The Daily Wrap-up, Round 3: Sony Open in Hawaii
By Staff and Wire Reports
HONOLULU (AP) -- Robert Allenby and Ryan Palmer avoided bogeys on a windy day at Waialae and made enough birdies Saturday to share the lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii and give themselves a small cushion over a crowded leaderboard.
Neither of them were spectacular, although they didn't need to be.
With no one making a move behind them, Allenby made three birdies inside 4 feet for a 3-under 67 and his first time atop the leaderboard through three rounds on the PGA TOUR in more than six years.
Palmer, who started with a one-shot lead, two-putted from long range on the last two holes -- one for par, the other for birdie -- for a 68 to catch the Australian.
They were at 11-under 199, three shots clear of Davis Love III (68), Troy Matteson (68), Steve Stricker (69) and defending champion Zach Johnson (70). Five more players were another shot back, including a pair of 50-year-olds in Tom Lehman and Michael Allen.
All their hopes start with the play of Allenby and Palmer, who have been steady throughout.
"If I can go out tomorrow and shoot under par, someone will have to shoot a good round to catch or pass us," Palmer said.
The more surprising of the two leaders might be Allenby, even though he ended last year with victories in South Africa and Australia. He severely twisted his ankle Monday, and even now is walking gingerly on the relatively flat course of Waialae.
Instead of asking out of the pro-am Wednesday with his tender ankle, Allenby decided to play so he could learn how the injury would affect his game and get used to hitting bad shots.
He hasn't hit too many of them when it counted.
"Whenever I got into trouble, I seemed to make up-and-down," said Allenby, who has gone 32 holes without a bogey. "I managed my way around the golf course and tried not to make any mistakes. I didn't make any bogeys, which is good."
Into a stiff breeze from just over 150 yards, Allenby hit a 6-iron that settled 4 feet behind the flag for a birdie on No. 2 to erase Palmer's small lead. He also hit a delicate pitch-and-run to 2 feet on the 10th, and a wedge to about the same distance on the 12th.
His best shot might have been a 5-iron around the trees on the 13th, which bounced onto the green for an easy par.
Palmer can relate, as his most memorable shot also led to par.
His wedge got away from him on the 16th hole and landed on the back slope of a bunker, leaving him little room to bring the club down steeply to carry the clip. He thought about a putter to get into the middle of a bunker, a hit-and-hope sand wedge, even a utility club to slam it up the front of the bunker.
Palmer settled on a 7-iron that came out perfectly, caught a good bounce and settled 6-feet away for a remarkable save.
The birdie at the end gave him a share of the lead, which didn't hurt.
"It's a big help having a three-shot lead," Palmer said. "That's still a lot to make up in one round of golf, especially if the wind keeps blowing. I'm very ecstatic with where I'm at. I couldn't be in a better spot."
Stricker missed four birdie putts inside 10 feet, so he was thrilled to see a 12-footer from the fringe fall for birdie on the final hole, leaving him in range.
"Very important," Stricker said. "It's a good start for tomorrow. I'll only be about three shots back, and not a lot of guys in between. So I've got a shot at it."
So does Love, who has made only two bogeys all week at Waialae. He didn't make many birdie putts Saturday, although a few 4-foot par putts saved the day. A victory would be the easiest way for Love to get into the Masters, and get him headed back to where he feels he belongs.
"If I can hole a few more putts, I've got as good of a chance as anyone," Love said.
DIVOTS: Among those who missed the 54-hole cut was Sean O'Hair, who had a 74. He is headed home to Philadelphia to get tests on a stress fracture in his left arm and likely won't return until Pebble Beach or the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. ... Tom Lehman, using a one-time exemption from career money, said he plans to divide his time between the PGA TOUR and the Champions Tour the rest of the year. His PGA TOUR plans include Phoenix, Pebble Beach and Riviera. ... Allenby's last TOUR victory was in 2001 at the Pennsylvania Classic, the first tournament after the Sept. 11 attacks. He has won seven times around the world since then.
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| Saturday's best |
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The par-5 18th hole was the easiest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.388.
The par-4 13th hole was the toughest with a Saturday scoring average of 4.263.INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent John Maginnes offers these observations from Saturday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
The biggest move of the day on Saturday was made by Briny Baird. Baird rolled in a four-footer for eagle at the final hole to shoot the low round of the day, a 64. He made the putt wearing his familiar straw hat. Even more familiar than the hat is his left-foot forward putting style. The closed stance and square shoulders help him see the line better and it certainly works.
There was a time last year when Baird stood with square feet and shoulders over his putts. As a matter of fact, his best tournament of the year came at the Verizon Heritage, where he was not only square he was using the belly putter. But the experiment was short lived.
Baird told me after the third round of the Sony Open that he didn't feel like he had to think with the belly putter, which was good for only a few weeks. A lot of people switch to longer putters because they have lost either their strokes or their nerve. That wasn't the case with Baird -- he was simply tinkering. A good putter trying to become better. When I asked him if he used the belly in practice now to help him keep his stroke in line like so many others do, he said that he didn't. He feels like his stroke is right where it needs to be. It certainly was on Saturday.
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