[ SONY OPEN ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Defending Sony Open champion Ernie Els watched his drive off the 14th tee yesterday at Waialae Country Club.
Els looms large
Frazar tries to hold off
the defending champ in
today’s final round
Harrison Frazar has never won on the PGA Tour, which hasn't been a problem for the guys nipping at his spikes at this week's $4.8 million Sony Open in Hawaii.
Frazar's 4-under 66 yesterday left him at 14-under 196, one shot ahead of defending champion Ernie Els. Frazar has Els right where he wants him today -- as his playing partner. He figures the Big Easy will keep him cool and collected as he tries to do something Els has done 46 times before on worldwide golf courses. And that's win.
"If you're playing with someone who's very experienced, it's easier to watch them, how they handle a little bit of adversity early," Frazar said. "If you're playing with somebody who's not experienced, they get a little frazzled, you can get frazzled and then things can kind of unravel pretty quickly."
If Frazar does come undone, it won't take too long for the leaders to play on through. Dead calm conditions at Waialae Country Club left the leaderboard tight with contenders. Davis Love III and Frank Lickliter II are tied for third at 12-under 198, with 2000 Sony Open champion Paul Azinger and second-round leader Steve Allan another shot back at 199.
Before the round began yesterday, only 10 shots separated the 79 golfers surviving the cut. That number stretched to 18 yesterday with a dozen golfers at 9-under 201 or better. For Frazar, who has held or shared the lead entering the final round twice before, it means going low once more.
Last year at the Phoenix Open, Frazar let things slip away after holding the 54-hole lead, in part because eventual winner Vijay Singh came from back in the pack with a 63 to an eventual three-shot win.
Frazar said he learned some things from that 18, but isn't sure it will apply today.
"I think I learned my lesson there that you can't sit back and watch what somebody is doing," Frazar said. "You've got to play and you've got to attack and you kind of need to set a number in mind based on what the conditions are and what you see early in the round."
What he's likely to see is an Azinger or a Love or even a Retief Goosen get off to a fast start and maybe threaten for the lead before Frazar uncorks his first drive. If they aren't making a move, Els is certainly capable of leaving Frazar holding his bag.
While not quite as sharp as Friday's 64, Els still toured the course yesterday in steady 66 fashion. It was his 15th consecutive round in the 60s here, and he conceded he likes the tight par-70 Waialae Country Club course.
"I don't know, I haven't tried that," Els said when asked if he could shoot a round of 60 in his sleep. "I don't think I want to try that, but I know where you're coming from. I enjoy the course and it forces you to hit certain shots. I like going around here."
So do Love and Azinger. Love set the tournament record here with a 60 at the 1994 Hawaiian Open, but has never won this island event. He finished tied for second in 1999 and had another top-10 finish in 2001. Like Els, he enjoys the course that hosted its first PGA Tour event in 1965.
"I've been around the lead a few times here," Love said. "I was disappointed on Thursday (opening-round 70) because I usually putt the greens pretty good because I'm used to the grain. Then sure enough, yesterday I started making them again. Today I putted really well. I'm used to that kind of grass, flyer lies in the rough. It's kind of what I grew up on."
Love has 18 victories on tour, including one major. Azinger has 12 wins on tour with a major championship on his shelf as well, leaving Frazar in some pretty fast company. Even Lickliter broke through last year with wins at the Kemper Insurance Open and the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
"I can remember back in rounds where I've felt like I was on the verge of doing some good things or had a good tournament in hand and things got a little shaky early," Frazar said. "I'm not intimidated to play with Ernie. He's a great player. But, you know, he's got to play the same golf course I do. And I think I can learn from him and watch him."
Els came from behind last year to catch Aaron Baddeley in regulation and beat him on the second playoff hole with a 43-foot birdie putt. If he wants to repeat as champion, he'll have to come from behind once again.
"I think I've played myself into contention and I've really kind of put my head down and started grinding a bit this week, especially today," Els said. "I'm glad with the progress I've made this week so far. I'm feeling pretty good. Obviously, there's a lot of golf left and a lot of good players right there. But I've got a chance and I've got to go and try and take my chance when I get it."
