to come down to the two South Africans. -- Brian Wacker
SCHWARTZEL BOUNCES BACK (4:34 p.m.): Charl Schwartzel has only made two bogeys here all week. One of them came on the fifth hole today. In both cases, however, Schwartzel bounced back with a birdie. Today, in fact, he bounced back with three straight birdies.
Ernie Els, who leads by just one now, spoke highly of his countryman Schwartzel last night and it was more than just friend-speak. Schwartzel has four birdies today and is 3 under on his round. After looking like he might fade from contention, Schwartzel remains right there as they near the turn. -- Brian Wacker
PRESNELL MATCHES LOW ROUND (4:15 p.m.): Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity.
Alistair Presnell, in the field this week because of an exemption for the top two players on the Australasian Tour's Order of Merit, just matched the low score of the week with a 64 that included three straight birdies to close out his round. In all, he made nine birdies and one bogey and took just 23 putts.
That has Presnell, ranked 373rd in the world, currently tied for fourth. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Presnell's scorecard from Sunday:
ELS EXTENDS LEAD (3:48 p.m.): Ernie Els now leads by three shots after his third birdie his his first four holes. That's the best Els has played that stretch at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Meanwhile, playing partner Charl Schwartzel has gone the other way, falling back to even par for the day. Padraig Harrington is also three back now at 1 under through his first five holes. -- Brian Wacker
SUNDAY SHOOTOUT (3:20 p.m.): Sure enough, the scores continue to be good here in the afternoon. Right now, Bill Haas is the only player anywhere near the lead who is over par. Ernie Els, meanwhile, has already birdied two of his first three holes to take a one-shot lead. Charl Schwartzel is one back after a birdie on his second hole, and Padraig Harrington and Robert Allenby are each three back. -- Brian Wacker
FINAL GROUP OFF (2:55 p.m.): The South African duo of Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel is off and for the fourth straight day Els birdied the first hole at TPC Blue Monster at Doral.
Els found the left greenside bunker with his approach shot, but got up and down, hitting to just inside 4 feet before sinking the putt. That gave Els a one-shot lead as Schwartzel missed his birdie putt from 3 feet. -- Brian Wacker
Click here to follow Els and Schwartzel live with Shot Tracker.
NOT SUCH A MONSTER (2:28 p.m.): TPC Blue Monster at Doral is looking pretty vulnerable right now -- six rounds of 67 or better have already been shot and Jason Dufner is about to add to that. Dufner is 7 under and playing the 18th hole, which is only playing as the 10th-most difficult hole on the course right now.
In fact, the entire course is playing the easiest it's been all week with a sub-70 scoring average. It played similarly on Friday when tee times were moved up to avoid bad weather in the afternoon.
Today, the weather is about as perfect as could be and you're seeing what happens when the wind doesn't blow very hard here. If this continues, it could be a wild finish for the leaders. The last group tees off in about 15 minutes. -- Brian Wacker
MORE LOW SCORES (2:05 p.m.): How is TPC Blue Monster at Doral playing so far? Well, try a stroke average of 69.837. Yes, it's early in the final round, but there are some very low scores being turned in. Ian Poulter had a 64 earlier and Y.E. Yang and Stewart Cink just shot 65s. Yang had seven birdies and no bogeys, while Cink had eight birdies and one bogey.
Both had very good ball-striking rounds with a combined 28 greens in regulation between them, helping set up 24 putts for Yang and 26 for Cink.
Even Oliver Wilson, who was mired in last place all week with rounds of 78-74-77 had a big turnaround with a 67 this morning. -- Brian Wacker
POULTER GOES LOW (1:40 p.m.): Ian Poulter isn't going to win the tournament, but he just turned in the round of the day -- and the week -- with an 8-under 64.
Poulter, who hadn't broken par here all week, began his round with an eagle on the par-5 first hole and never looked back. He made seven more birdies and just one bogey the rest of the way, taking just 22 putts in the process.
He moved up 28 spots on the leaderboard -- and should have plenty of time to make it back to Orlando for tonight's Magic game. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Poulter's scorecard from Sunday:
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (1:26 p.m.): Charl Schwartzel has never won on the PGA TOUR, but he's no stranger to win. Ranked 35th in the Official World Golf Rankings, Schwartzel has two wins already this season on the European Tour. He got to a share of the lead here by scrambling well (16 of 18), making his putts and avoiding bogeys. In fact, Schwartzel leads the field in all three of those stats as you'll see in the chart below. -- Brian Wacker
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ELS' PUTTING (1:10 p.m.): Through the first two rounds, Ernie Els missed just one putt inside of 10 feet. Saturday, he missed four of them, which would explain why he enters today's final round tied for the lead instead of in it by himself.
Still, Els has looked a lot more like his old self this week and this season. Part of the reason is of the work he's put in on his putting with Marius Filmalter at Seminole in nearby Palm Beach County.
Els is also back to dominating the par-5s. This week, he leads the field, playing the par-5s in a collective 9 under with nine birdies. Els just obviously needs to avoid another final-round 75 like he had at last week's Honda Classic. -- Brian Wacker
FINAL ROUND UNDER WAY (1 p.m.): The final group won't tee off until 2:45 p.m. ET, but there are already some really low scores being put up. Don't expect that to continue if the wind increases this afternoon, which it should.
Right now, though, Jason Dufner is 5 under through his first nine holes, while Ian Poulter is 8 under with two holes left in his round. Poulter won't break the course record ( a 61 shot by Stephen Ames in 2001), but he may end up with the best score of the week. -- Brian Wacker
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