Author: Jeff Smith

Padraig Harrington started the day tied for third but tied leader Jim Furyk by day’s end. Furyk led the pack after both the first and second rounds. Harrington held the clubhouse lead until Furyk birdied the par-5 18th getting up and down out of a green-side bunker. A win tomorrow for Harrington would be his second of the season. He grabbed his first win on the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic in March, and is no stranger to the Barclays Classic as he lost in a playoff last year to Sergio Garcia.

Furyk is seeking his first win on Tour since 2003, the year he won both the U.S. Open and the Buick Open. Furyk has been close twice this year finishing T2 at the MCI Heritage and the Wachovia Championship. He is currently 13th on the Tour money list with $1,795,669 in the bank this season. If Furyk is able to cash in tomorrow he will round out his PGA Tour victories to a tidy ten.

Continue reading “Furyk and Harrington Share Barclays Third Round Lead”

The U.S. Open is, without a doubt, the most difficult golf of the year. The USGA holds close to it’s heart the ideal that a course should be well defended against advances in both equipment and talent. Birdies should be a luxury, not an guarantee. It is certain that USGA officials will be smiling as they smoke their post-third-round cigars tonight because only one player is below par: Retief Goosen. The USGA can safely say that Pinehurst No. 2 has teeth and is defending itself against the best in the world.

Retief Goosen, Pinehurst’s second round co-leader, is this year’s U.S. Open “ice-man” keeping a cool head through three rounds with course conditions that can easily rattle the very best in the world. Goosen has long been misunderstood because of his retiring and quiet nature, but what he make lack in personal flair he makes up for in grit and determination.

Continue reading “Goosen Inches Ahead In Round Three of U.S. Open”

Justin Leonard grabbed the largest 54-hole lead of the year as he shot a 4-under 66 to lead the pack by a whopping 8 strokes. He sits at 17-under. He has carried a lot of confidence into the weekend having shot an 8-under round one and a 5-under round two at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. “I want to finish this off well and I want to play a good solid round tomorrow,” said Leonard. “I don’t want tomorrow to take anything away from what I’ve done this week.”

Leonard felt that consistent and bogey-free golf has made the difference. Leonard said, “I think we’re all going to have stretches where we make a lot of birdies but to get around here with as difficult as these greens are with one bogey I’m pretty proud of.”

Continue reading “Justin Leonard Blow-Out at FedEx St. Jude”

Kenny Perry is putting on a golf clinic this week at the Bank of America Colonial. Thursday at 5-under, Friday at 7-under, and Saturday at 6-under all add up to a new third round scoring record at the Colonial. Perry didn’t think the 36-hole record was enough and proceeded to break his own 54-hold record at 18-under 192 today. The Colonial tournament is firmly in Perry’s control as he leads second-place Billy Mayfair and Steve Stricker by seven strokes.

Perhaps the Colonial course is perfect for Perry’s game as he is ranked 8th in driving distance, 37th in fairways hit, and 1st in greens in regulation on the Tour in 2005. The Colonial Country Club requires both accuracy and distance and Perry has both and his stats reflect. If he holds on to this comfortable lead a win here be his second at the Colonial, his first coming in 2003, a year in which he posted 3 wins.

Continue reading “Kenny Perry Seeing Clearly at 2005 Colonial”

While some of the big names faded and the showdown of the “Big Five” hasn’t materialized, some of the PGA Tour’s lesser known stars are shining this weekend at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Sean O’Hair is one of them. In his rookie season, the 324th-ranked O’Hair has had to overcome major hurdles in his quest for success among the world’s best.

His father, Marc O’Hair, once said, “I look at Sean as my son. I look at him as a business also. He likes that.” It was Marc who invested over $2 million in his son’s game having urged his him to drop out of high school to pursue his dream of being a professional golfer. Sean and his father Marc haven’t spoken in two years because of Marc’s family-business attitude.

Continue reading “A Silver Lining for Sean O’Hair”

Stuart Appleby enjoyed a great round of golf today as he shot a 7-under 63 to take a one shot lead at the Byron Nelson Championship. Appleby’s last win came on January 10 at the 2005 Mercedes Championships in Hawaii at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui. Since his win at the Mercedes he hasn’t finished within the top ten in six starts.

Anybody who watched Appleby today was impressed with his efficient play and ability to execute needed shots. He holed out from 23 feet on the par-4 first and followed that up by holing out from 41 feet on the par-3 second. That is the way to boost your confidence as you start a round, if you were wondering. “Today was a much more balanced round of golf,” said Appleby. “I hit the ball well. I chipped well which is something I haven’t been doing well lately. I rolled the ball [well]. Overall a good rhythmical day.”

Continue reading “Stuart Appleby Hardly Wastes A Shot”

Sergio Garcia is enjoying the lead after two rounds at the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C. He had a record-setting back nine yesterday and complemented that good round with a one-under 71 today. He was one over at the turn but was able to gain a couple back before his round was over. Garcia’s best finish this year was T8 at the Bay Hill Invitational. He has a total of three top-ten finishes this year and is hungry for a win.

Said Garcia:

I am swinging it well and shots like the one on 18 tell you how confident I am with my swing. I mean, that two iron from 226. To hit it that close, its good to see. I’ve been playing well and I’ve finally been able to make a couple of putts here and there and you know that gets you going a little bit. On a day like today when you know that you’re going to have some four or five footers for par if you manage to make most of those it just keeps you up.

Sergio’s 66 on the first day was remarkable as the Quail Hollow Club is not a golf course that historically gives up low scores.

Continue reading “Sergio Hangs on to Lead at Wachovia”