[ SONY OPEN ]
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RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Defending Sony Open champion Ernie Els watched his drive off the 14th tee yesterday at Waialae Country Club.
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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 |