The Starter, Round 4: Bridgestone Invitational

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Aug. 7, 2010

The fourth round of the Bridgestone Invitational tees off Sunday. Here's a preview:

Groups We're Watching
Tee time Players  
2:05 p.m. ET,
No. 1
Ryan Palmer, Sean O'Hair
The leaders are only in front by one stroke heading into the final round. Can either hold on to win?
12:55 pm ET,
No. 1
Phil Mickelson, Angel Cabrera
Mickelson was over par in his third round and will need to go low to claim the No. 1 ranking on Sunday.
7:45 a.m. ET
No. 1
Anthony Kim, Tiger Woods
Not where either hoped to be Sunday. With Ryder Cup standing on the line, they'll both be trying to make a move.

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR NETWORK on-site correspondent Fred Albers previews Round 4:

Sean O'Hair will 'listen' for his putts to fall in the final round. It's a technique that ensures solid contact. Once the ball leaves the blade of the putter, the player keeps his head still and listens for the ball to find the cup instead of lifting his head to watch where it goes. O'Hair has used the technique since last year's President's Cup.

Sunday's forecast

Sunny and clear
Temp: 85 high/60 low
Chance of precipitation: 0 percent. Winds from SSW at around 10 mph.

It would take a sharp eye to notice, but Ernie Els is using a different putter this weekend. His Oddessy 5 has a slightly smaller head and Els says the ball comes off the club face a little faster. He used the new putter to shoot 64 on Saturday taking just 25 putts.

It was so small a difference, even Ryan Palmer did not notice. After winning the Sony Open to begin his year, Palmer has been inconsistent missing 10 of 11 cuts at one point. Not one to blame his equipment, Palmer kept practicing with little results. At the RBC Canadian Open, he agreed to have his clubs checked and the lie angles were off by one and a half degrees. It was enough of a difference to affect solid contact. He had the clubs adjusted and leads the Bridgestone Invitational going into the final round. Sometimes it is the fiddle and not the fiddler that causes the problem.

INSTRUCTOR'S CORNER: Bill Masching, head instructor at TOUR Academy New York, analyzes the playing conditions this week:

tour-academy3.jpg

Ryan Palmer took advantage of moving day on Saturday at Bridgestone, shooting a 63 and moving up to the top of the leaderboard. Sean O'Hair shares his lead after firing a 64 and Sunday looks to be a shoot out. Perfect playing conditions brought out their great performances, but kudos to Matt Kuchar for hitting 92% of his fairways!

Calvin Peete won 10 driving accuracy titles in a row on tour and if you ask him what it takes to be so accurate, he will tell you that there were three keys to his success. "Balance, Balance and Balance." You can swing as hard as you want, but if you lose balance during your swing, you will miss most of your fairways. Take a few practice swings with your eyes closed and notice where your balance is. Take a few more practice swings with your driver barely hitting a tee. Once you feel good balance and a flatter, sweeping swing that does not hit the ground, your drives will become more accurate.

The Film Room
Round 3 Highlights: 2010 Bridgestone Invitational
Sean O'Hair and Ryan Palmer are tied for the lead after the third round of the 2010 World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational. Watch it
Shot of the Day: August 7, 2010
Katsumasa Miyamoto's approach shot from 162 yards on the 17th hole finds the bottom of the cup for an eagle during the third round of the 2010 World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational. Watch it
PGA TOUR Today: August 8, 2010
Sean O'Hair and Ryan Palmer are tied at the top of the leader board at 9-under par heading into the final round at the 2010 World Golf Championships -- Bridgestone Invitational. Casey Black previews what to expect Sunday. Watch it
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