October 2 2011

7:38 PM

Update: Gainey, Herron enter the mix

At 20 under, Kevin Na is still topping the leaderboard at TPC Summerlin. But there are some new faces applying pressure. Four-time PGA TOUR winner Tim Herron has entered the picture with a quartet of front nine birdies to reach 19 under, one shot behind Na. Herron has a pair of top-10 finishes this season and a third would lock up a 2012 TOUR card for the man currently ranked No. 105 on the money list. Na’s fellow Vegas-are resident and playing partner, Nick Watney, is still two back and has been joined by Tommy Gainey, who has posted back-to-back birdies to get to 18 under. Robert Garrigus, who joins Watney and Na in the final group, is even through six holes and four shots off the pace.

5:58 PM

Leaders will be tough to catch

The leaders are about to tee off for their final round at TPC Summerlin. Co-leaders Nick Watney and Kevin Na have a 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local time) tee time with Robert Garrigus, who enters the day one shot off the pace. Heading into today’s finale, there have been 1,592 birdies and eagles at TPC Summerlin. Those stroke-saving opportunities at TPC Summerlin can lead to a lot of volatility on the leaderboard, especially if a player gets hot, but doesn’t necessarily allow for someone to come from out of nowhere and win. Those rallies typically require the leader or leaders to stall, and even give shots back on Sunday afternoon. Just one player in the current top 17 (David Duval) has posted a round in the 70s this week, and that was an even-par 71 in Round 2. There have been 16 rounds of 64 or better this week, but a year ago there were just three rounds of 64 or better on Sunday in Vegas. No one inside the top 20 shot in the 70s in that finale. Jonathan Byrd defeated Cameron Percy and Martin Laird in a playoff. Laird opened the final round atop the leaderboard with Byrd one back and Percy two off the pace. This is the wild and unpredictable 2011 season, though. Even if this week doesn’t feature a major comeback, there are still 13 players who start the afternoon within four shots of Watney and Na.

October 1 2011

11:10 PM

Wrapping up Round 3

Nick Watney and Kevin Na share the 54-hole lead at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. The duo, tied at 17 under, will be joined by Robert Garrigus (-16) in the final grouping Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. local time). Watney, a Vegas-area resident, birdied five of his last six holes Saturday as he made a late surge to the top of the leaderboard. Na did most of his damage on the more difficult front nine, managing just one birdie on the back nine as he shot a 5-under 66. Joining Garrigus one shot off the pace will be Kris Blanks. Two back are Tommy Gainey, Paul Goydos and Tim Herron. The six players tied with, or within two shots of Watney entering the final round, have a combined total of six PGA TOUR victories -- four belonging to Herron and two for Goydos. Watney has four, including two this year, as he rebounds from missed opportunities in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. The Regular Season points leader posted just one top-10 finish in the four Playoffs events, but has wasted no time coming back into form.

9:40 PM

Update: Three tied for the lead

With a birdie on the par-4 18th, Robert Garrigus tied Kevin Na and Nick Watney for the lead at 16 under during Round 3 of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Garrigus, the second player to shoot a 63 on moving day, is looking for his second career victory, and second in the Fall Series. Also reaching the clubhouse in good position was Tommy Gainey. “Two Gloves” shot a 64 Saturday, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 16th, and is currently tied for third at 15 under. Na, currently playing the par-3 14th, has a drivable par 4 and a generous par 5 ahead of him. Watney, who just birdied the par-3 17th, is headed to the 18th teebox with a share of the lead. Paul Goydos joins Gainey on shot behind the three leaders. He is about to tee off on the par-3 17th.

6:12 PM

Garrigus joins the dozen-under club

Robert Garrigus, the big-hitting Idahoan who broke through with his first PGA TOUR victory during the Fall Series last year, is the sixth player to reach 12-under par this week at TPC Summerlin. With four birdies in his first five holes Saturday, Garrigus reached that number and is one shot behind leader Kevin Na, who got to 13 under with a birdie on the opening hole. Garrigus is currently tied with Paul Goydos, Kris Blanks, Jhonattan Vegas and Charlie Wi for second. There are 20 players at 10-under par or better and 42 at 8 under or better.

September 29 2011

6:10 PM

Update: No one breaking away early

At first it looked like Steve Flesch would go low at TPC Summerlin. Then, if only for a brief couple holes, Billy Mayfair was on 59 watch. With much of the morning wave on its back nine now, the leaderboard is shaping up much like a 2010 Thursday leaderboard that featured five players tied for the 18-hole lead at 7 under and five others one shot off the pace. Currently, there are eight players -- Flesch, John Merrick, Matt Jones, Rod Pampling, Nick Watney, Robert Garrigus, Nathan Green and Paul Stankowski -- tied atop the leaderboard at 5 under with six checking in one shot off the pace at 4 under. Much can, and will, change between now and tonight’s conclusion of play but early indications are that tonight’s leaderboard may be just as packed, if not more crowded, than last year’s.