Third-round scores
At Waialae CC
Purse; $4.8 million
Yardage: 7,060; Par 70
Harrison Frazar 67-63-66 -- 196 Ernie Els 67-64-66 -- 197 Davis Love III 70-65-63 -- 198 Frank Lickliter II 71-62-65 -- 198 Paul Azinger 67-66-66 -- 199 Steve Allan 67-62-70 -- 199 Briny Baird 68-66-66 -- 200 Retief Goosen 67-69-65 -- 201 Stephen Ames 66-70-65 -- 201 Craig Barlow 66-69-66 -- 201 Corey Pavin 68-67-66 -- 201 John Riegger 68-66-67 -- 201 Michael Allen 68-69-65 -- 202 Jonathan Byrd 67-69-66 -- 202 Jerry Kelly 68-65-69 -- 202 Bo Van Pelt 71-65-67 -- 203 Carlos Franco 63-72-68 -- 203 Jonathan Kaye 67-68-68 -- 203 Craig Bowden 70-64-69 -- 203 John Huston 67-67-69 -- 203 Jesper Parnevik 65-68-70 -- 203 Luke Donald 66-66-71 -- 203 Jason Dufner 69-70-65 -- 204 Pat Perez 70-69-65 -- 204 Vijay Singh 69-68-67 -- 204 Shaun Micheel 72-64-68 -- 204 Cameron Beckman 70-69-66 -- 205 Chris Riley 69-69-67 -- 205 Omar Uresti 72-66-67 -- 205 Aaron Baddeley 66-72-67 -- 205 Duffy Waldorf 70-67-68 -- 205 Mark Hensby 68-69-68 -- 205 Brent Geiberger 70-67-68 -- 205 Brenden Pappas 67-69-69 -- 205 John Maginnes 68-68-69 -- 205 Charles Howell III 68-68-69 -- 205 Tim Herron 67-69-69 -- 205 Joe Durant 70-66-69 -- 205 Kevin Na 68-67-70 -- 205 Hideto Tanihara 67-66-72 -- 205 Pat Bates 68-65-72 -- 205 Robert Gamez 67-66-72 -- 205 Ben Crane 68-70-68 -- 206 Tjaart Van der Walt 69-68-69 -- 206 Ryan Palmer 70-66-70 -- 206 Richard S. Johnson 68-67-71 -- 206 D.J. Brigman 69-65-72 -- 206 Arjun Atwal 71-68-68 -- 207 Ken Duke 70-69-68 -- 207 Brad Lardon 69-69-69 -- 207 John Senden 71-67-69 -- 207 Shigeki Maruyama 71-67-69 -- 207 Danny Briggs 71-67-69 -- 207 Jason Bohn 69-66-72 -- 207 Fred Funk 69-64-74 -- 207 Peter Jacobsen 69-70-69 -- 208 Bob Burns 71-67-70 -- 208 Andre Stolz 68-70-70 -- 208 Bart Bryant 68-70-70 -- 208 Ted Purdy 66-71-71 -- 208 Hidemichi Tanaka 67-70-71 -- 208 Kenichi Kuboya 73-66-70 -- 209 Tommy Armour III 72-67-70 -- 209 Todd Fischer 69-70-70 -- 209 Russ Cochran 69-69-71 -- 209 Jeff Brehaut 69-69-71 -- 209 Bobby Kalinowski 70-68-71 -- 209 Brian Gay 69-67-73 -- 209 Scott Simpson 70-66-73 -- 209 Woody Austin 69-70-71 -- 210 Tom Lehman 72-67-71 -- 210 Heath Slocum 67-71-72 -- 210 Rod Pampling 72-67-72 -- 211 David Ishii 66-71-74 -- 211 Olin Browne 70-68-73 -- 211 Joe Ogilvie 71-68-73 -- 212 Lucas Glover 71-68-74 -- 213 Loren Roberts 71-68-75 -- 214 Tom Carter 70-69-75 -- 214
