In a similar position last year, Freddy wore down over the weekend, can he redeem himself at his "advanced" age? |
Favorites:
Phil and Rory really stepped up their games today with a 68 and 69 respectively and sit -2 and -4. Look for Phil to go on an absolute tear tomorrow. Hunter Mahan has shot back-to-back par for the course. Luke Donald and Tiger really crapped the bed today and while both made the cut (-4 and -3), they both are on the outside looking in needing a score in the 60s tomorrow to really get back into it. Tiger will be interesting tomorrow. He'll either just play to break-even or he'll make a legit climb up the leaderboard.
Dark Horses:
A couple of my dark horses really stepped up including Sergio Garcia at -4 and Chucky 3 Stix at -2. Fowler squeezed in but is really disappointing me thus far at +4. Sergio seemed really confident in his interview after his round. I like his attitude and he could be on the prowl for his first major.
No Chance:
I'm going to kill Mr Powers and No Feet for Bubba Watson's -4 and Matt Kuchar's -3. Meanwhile, defending champ Charl finally hit reality and is +3. It's just difficult to repeat this bad boy. Bubba is just tearing it up right meow. Kuchar just plays with a certain looseness that is admirable. Both have legit chances to get into top 5 position by Sunday.
Notables who didn't make the 10 stroke cut of +5:
Tom Watson
Mike Weir
Jose Maria Olazabal
Rory Sabbatini
KJ Choi
Darren Clarke
Lucas Glover
Ryo Ishikawa
Also, last year's runner up Jason Day withdrew early on even though he was at +5. Sissy!
Here are Saturday's Round 3 tee times. These are no longer random. The players are now paired up in 2's by their score with the leaders going last. Watch out for the pairing of Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia as well as Phil Mickelson and 51 year old Vijay Singh. Classic match ups. Let's see if they push each other!
9:15 a.m.: Kelly Kraft |
9:25 a.m.: Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman |
9:35 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Thomas Bjorn |
9:45 a.m.: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Edoardo Molinari |
9:55 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Luke Donald |
10:05 a.m.: Steve Stricker, Rickie Fowler |
10:15 a.m.: Robert Karlsson, Bo Van Pelt |
10:25 a.m.: Anders Hansen, Ross Fisher |
10:35 a.m.: Scott Verplank, Martin Laird |
10:45 a.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Tiger Woods |
10:55 a.m.: Scott Stallings, Martin Kaymer |
11:15 a.m.: Graeme McDowell, Brandt Snedeker |
11:25 a.m.: Sang Moon Bae, Kevin Chappell |
11:35 a.m.: Bill Haas, Geoff Ogilvy |
11:45 a.m.: David Toms, Stewart Cink |
11:55 a.m.: Kevin Na, Webb Simspson |
12:05 p.m.: Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama |
12:15 p.m.: Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari |
12:25 p.m.: Hunter Mahan, Padraig Harrington |
12:35 p.m.: Ian Poulter, Fredrik Jacobson |
12:45 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Zach Johnson |
12:55 p.m.: Jim Furyk, Y.E. Yang |
1:15 p.m.: Sean O'Hair, Jonathan Byrd |
1:25 p.m.: Henrik Stenson, Nick Watney |
1:35 p.m.: Peter Hanson, Aaron Baddeley |
1:45 p.m.: Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson |
1:55 p.m.: Ben Crane, Charles Howell III |
2:05 p.m.: Matt Kuchar, Miguel Angel Jimenez |
2:15 p.m.: Bubba Watson, Paul Lawrie |
2:25 p.m.: Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy |
2:35 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Lee Westwood |
2:45 p.m.: Jason Dufner, Fred Couples |