Ogilvy has Kapalua wired
POSTED: Sunday, January 11, 2009
KAPALUA, Maui » To give you an idea how well Geoff Ogilvy is playing at this week's Mercedes-Benz Championship, the first time he toured the Plantation Course he finished the week at 298.
SCOREBOARD
|
After yesterday's 8-under 65, the man from Down Under enters today's final round at 19-under 200, giving him 98 shots to play with in this winners-only event. As absurd as that is, that kind of round is likely the only thing keeping him from notching his fifth victory on the PGA Tour.
The 31-year-old has a six-shot lead over Justin Leonard (65) and D.J. Trahan (70) as he tries to become only the second golfer to go wire-to-wire here since this tournament shifted to Maui in 1999. Granted, an even-par 73 might not be good enough if someone in the pack goes extremely low, but the likelihood of that happening given how well Ogilvy is striking the golf ball is remote.
“;I played well, obviously,”; Ogilvy said of his second bogey-free round of the tournament. A three-putt for bogey at the 17th on Friday is the only square on his scorecard through 54 holes. “;(Coming in here) I knew I was playing quite well. But I've never done that great around here.
“;So I didn't come with any expectations, but I came knowing I was playing quite well. Does that make sense? It's also a place that I fully expected 25- or 30-mile-per-hour wind every day, downwind right on the first hole because that's the only way I've ever seen it. It's hard to expect too much when you face weather like that. So I felt good about my game without any expectations.”;
Since the tournament moved here in 1999, only eventual winners David Duval (198), Ernie Els (194) and Stuart Appleby (199) have had better 54-hole scores. In his previous two appearances here, Ogilvy didn't card a single round in the 60s.
Leonard and Trahan are six shots off Ogilvy's blistering pace. Each will try to become the first American to win here since Jim Furyk in 2001. Three more Americans—Kenny Perry (68), Anthony Kim (68) and Davis Love III (68)—joined Colombian Camilo Villegas (66) in a tie for fourth.
Villegas overcame a double bogey at the first with six consecutive birdies at holes five through 10 to play himself into contention. He added three more birdies on the back nine to shoot a solid 7 under for the round.
“;I was lucky I got a double bogey at the first—it could have been worse,”; Villegas said. “;I'm happy with the way I'm playing. Hopefully I can come out tomorrow and go low again. Geoff is obviously playing well, but you can go low out here, so who knows.”;
The scoring average yesterday was a sizzling 69.152, markedly better than the 72.364 the first day and 71.576 on Friday. On Thursday, there were eight rounds in the 60s. Yesterday that number was a startling 17. The key to playing well here is striking the ball with confidence in the wind.
“;I feel like I'm a good wind player,”; Leonard said. “;I hit the ball fairly low and I'm creative. Bouncing balls into greens, it kind of reminds me of my junior golf days. You don't do it a whole lot here, but there are some shots where you have to.”;
This is Leonard's 10th start at the Mercedes, dating back to its days at La Costa, Calif., in 1997. He has posted four top-10 finishes, including eighth-place efforts in 2006 and last year. He had one of seven bogey-free rounds yesterday, as did Perry. Zach Johnson's 9-under 64 is the best round of 2009.
