The Starter: Round 4, SBS Championship

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Jan. 10, 2010
By PGATOUR.COM Staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in Round 4 of the SBS Championship. Here's a look at Saturday's round:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
4:20 p.m. ET,
Hole No. 1
Dustin Johnson, Steve Stricker
Both of these players were pre-week favorites, but both are mid-pack heading into Sunday. Does either of them have a 65 in store?
5:20 p.m. ET,
Hole No. 1
Retief Goosen, Stewart Cink
Goosen's 67 in the third round was one of the best of the day and put him only four shots back of leader Lucas Glover.
5:40 p.m. ET,
Hole No. 1
Lucas Glover, Geoff Ogilvy
This pair of former U.S. Open champions are in the final group, with Ogilvy only one back and with a lot of momentum.

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Fred Albers previews Sunday's round:

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If Lucas Glover begins his final round with a bogey, there is no need to get upset. He has started each of his three rounds with a bogey or double bogey before regaining his game and shooting under par. In fact, Glover began his 2010 season with a double bogey on the first hole and went on to shoot 66. He then bogeyed the second hole on Friday and shot 65 and recorded six straight pars on Saturday before making bogey at the seventh, eventually shooting 71.

• Players that arrived early for practice rounds were rewarded on Saturday at Kapalua. The wind blew out of a different direction. It was the same direction last weekend and if players arrived early for practice rounds they were very familiar with the golf course conditions under the Kona direction. That knowledge paid off for players like Ryan Moore and Martin Laird, who are making their first appearance at the SBS Championship and would have been unfamiliar with Kona wind conditions if they hadn't arrived early for practice rounds. Practice may not make perfect, but it was certainly helpful this week at the Plantation Course.

• Saturday was clear with blue skies, seemingly everywhere except Molokai. The island ten miles off the coast of Maui was shrouded in "vog" most of the day. Islanders call it vog because it is smoke that has drifted some 100 miles from the volcano Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii. When the volcano is active and the wind is out of the west, the smoke drifts over Molokai making the island seemingly disappear on a calm day.

INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER: Todd Jones, head instructor at the TOUR Academy, will provide a daily tip this week to help improve your game.

Tourac-todd.jpg

The Kona winds changed the complexion of the Plantation Course, making scoring for the third round much more difficult. However, the players that have experienced the course under these conditions still scored well.

One such player is defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, who surged into contention with a 5 under round of 68. Look for the Kona winds (blowing up to 20 mph) to challenge the players again for the final round. With winds this high, it is important to make the proper decisions prior to the shot.

As a rule of thumb, every 1 mph of wind will affect the ball flight by one yard. Look for the players to take their time with their pre-shot routine, ensuring that they have judged the wind properly. They will also exhibit great patience if the wind changes, very often backing off the shot and resetting by going through their pre-shot routine once again. This is a valuable lesson to learn for the player at home.

Thus far at Kapalua
Round Leader Low round (par 73) Key links
Lucas Glover (-17) 66: Y.E. Yang Wrap-up | Live Report | Notebook
LISTEN: PGA TOUR Replay
The Film Room
PGA TOUR Today: Jan. 10, 2010
Joe Cowart sets the stage for the final round of the 2010 SBS Championship where a strong leaderboard of contenders has taken shape and includes two U.S. Open Champions. Watch it
Round 3 Highlights
Lucas Glover shoots a 2-under-par 71 to keep the lead heading into Sunday's final round at the 2010 SBS Championship. Watch it
Shot of the Day: Moore
Ryan Moore hits his tee shot to within a few feet of the flag on the eighth hole during the third round of the 2010 SBS Championship. Watch it
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