With the Kona breezes blowing briskly in the faces of the players, the opening hole remained the most difficult for the Sony Open in Hawaii. Opening hole foils
Goosen’s shot at a win
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comNo one knows that more than second-round leader Retief Goosen, who saw his chances of winning the year's first full-field event on the PGA Tour disappear faster than you can say triple bogey.
Goosen sent his opening drive so far left he hit a provisional just in case he couldn't find it. Once down there, he located his original drive, but it was unplayable, leading to a series of seven shots for the South African. He went from a tie for first to a tie for eighth in short fashion. He wound up 2-over 72 for his round and is tied for seventh with Australian Robert Allenby at 8-under 203, eight strokes off the pace.
The hole was rated the hardest for the third consecutive day. It surrendered only five birdies, including one to 2001 Mercedes Championships winner Sergio Garcia. There were 30 bogeys and the lone triple by Goosen to produce a 4.364 scoring average.
For the tournament, the once-easy par-5 has yielded a meager 14 birdies. By contrast, there have been 132 bogeys, eight doubles and seven triples for a scoring average of 4.426.
The easiest for the round yesterday was the par-5 ninth. The 510-yard hole played straight downwind, yielding nine eagles and 45 birdies. There were only three bogeys for a scoring average of 4.221. For the tournament, the ninth is the easiest in a runaway. There have been 42 eagles, 219 birdies and only 10 bogeys for a scoring average of 4.195.
The scoring was excellent yesterday by the 77 survivors of Friday's cut. The average for 18 holes was 69.948. For the tournament, which includes 364 scores, the scoring average is 70.099. The course has received raves all week from the players and commentators on ESPN-TV as well.
Past champions make some noise: With seven past champions in the field, it figures a few would make some noise over the weekend. None more so than Corey Pavin, who won the Hawaiian Open in 1986 and 1987.
At one point, Pavin went as low as 11-under, but a double bogey on the 14th sent him reeling the rest of the way. The 43-year-old graduate of UCLA wound up in a tie for ninth at 7-under 203 for the tournament.
"I was playing very well there for a while. I just couldn't keep it going," Pavin said. "The funny thing is, I didn't hit a bad shot at No. 14, but still wound up with a double-bogey 6. That kind of hurt me a bit."
Pavin is in with some pretty fast company. Also in at 7-under for the tourney are defending Sony Open champion Jerry Kelly and 1999 Sony Open winner Jeff Sluman. Past champions could also be found at 6-under 204. They are 1992 Hawaiian Open winner John Cook and 1996 Hawaiian Open champ Jim Furyk.
John Huston, who won the 1998 Hawaiian Open in 28-under fashion, is 2-under this year. Brad Faxon, who won the Sony Open in 2001, shot a woeful 74 yesterday and is 4-over for the tournament.
Back-to-back: South African Ernie Els has a chance to win the first two tournaments of the 2003 PGA Tour season. He trails Australian Aaron Baddeley by two shots entering today's final round and is in excellent position to do something no one has done in 14 years.
The last person to win the first two events of the year was Steve Jones in 1989. That season, he opened with a victory at the Tournament of Champions and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. The 44-year-old, who won the U.S. Open in 1996, finished first three times in 1989 en route to placing eighth on the money list with $745,578.
Not Baddeley: Third-round leader Baddeley, who had a dozen golf balls stolen from his locker prior to teeing off yesterday, could become the first person since Garrett Willis at the 2000 Tucson Open to win his first start as a PGA Tour member. Only two other people, Robert Gamez in 1990 at the Tucson Open and Ben Crenshaw in 1973 at the Texas Open, have managed to turn that trick.
Baddeley missed the 54-hole tournament record by one stroke. It was set by Huston in 1998 at 16-under. He shot a final-round 60 to finish 28-under, a PGA record for best score in relation to par that was broken last week by Els at the Mercedes Championships.
Baddeley did manage to tie the third-round record set by Faxon in 2001 since it became the Sony Open in 1999. That year, the tournament also went from a par-72 to a par-70.
Sony Open
