The Starter: Round 4, Farmers Insurance Open
Round 4 of the Farmers Insurance Open is set to begin on the South Course at Torrey Pines. Here's a look at Sunday's round:
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EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Sunday's final round:
Was famed swing guru Butch Harmon watching Phil Mickelson fire tee shots all over the Torrey Pines South Course on Saturday? We'll find out soon enough in the final round. Phil said he planned to call Butch after hitting only seven fairways the last two days. Curiously, Phil told us before the start of the tourney that his driving was the most improved part of his game in the off-season, and he thought that driving would be an asset to his game in 2010, not a detriment. We'll see under the flame of the final round.
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Tournament leader Ryuji Imada has learned not to tease the golf gods. After Friday's 68, he told us the South Course was playing easier than it had in recent years, but after missing seven greens on Saturday, Imada called the South "hard" and hoped the breezes would die down a bit today. Imada successfully scrambled six of seven times Saturday, 10 of 11 times this week (that's right, he's only made ONE bogey all week), but he was only a 60 percent scrambler last year. Like Mickelson, he's going to try to tame his driver today (he missed his first six fairways in the third round) to keep having to walk the scrambling tight-rope.
You can make a case for any number of players in the final four groups raising the trophy at the end of the day. Imada not only has a two-stroke head start, he was second here just two years ago, sandwiched around a couple of other top-20 finishes. Ben Crane was seventh here last year, and Michael Sim might have less fear than either of them, telling us he'd draw on his experience from three Nationwide Tour wins last year. Right in front of them, Lucas Glover was third last year, and Brandt Snedeker third in 2007. Phil's won this thing three times, Rickie Fowler's probably played the course more than any of these guys the last few years. And Ernie Els? He was sixth in his only other PGA TOUR appearance at Torrey Pines in 2005, was 14th at the 2008 U.S. Open and won the Junior World tourney in 1984. Who'd he beat? Phil Mickelson.
INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER: Alex Fisher, head instructor at the TOUR Academy at TPC Las Vegas, analyzes the playing conditions at Torrey Pines.
Round 3 found all the players in the field back on the difficult South Course. Hole 12 has consistently played the most difficult for the players over the course of the week. Playing as a Par-4, 477 yards into the wind Saturday, most players had to hit hybrids and fairway woods into the green. Hybrids are all the rage nowadays, and for a good reason. They are more forgiving than long irons and make it easy to get the ball airborne. Most PGA TOUR players no longer carry a 3 iron in their bag.
There is a common misconception amateurs make when it comes to hitting hybrids. At the TOUR Academy, we often hear players tell us that they are trying to sweep the ball off of the turf when in fact you should play it more like an iron shot. Play the ball more towards your front foot like you would with a long iron and hit down on the ball. As long as the club is traveling on a descending path into the ball, the longer it will stay in the air. You can even take a small divot as long as it is past the ball. Try this concept and you'll be hooked on these clubs.
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