Ford Championship at Doral

[iacas]

i'd say he was closer to an A- than a B+...even tiger said after the round that he played like the first 9 holes against stephen ames. he hit something like 78% of fairways? he's hitting his driver well, which means he's swinging well...

He's using the new driver with a graphite/steel shaft. Pretty interesting. Bet it gives him a lot more control at the clubhead end of things.

I said B+ only because some of his irons looked off, he dumped a 3W into the lake on, uhhh, 12? etc.

i take everything phil says with a grain of salt, but i did like his comments and reactions after the tournament because he was actually pissed.

Indeed, that's true. And then that picture with what looked like anal sex came out...

looks like it'll be a great weekend again. i hope no one reaches 14-under so tiger and phil play with one another...will it be twosomes or threesomes on the weekend?

Twosomes. Good chance they'll be together at least on Saturday at this point, it looks like.

[iacas]

Twosomes. Good chance they'll be together at least on Saturday at this point, it looks like.

Damn you, Verplank! And perhaps Camilo, too! And maybe even Toms!

Speaking of Verplank, I wonder what the rules are for pairing players. Suppose you had four players tied for the lead. Do you take the order in which they finished? Do you rank them and group them in order of their previous day's score? Or can you throw Mickelson and Woods together and the other two in the other group for no reason other than that's the way you want to do it?

[kugino]

well, toms fell short...and it looks like villegas can only get to -13 if he birdies 9...so, i think tiger and phil will be paired together. i believe they do pairings based on finishing order...so since phil and tiger were the first at -13, they should be paired together...what a great saturday.

[Thrash13]

Yeah, it will be Phil and Tiger in the last group, with Verplank and Villegas in the second-to-last group. That will be the sneaky group to watch. Also, keep an eye out for David Toms, Chad Campbell, and Zach Johnson. Those three can go low again and end up in the hunt.

It's going to be fun to watch, and I'm looking forward to it. It would be nice if both Mickelson and Woods played great and ended up playing together Sunday as well. But we will see.

[iacas]

Yeah, it will be Phil and Tiger in the last group, with Verplank and Villegas in the second-to-last group. That will be the sneaky group to watch. Also, keep an eye out for David Toms, Chad Campbell, and Zach Johnson. Those three can go low again and end up in the hunt.

Are you sure? Is it by finishing order?

It's going to be fun to watch, and I'm looking forward to it. It would be nice if both Mickelson and Woods played great and ended up playing together Sunday as well. But we will see.

I'm rooting for it. But I hope Tiger destroys him both days.

[kugino]

Are you sure? Is it by finishing order?

yep, by finishing order, so phil and tiger!

i don't care who wins, i just want them to both play well...

[under_par]

Tiger all the way!!!

[jeffgladchun]

My dream Sunday pairing would be Villegas / Woods in a race to the finish. It would be a win-win situation for me because I love both of these guys. We'll see how it pans out today.

[iacas]

Well Tiger, despite his own waterball on the par 3 9th, stuck it to Phil today, besting him by four shots and taking a two-shot lead into Sunday.

Anyone willing to bet (prior to 6am ET Sunday) $100 that Tiger won't win?

[jeffgladchun]

My dream Sunday pairing would be Villegas / Woods in a race to the finish. It would be a win-win situation for me because I love both of these guys. We'll see how it pans out today.

Dear Lord! If Camilo hadn't 3 putted 18 after a fantastic recovery from jail my dream pairing would have become reality. I'm hoping Villegas can turn it up tomorrow.

Anyone willing to bet (prior to 6am ET Sunday) $100 that Tiger won't win?

What kinda odds are you giving me?

[iacas]

What kinda odds are you giving me?

You get the rest of the field.

On an unrelated note, look at this: " Monster Mash " at pga.com (published today) " Monster Mash " published at The Sand Trap a year ago. What the heck!?!?!

[jeffgladchun]

You get the rest of the field.

Tiger is 33-3 when he has at least a share of the 54 hole lead, so If you wanna give me 11-1 odds I'll take it.

[kklick]

Tiger hasn't hit a fairway yet today but he is still making birdies. Doesn't look like tiger is going to give it up today and it doesn't look like anyone is playing to catch him yet. Phil is trying to shoot 80 the way it looks. Just bogeyed 8 with one in the water then dunked his tee shot on 9 in the water. Probably at least bogey. For someone with such talent I think he needs a head doctor to keep him in the final rounds.

[jeffgladchun]

Well, Woods has done it again. Congrats Tiger, you animal.

My favorite rookie Camilo Villegas played pretty well all week, despite some missed short putts. I'm looking forward to a stellar rookie season from the Colombian.

[alexlax12]

So much for the Tiger/Phil showdown at Doral. Did Phil break 80??....haha.

[Baynative]

here's the scary part...

"I hit one today, even though no one really realizes the shot I hit on No. 8. I had a 103 yards and I hit a little 9-iron in there. That was a cool shot," Woods said. "The flight of it, I hit a draw in there which is hard to do hitting it with that shaft, held it back against the wind, hit it right against the flag. That, to me, is where I’m trying to get to, the ability to hit shots like that on-call."

"Still got some work to do," Woods said. "That’s the beauty of it, that I can be better tomorrow than I am today."

[nurseduffer]

Tiger only hit I think 2 fairways on the back 9 today, and he was still #1 in GIRs. Can you imagine what this can is going to do this year if he starts hitting the driver with as much accuracy as his irons? If he does...buckle your seat belt boys!
Villegas...pretty cool stuff!

[iacas]

Tiger only hit I think 2 fairways on the back 9 today, and he was still #1 in GIRs. Can you imagine what this can is going to do this year if he starts hitting the driver with as much accuracy as his irons? If he does...buckle your seat belt boys!

With the number of trees Doral lost this year, it didn't surprise me to see Tiger hitting it all over the place. Why not?

And didn't he hit something like 8/10 fairways on Saturday against Phil? Those must be half the fairways he hit all week!