The Honda Classic, Round 4
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
VILLEGAS ENDS DROUGHT (5:58 p.m.): It's only been a little over a year since Camilo Villegas' last win, yet it's felt like a lot longer. That's what happens when your two wins are the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Now Villegas can add The Honda Classic to the list.
His 13-under 267 total was a tournament record for this course. It's also marked the third victory of his young career -- Villegas is just 28 years old.
Last season, according to Villegas' mental coach Gio Valiante, was a building year. This was to be a performance year. So far it's been exactly that for Villegas who now adds a win to a tie for eighth (Waste Management Phoenix Open) and a third-place finish (World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship) in three PGA TOUR events. -- Brian Wacker
GREEN STUMBLES (5:42 p.m.): If you don't succeed, try, try again. At least that's what was going on with Nathan Green just a minute ago on the par-3 17th. Green missed the green with his tee shot and with his ball sitting in the water hazard it took three swings (and a lot of mud) to get out of the mess. And if three bogeys and a double bogey weren't bad enough, the front of Green's pants look like he took a shower in them. -- Brian Wacker
SINGH SLIPPING (5:35 p.m.): Just when it looked like Vijay Singh would have his best finish in more than a year, it looks like he might not. At least if he keeps putting the way he is right now. Back-to-back bogeys have him in a tie for fourth, but Singh has now three-putted four times this week. The flat stick has always been his Achilles Heel, and that was the case again this week.
Meanwhile, Camilo Villegas is cruising toward what looks like will be a tournament scoring record at 12 under with a couple of holes left to play. -- Brian Wacker
VILLEGAS CLOSING IN (5:22 p.m.): Camilo Villegas has made three bogeys over his last five holes, but Anthony Kim has given a shot back, too. The result? Villegas is leading by four with two holes to play. -- Brian Wacker
ANOTHER BOUNCE BACK ROUND (5 p.m.): Thanks to a bogey by Vijay Singh and two straight birdies by Anthony Kim, it's Kim who is now in second place as the final round winds down at The Honda Classic.
Perhaps more important for Kim, though, is the resolve he's shown following a less-than-stellar third round. Last week, Kim was in contention until being undone by a third-round 76. This week, it was a third-round 73 that sent Kim out of contention. In both cases, however, he bounced back strong, shooting a 67 in Phoenix and a round, so far, of 4 under here at The Honda Classic. -- Brian Wacker
BUMP IN THE ROAD (4:39 p.m.): For the first time all week, Camilo Villegas made back-to-back bogeys. That's the bad news. The good news for Villegas is that he still leads by four shots late in the final round.
The first of those bogeys came on No. 11, where Villegas missed a 4-footer to save par after hitting out of the greenside bunker. One hole later, he missed from just inside 3 feet. Up by four with five holes to play, though, Villegas is probably pretty safe. -- Brian Wacker
SINGH'S STRONG PERFORMANCE (4:20 p.m.): With Camilo Villegas having all but locked up the win, Vijay Singh has a tight grip on second with a two-shot advantage.
If Singh can hang onto second, or finishes anywhere in the top 5, it will be his best finish since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship, which he won. Last year, Singh had three top-10s with his best result a tie for sixth at Colonial. -- Brian Wacker
ROSE MATCHES RECORD (4:10 p.m.): PGA National isn't playing quite as easy as it was on Friday, but Justin Rose just became the fifth player this week to match the course record with a 64. Rose had just one birdie on the back nine, but shot 30 on the front with five birdies in his first six holes. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Rose's scorecard from today. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker.
STAT OF THE MONTH (3:58 p.m.): With Camilo Villegas closing in on his first win since the end of the 2008 season, here's a look at just how good he's been the last month: In three tournaments this year, Villegas has made 63 birdies.
Now, one of those tournaments, the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, was six rounds, but that's still a pretty staggering amount. Coming into this week, Villegas was averaging 4.75 birdies, good for ninth on the PGA TOUR. That number will improve after this week -- especially considering Villegas just made another birdie, his third in a row. Make that 64 birdies over his last 13-plus rounds. -- Brian Wacker
FIVE UP, NINE TO GO (3:45 p.m.): So much for Camilo Villegas' three-shot lead -- it's now five shots thanks to birdies on Nos. 8 and 9.
Some tournaments might be won on the back nine, but not this one. Villegas has obliterated the front nine here at PGA National, making 13 of his 20 birdies on the front. He's also made just two bogeys on the front, compared to four on the back so far. -- Brian Wacker
ROSE CONTINUES TO BLOOM (3:20 p.m.): Justin Rose probably isn't going to win The Honda Classic, but he's doing just about everything he can to try. Rose has seven birdies -- five of which came in the first six holes -- and is 6 under for the day with three holes to play in his round. He's still five shots back, but he could become the fifth player this week to match the course record if he can find two more birdies.
Simply put, Rose has just been knocking it from everywhere. His first birdie on the first hole came from 25 feet. He followed that with a chip in on No. 2 and a two-putt birdie on the par-5 third from just over 50 feet. He chipped in again on No. 6 and knocked in a 40-footer for birdie on No. 14. -- Brian Wacker
NEARING THE TURN (3:10 p.m.): Leader Camilo Villegas is nearing the turn at PGA National and his lead is now back to three shots after a bogey by Vijay Singh.
Villegas, meanwhile, missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 third hole, but came back the very next hole to make a birdie, his lone one of the day so far.
