Golf Capsules: Villegas still the leader after three rounds at Honda
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Ashes fell from the sky, smoke filled the air and a thick haze hovered over PGA National.
Some might have found breathing difficult at the Honda Classic.
Camilo Villegas wasn’t among them.
Once threatening to run away after a sizzling start, Villegas came back to the pack on his back nine and wound up rallying to take a three-shot lead over Nathan Green and Vijay Singh after three rounds. Villegas is at 11-under 199, so even after making three bogeys in a five-hole stretch in what became a round of 67, he’ll be the one to catch on Sunday.
"I’m sleeping in my own bed this week, which is always nice," said Villegas, one of many tour players who call South Florida home. "I’ve been nice and relaxed. So we’ll show up tomorrow the same way and try to play some good golf."
Green (67) and Singh (69) are at 8 under, while George McNeill (66) and Matt Every (69) were tied for fourth at 6 under. Anthony Kim, who shared the 36-hole lead with Villegas, shot 73 and wound up six shots back entering the final round, tied with Michael Connell (69).
All the talk before the tournament was about the difficulty of the course, before conversations on Thursday shifted to the gusting breezes and how they left players guessing.
On Saturday, a controlled burn left its mark on the Honda. Earth, wind and fire, indeed.
A planned fire in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, about 14 miles north of PGA National Resort and Spa, made an already tough course even tougher. The wind shifted a bit after the fire started, sending thick plumes of smoke, ash and haze down directly toward the course. Play wasn’t halted, though the day was clearly affected.
"It’s not great, but everyone’s dealing with it," said Green, an asthmatic who once worked in a crematorium his parents manage. "It’s strange when you’re looking down, hitting your putt and you’ve got ashes sort of going past your ball. We had that a few holes in, I think on 13 and 14. It’s different. I don’t think guys are really worried about it. You can just sort of smell it and taste it."
Singh shot his third straight round in the 60s, a 69 to keep him in the mix for what would be his first win since capturing the FedExCup in 2008. Also with a third-straight sub-70 round was Sam Saunders, who shot his third straight 69 and is tied for 10th, eight shots behind Villegas. His coach isn’t expected to be with him on Sunday.
By the way, Saunders’ coach is his grandfather, Arnold Palmer. "The King" knows that if he’s in the gallery on Sunday, the buzz he’ll create — on a course redesigned by Jack Nicklaus — might take away from what his grandkid is trying to do inside the ropes, so Saunders thinks he’ll stay away.
"Hopefully, someday, and I’ve said this many times before, that my game will become good enough and I’ll become a good enough player that I’ll be known as Sam Saunders and Arnold Palmer’s grandson," Saunders said. "I think I’m getting there, but right now, it’s fine. If I’m Arnold Palmer’s grandson, that’s kind of the deal. I understand that."
Saunders has drawn his share of attention before, first playing as a 14-year-old non-competing marker with Peter Jacobsen at Bay Hill — Arnie’s tournament — and then caddying for his grandfather at Palmer’s final Masters.
Now, he’s just trying to play his way into some spotlight. He’s in the Honda on a sponsor’s exemption.
"I’m not out there just trying to eke out a good round," Saunders said. "I’m watching that leaderboard and I see myself getting up there and I’m thinking about winning this thing. I’m not really thinking, ‘Oh, I want a good finish.’ I’m trying to get myself in position where I can win. And tomorrow, if the course plays tough, you never know."
Villegas has tamed it so far.
He made four birdies on the front side — including the par-4 6th hole, the tournament’s toughest this week, for the second straight day. And after a bogey at the 10th seemed to derail him a bit, Villegas rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on the next hole, punching the air as the putt dropped.
Villegas had only four top-10 finishes in 21 tour starts last season, after winning back-to-back starts in September 2008 and thinking he was ready for a big breakthrough.
Maybe this is the year. So far in 2010, he was third at Match Play and then tied for eighth last week at the Phoenix Open.
"We have our good years, average years and bad years," Villegas said. "I decided to look at the good side of it and work on those little things that I needed to get better, and show up this year a little more excited to be out here."
A win and a $1.008 million check Sunday would make him plenty excited.
Palmer's grandson looking to make own name
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Sam Saunders is stepping out of his grandfather's shadow.
A difficult task, considering that grandfather is none other than Arnold Palmer.
Making his fifth PGA Tour start, the 22-year-old Saunders shot 69 for the third straight round Saturday, putting him at 3-under 207 and tied for 10th at the Honda Classic, eight shots behind leader Camilo Villegas. So far this week, he's shown two things: that he was certainly worthy of the sponsor's exemption into this field, and that at least sometimes, he listens to his coach.