August 25 2011

6:37 PM

Byrd gets three straight birdies

EDISON, N.J. – Jonathan Byrd has joined Harrison Frazar and J.J. Henry in the lead at 5 under after making his third straight birdie at the 11th hole.

Byrd, who entered the Playoffs ranked 24th, started the spurt with a 13-footer at the ninth hole and followed it with a putt of 26 feet. The South Carolinian also made a birdie and a bogey on the front nine before getting back into red numbers with a 12-footer for eagle at the fifth hole.

Byrd got his 2011 season off to a great start when he beat Robert Garrigus in a playoff at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He was also in a playoff at the Wells Fargo Championship but that time his former college teammate Lucas Glover ended up getting the victory.


July 7 2011

3:15 PM

Toms, Garrigus withdraw with injuries

David Toms, a past winner of the John Deere Classic, was forced to withdraw after his first nine holes in Thursday’s first round with a hip injury.

The injury will also keep Toms, who won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial earlier this year, out of the  British Open.

“Not a great day,” Toms tweeted when announcing the news.

Robert Garrigus, who earlier this month finished tied for third at the U.S. Open, also withdrew in the middle of his round with a back injury.

Toms, whose first PGA TOUR win came in 1997 in this event, started his round off the 10th tee. He was 1 over through nine holes.

On Wednesday, Toms had mentioned that his hip was bothering him.

“I've got a bad hip right now, and just to walk around this golf course, it's quite a feat just to get from green to tee and to get through it,” he said.

Garrigus was 5 over through his first nine holes. He is scheduled to fill the spot vacated by Tim Clark in next week’s British Open.


July 3 2011

2:55 PM

Simpson, others have shot at British

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- This is the final week of the mini-money list for players otherwise not eligible to get into the British Open (though the top finisher among the top 5 here and next week otherwise not eligible would also get in). The two players topping that list are Fredrik Jacobson with more than $1.2 million and Harrison Frazar with just over $1 million. Jacobson isn’t in the field and Frazar missed the cut.

Both Jacobson and Frazar are likely safe, however.

Paul Goydos, third on that list with $646,000, made the cut, but he entered the final round in last place so he won’t be moving up. Likewise, Kevin Chappell is too far back on the leaderboard to move up. Webb Simpson, Charles Howell III and Robert Garrigus,  however, all still have a chance at getting into the British Open this week.

Simpson is tied for fourth entering the final round and if he can stay in the top 5, he’ll be headed to Royal St. George’s. Howell, meanwhile, is tied for 13th, while Garrigus began the final round tied for 27th.

They only way Frazar could be bumped from the mini money list is if Simpson, Howell or Garrigus wins -- a victory by any of them would put them atop the list and Jacobson would move to second. If one of them wins and one or both of the other two finishes in the top 5, then whoever of those two finished higher would also go.


June 19 2011

11:25 PM

Garrigus, Chappell low Americans

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM

BETHESDA, Md. -- Robert Garrigus and Kevin Chappell low Americans?

Who'd have figured that?

Certainly not Garrigus, who couldn't even conceive of someone telling him at the start of the week he'd finish 10 shots off the lead -- let alone tied for third and low American -- and shoot under par everyday day.

"If  you had told me I was going to do that,'' he said, "I might have slapped you in the face. I just didn't understand the scores."

What he did understand? Walking off the 18th green.

"It gave me goosebumps for sure,'' he said. "That was one of the things I will never forget. Besides it being Father's Day and to have my son there afterwards and everything, this is a pretty special day. And to make that putt, I get into Augusta, that's probably one of the coolest things I'll ever get to say is I am playing at Augusta next year."

Chappell might agree.

For those of you who don't know, Chappell is a 24-year-old UCLA grad and PGA TOUR rookie. He's the one who closed with a 66 and wasn't sure what this would mean. Garrigus is the 33-year-old who hits it a mile and putts with a tiny -- think junior club -- putter. He closed with a 70.

"Being low American, that's great,'' said Chappell, whose finish, coupled with a tie for second at the Valero Texas Open, ensures him his 2012 TOUR card. "I don't think the state of American golf is where everyone expects it to be, but I think it shows that someone like myself can play out here, and I think it's definitely going to end up going in the right direction here sometime soon.

Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III led the next low All-American group (Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker) at 3 under in a tie for 11th. The 47-year-old Love struggled with his putter all week and bristled a bit at the notion that American golf was struggling.

"Really I guess a little bit of an exception with Lee Westwood, but most of them are guys that are over here playing a lot, week in and week out,'' Love said. "Rory (McIlroy) I guess we've seen him a lot in the last year.  Everything goes in streaks, you know. We might be talking about how four Americans win the next four.

"We don't look at it that I way, we're just playing the golf course. We don't play nationalities, we're playing golf and trying to win. If it's Kevin Chappell that shoots 17‑under or Rory, it doesn't make any difference to me, I got whipped."