PGA records KAPALUA, Maui >> PGA Tour officials were paging through the record books to try to keep up with the marks that were broken or equaled during yesterday's third round of the $5 million Mercedes Championships.
not safe on Maui
Mercedes leader Els anticipates
Third-round leaders
a shootout in the final round
Notebook
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comErnie Els continued his phenomenal tournament by shooting a 7-under 65 to equal the 54-hole tour record of 25-under-par set by Gay Brewer at the 1967 Pensacola Open and shatter the 54-hole Mercedes mark of David Duval. The South African was actually 27-under after 52 holes, but a double bogey on the 17th and a pedestrian par at the 18th took a little luster off his performance.
Korean K.J. Choi took advantage of Els' miscues to close within two shots of the lead thanks to a course-record 11-under 62. This broke the Plantation Course mark of 63 set by Duval in 1999 and equaled by Canadian Mike Weir last year.
Duval's Mercedes Championships record of 26-under 266 is also in serious jeopardy as Choi and Els tee it up for today's final round in weather conditions that are predicted to be similar to yesterday's light trades.
Barring some phenomenal finish by anyone else in the field, it's pretty much a two-horse race from a pair of last year's better performers. Retief Goosen is alone in third at 18-under 201 thanks to a solid 66, but he trails fellow South African Els by seven shots.
Defending Sony Open in Hawaii champion Jerry Kelly, Chris Riley and Bob Estes are tied for fourth, another shot back at 202. When asked what he needed to do to catch the leaders today, Kelly jokingly said, "Somebody needs to birdie every hole."
That might not be enough after what Els has managed to do the first three days. His rounds of 64, 65 and 65 for a 194 total are more consistent than Choi's 67, 67 and 62, but Els conceded yesterday that even at 25-under, there's still a lot of golf to be played.
"I was watching what K.J. was doing," said Els, who was one group behind Choi all day. "He was just having a free go out there and I was playing pretty well myself. You know, the last two holes, I changed it a little bit; only a two-shot lead now. It could have been four or five shots.
"It makes it a bit of a change. In another way, it makes me focus differently. I don't have to protect. I can go out there and be aggressive. It's probably going to be a shootout. I mean, he's playing really well and I'm playing well."
Els began the third round by birdieing four of the first five holes to open a six-shot advantage over Choi, who birdied three of the first five. Els made the turn at 31 and continued his blistering pace by birdieing the 11th hole, eagling the par-4 14th with a chip from over a bunker, then following that up with birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to go to 27-under.
At that point, Els was already one shot better at 52 holes than Duval was at 26-under after 72. But an errant drive with a 3-wood on the 17th that went into the hazard unraveled Els the rest of the way. He missed an 8-footer for bogey on the 17th and a makable 10-footer for birdie at the 18th to let Choi back in it.
"You know, 17, I'm still a little hot about that," Els said. "I made a bad swing. I tried to hit the 3-wood a little bit hard and pulled it left. Just basically played the hole bad. Hit it short of the green for my third shot, then didn't quite read the putt right for my fourth shot. Hit a pretty good fifth putt, but it didn't break."
Choi entered the 18th five shots back, but left the green after his birdie trailing only by two. The three-shot swing proved no lead is too secure on the PGA Tour.
"He remembers just looking at the scoreboard once," an interpreter said of Choi. "I think he says Els was around 25-under at the time. He just thought there was still a bit of a gap between him and Els. He just said to himself, "Just try my best today, try my best tomorrow and we'll see where that takes me.' "
Choi will be partnered with Els for the first time, something he said he was looking forward to since Els is one golfer he has looked up to during his career.
"He's going to try to learn a lot from Ernie's game," Choi's interpreter said. "He said he started out really well today. He felt very good coming into the round. As the round progressed, he just felt, you know, better and better and more comfortable.
"He had no idea that he was on a run for a course record. He's just very happy that he's able to have such a round, especially at this course, being his first tournament. He's not going to think too much about that."
Els isn't going to dwell on what got away from him, either.
"You know, 18, I didn't play properly either. But other than that, I basically did everything right," Els said. "The 25-under through three rounds, I think that's a personal best for me anyway. Looking forward to (today). I'd like to get stuck in and be a little more disciplined in my game.
"But again, K.J. played great golf. You've got to give him credit; shoot 11-under-par in one round, that's going very well. I'm sure he's coming after me. It's always nice to know you've played a golf course well under pressure. I've had some good tournaments here on this golf course."
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Mercedes Championships
At Kapalua, Maui
Yardage: 7,263; Par 73
Third-round leaders
Ernie Els 64-65-65 -- 194 K.J. Choi 67-67-62 -- 196 R.Goosen 70-65-66 -- 201 Jerry Kelly 65-70-67 -- 202 Chris Riley 65-70-67 -- 202 Bob Estes 66-66-70 -- 202 Jim Furyk 64-72-67 -- 203 L.Roberts 68-70-67 -- 205 Vijay Singh 68-70-67 -- 205
Mercedes Championships