"He is my only coach," Saunders said of his grandfather. "We've been working together really hard for the last few months now and that's been going really well. I think he's enjoyed it. I've enjoyed it and my game has really gotten a lot better since we started working."
Sure enough, Palmer — the 62-time winner on the PGA Tour who says he won't be at PGA National on Sunday for the final round, even though he's expected to play in a member-guest at a neighboring course Monday — is giving the kid high marks.
"He is really starting to come into his own," Palmer told a pool reporter by telephone from his Orlando-area home Saturday. "He has a lot of things he has to pick up on. I won't be specific. He has some shots he does not play as well as he should. That's a little experience and confidence. I'm very pleased and proud of what he has done this week. It isn't anything but what I would expect."
Rocco Mediate has plenty of history with Palmer, and as luck would have it, he was Saunders' playing partner Saturday.
After Saunders beat him by five shots, the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up was duly impressed.
"If he is the future of our tour, we are in good shape," Mediate said. "First of all, he's a sweetheart, but man, can he play! Wow! I knew he was good, but seeing him play a golf course like this which really brings out your strengths and weaknesses, absolutely fantastic."
Saunders has essentially been groomed for this.
He was never pressured into golf; he was the first of Palmer's grandchildren to truly embrace the game, and no one ever told him not to try to follow in the footsteps "The King" left during his career, either.
Saunders once won Florida's high school championship, and after winning an elite junior tournament four years ago, he was the top-ranked junior player in the country.
That tournament win, incidentally, was at PGA National's Champion course, the very track he's playing this week.
"Got off to a good start and that kind of helps on a course like this," said Saunders, who briefly vaulted onto the first page of the leaderboard after an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on his front side Saturday.
He got off to a good start last week as well, a 5-under 66 creating some buzz at the Phoenix Open. He followed that with a 79 and missed the cut.
"Sam is beginning to pick up on things," Palmer said. "There isn't anything he can't do. He can do whatever he dedicates himself to on the golf course. He has a mind of his own and he's going to use it."
Palmer also doesn't want much in the way of credit for Saunders' success.
"Be tough and play tough, but be nice. He has accomplished that," Palmer said. "He has to also learn to be tough on the golf course. I think he'll make his own mind about how to deal with things. All I want to do is give him whatever influence I can to help him do the right things. He'll do it on his own. If I can give him a lift, that would be great."
Mediate is convinced, the kid won't rely on sponsor's exemptions much longer.
"He's got it figured out," Mediate said. "He's got some good people behind him, too."
-- Tim Reynolds
Controlled burn affecting Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A controlled burn about 15 miles from the site of the Honda Classic sent smoky air over the tournament course for Saturday’s third round.
Play continued as scheduled.
The burn was in Jonathan Dickinson State Park, located in Martin County, and northeast winds carried the smoke into Palm Beach County — including the area around PGA National Resort and Spa, which hosts the Honda.
Haze could be seen all around the course, thicker in some areas than others.
Fire officials in both Martin and Palm Beach counties said the burn was proceeding as planned.
LPGA
Webb leads Australian Ladies Masters
GOLD COAST, Australia — Six-time champion Karrie Webb birdied the final hole for an 8-under 64 and a one-stroke lead Saturday in the Australian Ladies Masters.
Webb hit a 6-iron from a fairway bunker over a tree and on the green, then holed the 15-foot putt to finish three rounds at 15-under 201 at rain-softened Royal Pines.
"I hit a great shot into the green there," Webb said. "It was a great way to finish. If you told me I would shoot 64 today, I would have thought I'd have at least a two-stroke lead, but it will make it exciting for tomorrow."
Because of the soft conditions on the resort course, players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway.
South Korea's Lee Bo-mee (63) and defending champion Katherine Hull (65) were a stroke back, and South Koreans Seo Hee-kyung (66) and Ryu So-yeon (66) were 13 under.
"A lot of people out there will be waiting for this showdown," said Hull, set play in the final group Sunday with Webb. "It's going to be a good battle tomorrow and a nice showcase for Australian golf."
Organizers say they consider Lee's 63 a course record because they changed two tee boxes this year. Australia's Kristie Smith has a 62 in the tournament last year, the lowest score on the course before it was lengthened slightly.
American Amanda Blumenherst, the leader after the first two rounds, had a shot 70 to drop into a tie for sixth with Taiwan's Yani Tseng (67) at 11 under.
Webb hopes her experience will help her Sunday.
"I've made some good shots here before and great putts, and when you have those kinds of feelings, it makes you comfortable," she said.
Lee, who has not had a bogey in three rounds, is playing at Royal Pines for the first time and only had two nine-hole practice rounds over two days due to heavy rain.