More good news for Villegas: In the previous 37 Honda Classics, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 19 times, including four of the last six years. Only once has the winner come from outside the top 10. And before today, Villegas held just one 54-hole lead, at the 2008 BMW Championship. He went on to win that event by two. -- Brian Wacker
SAUNDERS SLIPPING (2:55 p.m.): There won't be any crowning for Sam Saunders this week and at this rate there might not be a top-10, either. The grandson of Arnold Palmer, Saunders is off to a shaky start in his final round with a birdie, a bogey and a double bogey through his first eight holes. As a result, Saunders has dropped 11 spots on the leaderboard and is currently tied for 21st.
The double bogey came when Saunders found the water on his second shot on No. 6. No matter what he shoots, though, this has been a good week for Saunders, who opened with three straight rounds of 69. This is the second cut Saunders has made on the PGA TOUR and he should surpass his previous best finish of a tie for 70th, which came earlier this year at Pebble Beach. -- Brian Wacker
SINGH OFF TO GOOD START (2:35 p.m.): Vijay Singh hasn't won since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship, which helped him capture the FedexCup trophy that year. Much of the past year, he's been battling injuries (knee, back). Finally healthy, we're seeing what Singh is capable of, even at the age of 47. He's now just two back of Camilo Villegas after birdies on the third and fifth holes -- the second of which came courtesy of a 46-foot birdie putt.
If Singh can cut that deficit to one by the 17th hole, he should be in really good shape. That's because he's birdied the difficult par-3 every round this week (see below for more). -- Brian Wacker
| Vijay Singh - Putts Made on the 17th hole this week | ||||||||||||
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MOVING CLOSER (2:15 p.m.): Anthony Kim's career-low score came at last year's AT&T National, where he shot an opening-round 62. He might need to shoot that again to catch Camilo Villegas. So far, Kim is off to a good start with three birdies in his first five holes to cut what was a six-shot deficit to just three. Villegas, meanwhile, is even par through his first two holes. -- Brian Wacker
A.K. OK SO FAR (1:52 p.m.): Saying Anthony Kim's third round didn't end the way he wanted would be a huge understatement. Kim finished with three straight bogeys Saturday and tumbled down the leaderboard. Today, he got two of those back, though, with birdies on the par-4 first hole and the par-5 third hole, which he reached in two.
"I just didn't score very well, but that happens," Kim said yesterday. "Unfortunately the last three holes, I made bogeys and cost myself a good chance to win this golf tournament, but you never know what can happen out here. On this golf course, anything is possible."
It will be difficult for Kim, though, with the wind blowing at about 15 mph and four strokes now standing between him and Villegas. -- Brian Wacker
FOLLOW LIVE: Click here to follow Kim's round live with Shot Tracker.
GREEN GOOD AROUND THE GREEN (1:35 p.m.): The other player three shots back of Camilo Villegas is Nathan Green, who will tee off with Villegas a little under 10 minutes from now.
For a guy who is tied for second at a place like PGA National, it's surprising his greens in regulation (just 63 percent) aren't better -- until you look at his scrambling. No one has scrambled better than Green -- he's 18 for 20 -- and he's been money on putts inside 10 feet (94 percent, second in the field). He'll need to keep that up, of course, if he has any hope of catching Villegas. -- Brian Wacker
FAST START FOR ROSE (1:03 p.m.): How do you move up 17 spots on the leaderboard? Making four straight birdies to open the final round is one way to do it. That's exactly what Justin Rose did.
The streak did come to an end with a bogey on No. 5 for Rose, but he's still in the top 10 at 4 under for the week. -- Brian Wacker
BREAKING DOWN THE BEAR TRAP (12:45 p.m.): Though Camilo Villegas has a three-shot lead, the tournament could very well be decided on the "Bear Trap" -- holes 15, 16 and 17. Typically, it ranks among the toughest three-hole stretches on the PGA TOUR. Though scoring was favorable in the second round, this year hasn't been much different with all three holes ranking among the nine most difficult holes on the course (see chart below). How will they play today? We'll find out soon. -- Brian Wacker
| The Bear Trap - Scoring Averages (through 3 rounds) | ||||||||||||
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| Balls in the Water - Bear Trap | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SINGH IN SYNC (12:25 p.m.): One of the players pursuing Camilo Villegas? A healthy Vijay Singh. You couldn't have said that about the recently-turned 47-year-old a year ago.
"I don't have any pain, there's no knee pain and no back pain," said Singh, who's three back entering the final round. "The back pain came from the knee trying to affect walking, but I'm feeling really good and strong. I've just ready to play."
Singh loves playing Florida (even if it's been unseasonably cool) and it's showed -- he leads the field in hitting the green in regulation at 80 percent, which is up 11 percent from his season average. -- Brian Wacker
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (12:15 p.m.): We're still 1 1/2 hours away from when Camilo Villegas will tee off seeking his first win since the 2008 season, which he ended with back-to-back victories. Looking at Villegas' numbers this week, though, and it's easy to understand why he has a three-shot lead.
Villegas is second in the field in total driving (distance plus accuracy) and first in ball-striking. When you hit 76 percent of your greens in regulation and average less than 27 feet on your approach shot distance, you're going to be in contention. The key for Villegas, though, has been his putting. He's averaging 1.66 putts per GIR (eighth in the field) -- for the year, he's averaging 1.69 (ninth on TOUR). When Villegas putts like this, he wins. -- Brian Wacker
| Groups We're Watching | ||||||||||||
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| Camilo Villegas - This Week vs. The Field vs. 2010 Season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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