Two worlds collide in final pairing, many others lurk
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor
HONOLULU -- The final twosome on Sunday at the Sony Open in Hawaii will consist of co-leaders Matt Every and Jeff Maggert, two shots clear of the rest of the field. Their current career arcs on the PGA TOUR couldn't be any different.
The 28-year-old Every attended the University of Florida and is seeking his first TOUR win in his 30th start. Among the things we've learned about him this week: 1) His wife Danielle is due to have their first child in late June, and 2) he snores. That second part doesn't always sit well with the first part.
"If she's not sleeping," said Every, "she let's me know about it."
Maggert is 47 years old and has been a TOUR veteran for 22 years. He has three TOUR wins, but none since 2006, and has never won the Sony Open in Hawaii, even though he first started playing this event in 1991. This is his 547th start on TOUR.
He had shoulder surgery in June to fix a bone spur and is playing on a Major Medical Extension. But his game hasn't really been the same since 2007 when he slipped on some ice coming out of a grocery store and hit a curb, breaking a rib.
"That's kind of when my game started to go south," he said.
Every has never carried the lead into the final round of a TOUR event. Maggert hasn't done that since the 2003 Masters, when he finished fifth. The fact that they've ended up together in the final twosome of the final round here at Waialae is about as unlikely a scenario as you might imagine.
But Maggert's 6-under 64 on Saturday -- which matched the low round of the day -- and Every's 2-under 68 has them together at 12 under. They will have 18 holes to get to know each other while battling for a victory that would mean so much more to either one than just the tangible rewards of trophies and prize money.
"I don't think I've ever played with him other than maybe seeing him hit a few balls on the range," Maggert said of Every. "That's part of the dilemma I'm in being I'm 47. The kids coming out, I don't know much about them.
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"Obviously he's a good player. But I can't really say that I know a lot about his game."
But with the younger guy trying to establish himself, and the older guy trying to re-establish himself, how each will perform in Sunday's pressure is the big unknown right now.
And that's why, with 18 holes remaining, Sunday at Waialae has the makings for a topsy-turvy day on the leaderboard. Of the 25 players immediately behind the two leaders after 54 holes, all are within five shots of the lead.
"It's not like it's me against Jeff Maggert tomorrow," Every said. "There's a ton of guys who can win this golf tournament."
And each, it seems, has an interesting story to tell.
There's 49-year-old Duffy Waldorf, who -- like Maggert -- is playing on a Major Medical Extension, as he's undergone multiple knee surgeries during his career. Waldorf is 12 years removed from his last TOUR win and hasn't had a top-10 finish on TOUR since 2006. But he's shot back-to-back 66s and is now at 9 under.
Asked what it felt like to be in contention, Waldorf replied: "I don't know. I hadn't even thought about it because it's so weird."
There's D.A. Points, who won his first TOUR event, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, last year with Bill Murray as his amateur partner. Points and Murray texted each other on Saturday to confirm they would be playing together this year to defend their titles.
In between the messages, Points went out and shot 64 and is also at 9 under.
"Last year we played with two lovely ladies on Wednesday at Cypress Point," Points said about his conversation with the comedian, "and he said, 'Well, they are ready for us again.' "
Johnson Wagner, Charles Howell III and Brendon de Jonge are the closest to the lead, each at 10 under.
Of those three, Wagner has won most recently on TOUR (last year at the Mayakoba Golf classic at Riviera-Maya Cancun); Howell has the best track record in this event (five top 10s) and seems due here; and de Jonge has the best round of the week (an 8-under 62 on Friday, still the low round of any player).
De Jonge, unlike Howell or Wagner, has yet to win a TOUR event, even though no player on TOUR has made more birdies since 2009. De Jonge needed seven on Saturday just to shoot a 3-under 67.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to scrape it around (on Sunday) like I did today," de Jonge said.
Most of the top 27 players on the leaderboard are like de Jonge -- guys thirsty for a win.
But the guy who quenched his thirst last week is also among the pack. Steve Stricker, last week's winner of the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, is lurking dangerously at 8 under.
Stricker shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday despite hitting just three fairways. When he walked off the 18th green, he was tired, ready to go eat ice cream with his kids, and then get some rest.
If he gets his energy back, watch out. The far-fetched stories to start the day could turn into a familiar one come Sunday night.
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