"My goal was to shoot 10 under for the tournament and with no bogeys," Lee said. "The way I played today, it's now possible I could win."
-- Dennis Passa
Champions Tour
Fred Couples leads Toshiba Classic
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Fred Couples moved into position for his second straight Champions Tour victory, shooting a 7-under 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Toshiba Classic.
Couples, making his third start on the 50-and-over tour, had a 12-under 130 total on the Newport Beach Country Club course. He won the ACE Group Classic on Feb. 14 in Florida and finished second behind Tom Watson in the season-opening event in Hawaii. Last week, Couples tied for 14th in the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open.
Tom Lehman (65) and Taiwan’s Chien Soon Lu (67) were tied for second. Loren Roberts (67) and Ronnie Black (67) followed at 8 under, and defending champion Eduardo Romero (69), John Cook (66), Bob Gilder (66) and Mark Wiebe (71) were 6 under.
Couples and Lehman are first and second in driving distance for the event, though they are vastly different in driving accuracy. Lehman is tied for eighth, while Couples is 73rd out of the 78 players.
Apparently, Couples didn’t need to hit fairways to score. He hit five of 14 fairways, but only made birdies on two of those holes, Nos. 2 and 7.
"I drove it in the rough several times," Couples said. "I wasn’t blasting them all over the golf course, but yes, I was three or four steps in the rough several times."
Play started two hours early to try and avoid rain, but there was still a suspension of 71 minutes because of a downpour early in the day.
That actually helped the leaders because the delay was before they teed off and when they began play, the greens were noticeably softer and much more receptive.
The softer greens, though, were tempered by gusty wind.
"It was hard, it was cold," Couples said. "You are trying to draw them into the wind, then I just started hitting them hard. I was driving it so good yesterday."
Couples began the second round a stroke behind but was tied by the second hole after a 1-foot birdie putt. He took the lead with an eagle on the 549-yard, par-5 second, reaching the green with a 2-iron in two shots and making a 12-foot putt.
His birdie on No. 9 was set up by probably his best shot. He found the rough on the right off the tee and had several trees between him and the green. Couples then hit an 8-iron through a small gap in the trees that came to rest 4 feet from the cup.
Couples’ driver cost him on 10, leading to his lone bogey of the day.
That allowed the field to creep closer and when Couples reached the 14th hole, there was a four-way tie with Lu, Lehman and Roberts. Couples broke the logjam with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 15th and extended increased his lead to two when he made a 20-footer from above the hole on No. 16.
Couples kept the margin at two when he made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. It was one of only 12 birdies on the hole that yielded 41 birdies in the first round.
Couples is 50-under par on the Champions Tour and every one of his eight rounds has been 68 or lower.
Lehman’s first full year on the Champions Tour is going equally well. He has eight rounds in the 60s and is 40 under through eight rounds, but catching the tour’s hottest player will be difficult.
"I know he is going to be 20 or 30 yards past me on every tee shot," Lehman said. "It’s good to see him playing well."
Asian Tour
Kiradech, Davies share lead at Malaysian Open
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand stayed in the hunt for his first Asian Tour title, shooting a 4-under 68 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Rhys Davies of Wales after the third round at the Malaysian Open.
Kiradech birdied three of his last four holes and is 11 under heading into the final round at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
Davies shot a 71 during a round that included three birdies and a double bogey.
Two-time champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Soren Hansen of Denmark and Koreans K.J. Choi and Noh Seung-yul are each one shot off the lead.
Kiradech nearly made the first hole-in-one of the tournament when his six-iron tee shot on the 15th ended up an inch behind the hole. He continued his strong finish with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18.
"My highlight has to be the 15th hole," Kiradech said. "I couldn’t see where my tee shot ended but heard the crowd shouting, and when I walked over I saw the ball was about an inch from the hole."
Davies, who played 25 holes on Saturday, had two birdies on the front nine. After a double bogey on the 10th — the result of an errant drive into the water hazard — he fought back with a birdie on No. 17 and then missed for the outright lead when he missed a birdie putt on the last hole.
"When you are playing well and making birdies, you don’t feel so tired, but when a double bogey comes along you feel pretty shattered," said Davies, who won twice on the European Challenge Tour last year.
Thongchai mixed five birdies with two bogeys for a 69 in his bid to win a record-tying third victory in the event, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
"It was a bit hard as the pins were quite tough on the back nine but it was a good round. I’m pretty close now and I’m looking forward to tomorrow," he said.
Choi, aiming for a Malaysian double after his victory in the Iskandar Johor Open last October, put himself back in contention with a 69.
"I like where I am at," Choi said. "Yesterday and today, I just sweated so much and I feel weary now. Tomorrow, I just need to overcome the heat for one more day and try to close it out."
